[Alcohol-Free Diary④] Claiming No Drinking Habits... But Accidents Occur After Drinking

Week 6 of Abstinence
Hippocampal Paralysis After Drinking... Why Memory Is Lost
Damage to the Frontal Lobe Controlling Impulse... Loss of Self-Control
May Lead to Crime... Violence and Drunk Driving Increase After Social Distancing Lifted

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] Drinking excessively causes memory loss. When I was also drinking heavily, I tried to recover fragmented memories. Thinking back to how I painfully held my aching head and carefully examined my phone call logs and KakaoTalk conversations makes me cringe.

Why do we lose memory when we drink a lot? The phenomenon of memory loss after drinking is commonly called a "blackout." A blackout occurs because the hippocampus, a part of our brain, becomes paralyzed due to alcohol. The hippocampus is responsible for long-term memory in humans. When new short-term memories are formed, the hippocampus converts and stores them as long-term memories, but alcohol blocks this process. Usually, when the hippocampus is damaged, old memories remain intact, but new memories cannot be formed.

"Acetaldehyde" also affects memory. Acetaldehyde is a substance produced when the liver breaks down alcohol and is also the cause of hangovers. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), under the World Health Organization, classifies acetaldehyde as a Group 1 carcinogen, indicating its harmful effects on our body's cells. The brain is no exception. Brain cells that aid memory lose their function due to acetaldehyde. In severe cases, this can lead to alcoholic dementia.

During memory loss, we often engage in regrettable behaviors. We lose or break things. We say things we shouldn't or behave excessively, damaging relationships. Alcohol negatively affects not only memory but also self-control.

Alcohol also disrupts brain functions that regulate reason and impulse control. The frontal lobe of the brain controls impulses. However, when drinking excessively, the frontal lobe cannot function properly, and we act on behaviors we were restraining. For some, these restrained behaviors may be in an excited state, while for others, they may be in a lethargic and droopy state. The reason why hangovers differ from person to person is due to this.

Alcohol disrupts memory and impulse control... Drinking always exposes you to the risk of crime

Many people make verbal mistakes or get angry after drinking. But people like me who have only experienced this level of drinking are relatively lucky. Some people get into physical fights and injure others by throwing punches during memory blackouts.

According to the National Police Agency, over 70,000 violent incidents were reported nationwide from April to May. This means about 1,300 violent incidents occur daily, which is about a 40% increase compared to January to March this year. On the 16th of this month alone, 1,158 violent incidents were reported nationwide. When asked about the cause of violent incidents, police sigh and answer that since the lifting of social distancing, many people have been gathering for drinking, and violent incidents have increased accordingly. Police say it is difficult to stop intoxicated people at violent scenes.

Drinking can also take others' lives. This is drunk driving. Drunk driving has also been on the rise recently. From April to May this year, 54,474 drunk driving cases were reported nationwide, averaging about 973 cases per day. Due to alcohol's addictive nature, repeat offenses are common in drunk driving cases. According to Kim Hoe-jae, a member of the Democratic Party, from 2019 to last year, 162,102 habitual drunk drivers were caught two or more times. Additionally, 74,913 people were caught three or more times. This accounts for 20.5% of all drunk driving cases over three years.

Some people say about their strengths, "I have good drinking manners." But alcohol always carries risks. You can lose memory and fail to control impulses. If anyone does not drink in moderation, they can get involved in unfortunate incidents such as violence. If you do not drink, you leave no regrets. Isn't that a more certain method than overestimating yourself?

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.