Alcohol & Borderline, Narcissistic & Avoidant Personality Disorders
Sensitivity to Alcohol:
The Borderline, Narcissistic & Avoidant
Individual sensitivity to the effects of alcohol varies greatly. Some people can remain conscious after drinking a quantity of alcohol that
would cause others to "pass out," become comatose, or even die.
Others are so sensitive to alcohol that just one
or two drinks can produce acute discomfort accompanied
by facial flushing, elevated skin temperature, and a
rapid pulse. These individual variations are probably
due to differences in the ability to metabolize alcohol,
to innate differences in the central nervous system's
sensitivity to alcohol, or to differences in the capacity to
adapt rapidly to the presence of alcohol (acute tolerance).
A major area of study is the comparison of alcohol
metabolism and is evidence of a high prevalence of
sensitivity to alcohol among people of the Oriental:
Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Native Americans,
and Eskimos. Signs of sensitivity- rapid facial flushing,
elevated skin temperature, and increased pulse rate- after
consuming moderate amounts of alcohol appear to
be common among these groups.
Another important area of research on susceptibility
to alcohol is the role of neurochemical and neurophysiological
factors. Alcohol affects every system of the body, but
its greatest, most immediate, and most visible
effects are on the central nervous system. The chemical
processes involved in the transmission of neural impulses
are carried out at the synapse by neurotransmitters
that are released from the axon and join with specific
receptors in the dendrites of nearby neurons and
illustrates this process. The propagation of an electrical
signal along a nerve cell is based on the movement
of sodium and potassium ions back and forth through
the membrane that encloses the cell.
All the complex features of the self-thoughts,
emotions, actions- are based on these chemical and
electrical processes, which occur in billions of nerve cells
at any instant. Several features of this system could be
involved in inherited predisposition to alcoholism.
Alcohol could interfere with numerous processes involved
in nerve cell function, and if there is inherited variation
in these processes it could result in either neurochemical
vulnerability or resistance to alcoholism. The
leading neurochemical hypotheses are the following.
Borderline, Narcissistic & Avoidant
• Individuals who are predisposed toward alcoholism
might have nerve cell membranes less sensitive
to alcohol, that would affect the movement of
sodium and potassium ions and the propagation of nerve impulses.
• Predisposition toward alcoholism might be based on
inherited variations in the sensitive and limit
to inhibition by alcohol. This also would affect
the transmission of nerve impulses, which depend on
the enzyme's regulation of the flow of ions through
the nerve cell membrane.
• Predisposition toward alcoholism may be based on
inherited variations in the neurotransmitter release and
the stems involved in the chemical
of nerve impulses between nerve cells.
• People who are predisposed to alcoholism may produce
abnormal amounts of certain morphine like compounds.
• Predisposition toward alcoholism may be based on
inherited, variations in the brain's neurochemical
mechanisms or reinforcing certain issues.
The Borderline, Narcissistic & Avoidant
Individual sensitivity to the effects of alcohol varies greatly. Some people can remain conscious after drinking a quantity of alcohol that
would cause others to "pass out," become comatose, or even die.
Others are so sensitive to alcohol that just one
or two drinks can produce acute discomfort accompanied
by facial flushing, elevated skin temperature, and a
rapid pulse. These individual variations are probably
due to differences in the ability to metabolize alcohol,
to innate differences in the central nervous system's
sensitivity to alcohol, or to differences in the capacity to
adapt rapidly to the presence of alcohol (acute tolerance).
A major area of study is the comparison of alcohol
metabolism and is evidence of a high prevalence of
sensitivity to alcohol among people of the Oriental:
Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Native Americans,
and Eskimos. Signs of sensitivity- rapid facial flushing,
elevated skin temperature, and increased pulse rate- after
consuming moderate amounts of alcohol appear to
be common among these groups.
Another important area of research on susceptibility
to alcohol is the role of neurochemical and neurophysiological
factors. Alcohol affects every system of the body, but
its greatest, most immediate, and most visible
effects are on the central nervous system. The chemical
processes involved in the transmission of neural impulses
are carried out at the synapse by neurotransmitters
that are released from the axon and join with specific
receptors in the dendrites of nearby neurons and
illustrates this process. The propagation of an electrical
signal along a nerve cell is based on the movement
of sodium and potassium ions back and forth through
the membrane that encloses the cell.
All the complex features of the self-thoughts,
emotions, actions- are based on these chemical and
electrical processes, which occur in billions of nerve cells
at any instant. Several features of this system could be
involved in inherited predisposition to alcoholism.
Alcohol could interfere with numerous processes involved
in nerve cell function, and if there is inherited variation
in these processes it could result in either neurochemical
vulnerability or resistance to alcoholism. The
leading neurochemical hypotheses are the following.
Borderline, Narcissistic & Avoidant
• Individuals who are predisposed toward alcoholism
might have nerve cell membranes less sensitive
to alcohol, that would affect the movement of
sodium and potassium ions and the propagation of nerve impulses.
• Predisposition toward alcoholism might be based on
inherited variations in the sensitive and limit
to inhibition by alcohol. This also would affect
the transmission of nerve impulses, which depend on
the enzyme's regulation of the flow of ions through
the nerve cell membrane.
• Predisposition toward alcoholism may be based on
inherited variations in the neurotransmitter release and
the stems involved in the chemical
of nerve impulses between nerve cells.
• People who are predisposed to alcoholism may produce
abnormal amounts of certain morphine like compounds.
• Predisposition toward alcoholism may be based on
inherited, variations in the brain's neurochemical
mechanisms or reinforcing certain issues.