This Substance Literally Makes Your Brain Smaller
by Nicole Wright
March 5, 2022
I LOVE THIS article [from Neuroscience News].
One of my long-term research projects has been about cyber security. When I've interviewed bad actors, they've had one very clear thing in common - severe problems with addiction to drugs and alcohol.
I found it a bizarre wish or belief that these bad actors thought (a) because I took the time to ask several questions for my case(s), they perceived this as attention (like it was a good thing; instead of what any sane person would rationally assume); and they also misconstrued (b) that my questions meant I would understand where they are coming from. Um NO.
While I do believe empathy is important; there is no way that I can comprehend their experience as I have been extremely fortunate to have been raised in a LDS home, without substances, and with peers who modeled the healthy adults around them. The more that I travel and meet people from various cultures; the more I cherish my family and home. (Thanks you guys!).
There is no place for toxins in a healthy body; neither in a healthy home. Period.
If my upbringing wasn't enough of a model for me; this is also modeled in Sports Performance and high level competition. This is modeled in finance and government work. Anywhere anyone is authentically succesful and transparent, they are modeling health.
Your brain is a key asset, to be taken care of. If you can't think, you can't learn, grow, invest, become better, give back.
"The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.
This post is not meant to offend. There was a time in my 20's when I invested in a cooking company and was well aware many of my clients enjoyed luxurious wine pairings. Foodies. I get it. I used to think that there was a difference between healthy drinking (as described to me by many healthy European families I knew), and unhealthy drinking. Clinically I do think this is true. Eusocially though, my attitudes have changed - where I think alcohol is damaging - even for people consuming who are not alcoholics. Not throwing the baby out with the bathwater; I believe in free will.
If I'm traveling and meet someone who talks about drinking; they're talking about it as something they like to do. That tells me to go in the opposite direction.
Or if it relates to work, then to take it all with a grain of salt, and simply excuse myself socially.
When it comes to bad actors - there are a handful I've interviewed since 2018 - they exemplify horrificly obvious levels of addiction (by any scale) that a lay person could see. Their addiction, is WHY they have problems socially. It is the MAIN reason. It is why people walk away from them. Why people don't want to be their friends. Why they can only attract friendships with other dysfunctional people. They have victim mentality around this though; which also relates to the Narcissistic triad of Hero Victim Antagonist. They refuse to see the evil Mr. Hyde that lives inside of them that antagonizes others. But just wait until the alcohol relaxes their pre-frontal cortex and the truth comes out.
These bad actors Live, Breath, and Believe a host of Cognitive Thinking Errors. (There is a list Psychologists can reference for their patients. I may post that seperately.) From the outside, seeing what they are doing, it seems like they are adult humans walking around either like a 2 year old or 7 year old pretending to be a grown-up, and behaving like they do have serious brain damage, as Neuroscience News states below. And then, they continue to damage themselves and others every single day. There is no way out for them until they stop drinking and using completely.
Even small amounts of alcohol are damaging for people. And smaller amounts still are damaging for women specifically; like if they want to get pregnant, succeed in work, sports, or drive a car. Just say NO instead. Remember Smoky The Bear? There was a campaign series when I was growing up with commercials about saying no to drugs too. It's simple. Just say no.
I have a hard time understanding the appeal, emotionally. I get off on exercise, meditation, amino acids, green juice. There are a million ways to feel good, sustainably.
I cannot understand cognitively either. Although I used to want to mentally understand why people did what they did; and also be empathetic; I just turned 40, and no longer want to spend my time understanding others when they are unhealthy. Life is too short. There is no time for that. Zero room.
Yesterday, I went for a run in the biting cold. Weather says 24 F right now. I've gotten used to it, and so went without a jacket. I wanted to feel alive. I wanted to feel the crisp cool air deep in my lungs. It was marvelous. Endorphins. Grinning. Laughter.
These natural highs are really the only way to promote a good life with good relationships and good future.
I don't know anyone who drinks. I mean; I never get close to them because their behavior is weird. If you are struggling with alcohol or drugs, the change work tools that CEO's and Athletes use work the same; but the framework or structure for additiction is entirely different. The first step is to make a decision. That's all it takes for CEO's and Athletes. With addiction, generally the patterns are that the decision needs to be recommitted to, over and over, and there needs to be a massive array of help and support and various tools and relearning. Doesn't matter how many times you have to re-commit; because a person can change. Call a helpline. Get healthy. Think about your shriveling brain every time you ingest a toxin. Choose health instead.
More Alcohol, Less Brain: Association Begins With an Average of Just One Drink a Day
FeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience Articles·March 4, 2022
Summary: Light-to-moderate regular alcohol consumption is linked to reductions in overall brain volume, a new study reports.
Source: University of Pennsylvania
The science on heavy drinking and the brain is clear: The two don’t have a healthy relationship. People who drink heavily have alterations in brain structure and size that are associated with cognitive impairments.
But according to a new study, alcohol consumption even at levels most would consider modest—a few beers or glasses of wine a week—may also carry risks to the brain. An analysis of data from more than 36,000 adults, led by a team from the University of Pennsylvania, found that light-to-moderate alcohol consumption was associated with reductions in overall brain volume.
The link grew stronger the greater the level of alcohol consumption, the researchers showed. As an example, in 50-year-olds, as average drinking among individuals increases from one alcohol unit (about half a beer) a day to two units (a pint of beer or a glass of wine) there are associated changes in the brain equivalent to aging two years. Going from two to three alcohol units at the same age was like aging three and a half years.
The team reported their findings in the journal Nature Communications.
“The fact that we have such a large sample size allows us to find subtle patterns, even between drinking the equivalent of half a beer and one beer a day,” says Gideon Nave, a corresponding author on the study and faculty member at Penn’s Wharton School. He collaborated with former postdoc and co-corresponding author Remi Daviet, now at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Perelman School of Medicine colleagues Reagan Wetherill—also a corresponding author on the study—and Henry Kranzler, as well as other researchers.
Continue reading at: https://neurosciencenews.com/alcohol-brain-shrinkage-20135
