Don’t drink excessively during lockdown as it hampers decision-making besides having long and short term effects

While it may be lucrative to leisurely consume alcohol in excess during the lockdown, your body and mind can feel the health impact of it more than you would like.

“Research studies have suggested that people in the age group of 18-40 years are buying more alcohol than usual during these crisis. People are generally spending more money on liquor as they are likely to drink more to alleviate the stress they are feeling,” Dr Anuneet Sabharwal, MBBS, MD Psychiatrist said.

However, the increase in drinking might be fun pastime but is likely to have both short and long term impact on the health and safety of individuals. In the short term, it may help people to calm themselves down or release some tension and stress but in the long term, it may lead to alcohol addiction or might negatively impact our immune system.

Alcohol consumption gone out of hand also puts families and communities at risk because researchers warn that heavy drinkers or people with a hangover have less ability to plan or set goals and make decisions the following day.

When hungover, individuals have a reduced ability to retain information in their short-term memory. For example, retaining a telephone number whilst taking a message at the same time. They also highlight impairments when it comes to individuals’ ability to switch attention between tasks and focus on a goal.

Published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, the study highlights the true impact of heavy drinking and provides new evidence as to why hangovers cost the wider economy so much.

A recent report, which involved the same team, found that hangovers cost the UK economy 1.4 billion pound a year in wasted productivity, including people working while hungover. “We know that hangovers can have a big economic cost but we did not know how hangover affects our ability to switch attention from one task to another, update information in our mind, and maintain focus on setting goals,” said study lead author Craig Gunn from the University of Bath in the UK.

“Our study asked participants to complete tasks measuring these processes when they had a hangover and again when they had not consumed alcohol. The results suggest that all of these processes are impaired by a hangover, which could have consequences for other aspects of our lives,” Gun explained.

The latest study involved thirty-five 18 to 30-year-olds who had reported experiencing a hangover at least once in the past month. Individuals completed measures which assessed their ability to switch attention between tasks, to update and process information from multiple sources and to guide and plan behaviour, whilst experiencing a hangover.

Few studies have explored how hangover affects key cognitive processes, the so-called ‘core executive functions’, which we use in daily life to planning, set goals and make decisions. “Our data shows that this impairment is likely the result of reduced capability in several core executive functions, which are important for tasks such as workplace performance and driving,” said study senior author Dr Sally Adams.

As per Dr Sabharwal, these measures can be used to ensure mindful moderate and responsible drinking.

Keep a control

It is always suggested keeping control of your drinks. There are many ways to do it. For instance, you can use an app to calculate your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and alcohol-related caloric intake.

Don’t drink past your “off” switch

In other words, it is suggested to stop drinking before you stop thinking.

Understand your heavy drinking triggers and plan ahead

Make a list of the people, places, and situations that have led to heavy drinking in the past, and try to avoid them.

Don’t drink to self-medicate

People who use alcohol to self-medicate themselves tend to over-drink most of the times.