Harm includes many problems such as falling down and hurting someone, drunk driving, vomiting, fighting, injuries while working, mental and physical effects and death.

The risk is higher as you increase daily and/or binge consumption.

More damage and harm is done by people who are not dependant drinkers, but rather infrequent binge drinkers, who may not drink much on average but have a bad outcome when they do.

The following is the WHO criteria for the Alcohol Dependency Syndrome :

Three or more of the following manifestations should have occurred together for at least 1 month or, if persisting for periods of less than 1 month, should have occurred together repeatedly within a 12-month period:

■ a strong desire or sense of compulsion to consume alcohol;

■ impaired capacity to control drinking in terms of its onset, termination, or levels of use, as evidenced by: alcohol being often taken in larger amounts or over a longer period than intended; or by a persistent desire to or unsuccessful efforts to reduce or control alcohol use;

■ a physiological withdrawal state when alcohol use is reduced or ceased, as evidenced by the characteristic withdrawal syndrome for alcohol, or by use of the same (or close- ly related) substance with the intention of relieving or avoiding withdrawal symptoms;

■ evidence of tolerance to the effects of alcohol, such that there is a need for signifi- cantly increased amounts of alcohol to achieve intoxication or the desired effect, or a markedly diminished effect with continued use of the same amount of alcohol;

■ preoccupation with alcohol, as manifested by important alternative pleasures or interests being given up or reduced because of drinking; or a great deal of time being spent in activities necessary to obtain, take, or recover from the effects of alcohol;

■ persistent alcohol use despite clear evidence of harmful consequences, as evidenced by continued use when the individual is actually aware, or may be expected to be aware, of the nature and extent of harm.

WHO AUDIT Publication

The liver uses an enzyme, alcohol dehydrogenase, to hold onto and breakdown the ethanol molecule into acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is thought to be part of what causes a hangover. The liver further breaks this down into other molecules, acetic acid and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, which are both harmless.

The human liver can break down approximately 6 to 8 grams of pure ethanol every hour. Thus, it will take slightly longer than one hour to break down the alcohol from one standard drink. Of course, if someone drinks a large glass of an alcoholic beverage it may take much longer than one hour to break down that “single” drink as it represents more than one standard drink.

If people co-ingest other prescription medicines or recreational drugs, the liver usually takes much longer to break down ethanol. As well, having more than alcohol affecting your mentation is dangerous and should be avoided as such combinations put you at much higher risk of harmful behaviour and depressed bodily function.

It is important to understand that attempts at speeding up the process with a cold shower or caffeinated drinks are fruitless. They may clean you up but make you no less intoxicated and no more safe to drive.

The World Health Organization states that no society drinks a higher average consumption that the people of Moldova, Eastern Europe.  They drink a total of 18.22 liters of pure alcohol a year. A second close is the Czech Republic at 16.45 liters a year. The average drinker from Moldova drinks more alcohol than the combined consumption of the average drinkers from the following countries:

Algeria
Oman
Vanuatu
Timor-Leste
Malaysia
Sri K=Lanka
Comoros
India
Jordan
Senegal
Indonesia
Myanmar
Bhutan
United Arab Emirates
Egypt
Guinea
Niger
Saudi Arabia
Bangladesh
Kuwait
Libya
Mauritania
Somalia
Pakistan
Afghanistan
Yemen

In a 2012 fascinating study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, researchers injected a single treatment of Botox into the frown lines of a small group of patients with Depression.  The result: Depressive symptoms were reduced by over 40%.

The study supports the theory that the brain is malleable (able to be changed). They showed that when they removed some negative inputs to the brain (the daily frowning feedback signal the brain must sense)  people felt less depressed. By literally not being able to frown, subjects started to experience less negative stimulus when lacking frowning and that alone brought about a change in the chemistry of their brain.

This is a simple yet powerful study that strongly supports the belief that controlling the amount of negative inputs and also reducing the brain’s own negative thought patterns can pay a role in avoiding and treating depression.

See some of the CAMH facts:

• 36% of Ontario women have experienced a mental disorder, versus 22% of men.

• 10-25% of women will have a major depressive disorder at least once during their lifetime.

• Approximately 10% of women in the general population will experience depression during pregnancy.

• 15-20% of women in the general population will experience postpartum depression.

• 30% of women with a history of depression will develop postpartum depression, and 50% with a history of postpartum depression will develop it again in a subsequent pregnancy.
• There is a significant correlation between a history of sexual abuse and the life-time number of suicide attempts, and this correlation is twice as strong for women as for men
• Women make 3-4 times more suicide attempts than men do.

http://www.ontario.cmha.ca/fact_sheets.asp?cID=3974

• 26.1 billion dollars were direct medical costs
• 5.4  billion dollars were suicidal-related mortality costs
• 51.5 billion dollars were workplace costs

The economic burden of depression in the United States: how did it change between 1990 and 2000? J Clin Psychiatry. 2003 Dec;64(12):1465-75.

A 2012 study out of Emory University showed that a rheumatoid arthritis drug, Infiximab, was able to reduce depression in a small group of individuals that had specific blood changes related to internal inflammation – CRP ( C-reactive protein).

This is a general test for body inflamation used for a variety of diseases, not usually used for Depression.

Infiximab, an anti-inflammatory drug, did not help those depressed people that lacked an increase in the blood result. This new study suggests that inflammation may play a role in certain types of Depression. The hope from such studies is that scientists will learn how to distinguish between different types of depression to better advise patients on which therapy might help. If a simple blood tests can be used, many more patients will benefit.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Tumor Necrosis Factor Antagonist Infliximab for Treatment-Resistant Depression: The Role of Baseline Inflammatory Biomarkers. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2012;():1-11.

ABSTRACT

Context  Increased concentrations of inflammatory biomarkers predict antidepressant nonresponse, and inflammatory cytokines can sabotage and circumvent the mechanisms of action of conventional antidepressants.
Objectives  To determine whether inhibition of the inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF) reduces depressive symptoms in patients with treatment-resistant depression and whether an increase in baseline plasma inflammatory biomarkers, including high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), TNF, and its soluble receptors, predicts treatment response.
Design  Double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial.
Setting  Outpatient infusion center at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Participants  A total of 60 medically stable outpatients with major depression who were either on a consistent antidepressant regimen (n = 37) or medication-free (n = 23) for 4 weeks or more and who were moderately resistant to treatment as determined by the Massachusetts General Hospital Staging method.
Interventions  Three infusions of the TNF antagonist infliximab (5 mg/kg) (n = 30) or placebo (n = 30) at baseline and weeks 2 and 6 of a 12-week trial.
Main Outcome Measures  The 17-item Hamilton Scale for Depression (HAM-D) scores.
Results  No overall difference in change of HAM-D scores between treatment groups across time was found. However, there was a significant interaction between treatment, time, and log baseline hs-CRP concentration (P = .01), with change in HAM-D scores (baseline to week 12) favoring infliximab-treated patients at a baseline hs-CRP concentration greater than 5 mg/L and favoring placebo-treated patients at a baseline hs-CRP concentration of 5 mg/L or less. Exploratory analyses focusing on patients with a baseline hs-CRP concentration greater than 5 mg/L revealed a treatment response (≥50% reduction in HAM-D score at any point during treatment) of 62% (8 of 13 patients) in infliximab-treated patients vs 33% (3 of 9 patients) in placebo-treated patients (P = .19). Baseline concentrations of TNF and its soluble receptors were significantly higher in infliximab-treated responders vs nonresponders (P < .05), and infliximab-treated responders exhibited significantly greater decreases in hs-CRP from baseline to week 12 compared with placebo-treated responders (P < .01). Dropouts and adverse events were limited and did not differ between groups.
Conclusions  This proof-of-concept study suggests that TNF antagonism does not have generalized efficacy in treatment-resistant depression but may improve depressive symptoms in patients with high baseline inflammatory biomarkers.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Upon discovering his ex-girlfriend (Kate Winslet) has undergone a procedure to erase all memories of him from her mind, Joel (Jim Carrey) decides to do the same. The film emphasizes the anxious aspects of Joel’s personality, including an inability to speak with strangers and a hermit-like life style.

Punch Drunk Love: Barry Eagen (Adam Sandler) plays an anger prone, socially phobic entrepreneur obsessed with exploiting a loophole in a pudding promotion to cash in on free flights.

Amelie: A shy woman with an inability to connect (Audrey Tautou) embarks on a voyage to bring happiness into the lives of others through arms-length manipulations. The film looks at the impact of an isolated and sheltered childhood on later social anxiety.

As Good as It Gets:  A misanthropic, obsessive-compulsive novelist (Jack Nicholson) lives the life of a recluse until a confluence of circumstances nudge him into changing his ways and becoming a better man.

Taxi Driver:  Returning from a tour in Vietnam, Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) exhibits classic signs of post-traumatic stress disorder as he edges ever-closer to acting out violent, homicidal fantasies in the name of justice.