It is common to associate alcohol with ethyl alcohol, which is used to make so-called alcoholic beverages.
Alcohol is, from a chemical point of view, that organic compound that contains the hydroxyl group linked to an aliphatic radical or one of its derivatives. In this sense, since it is a compound, there are various types of alcohols.
In everyday language, the chemical compound ethanol , also known as ethyl alcohol, is known as alcohol . It is a colorless and flammable liquid, whose boiling point is 78ºC .
ethyl alcohol
The chemical formula of ethyl alcohol is CH3-CH2-OH . This compound is used to prepare alcoholic beverages , which, in many cases, are also known simply as alcohol (for example, "We have to buy alcohol for the party tonight," "Miguel drank too much alcohol, he no longer knows how to drink alcohol." what it says» ).
Alcoholic beverages can be produced by fermentation (such as wine and beer ) or by distillation (such as liquor ). The percentage of ethyl alcohol present in each drink can vary: beer has approximately 5% alcohol; wine is close to 15% and liqueurs can contain up to 50% ethanol.
A psychoactive drug
It should be noted that ethyl alcohol is a psychoactive drug for humans. Its consumption produces, in principle, a feeling of joy. At the same time, the individual may suffer from coordination problems and blurred vision. With excessive consumption, it is possible to reach a state of unconsciousness and, at an extreme level, death from poisoning.
These negative consequences of alcohol for the body cause most countries to prohibit the consumption of alcoholic beverages for those under a certain age (usually 18 years of age).
Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to health.
Children of parents who consume alcohol excessively
Alcoholism is a disease that not only affects the person who suffers from it but also those who are part of their emotional circle, especially their spouse and children, if they have them. We will focus on the relationship that exists between parents and children and what consequences alcoholism can have on it.
According to Margaret Cork, who has studied the subject in detail, in childhood the individual acquires a sense of security and self-esteem and, depending on how they build both, they will develop a more or less direct capacity to face the complex problems that they face; It is from his relationship with his parents or guardians that he builds confidence in himself and those around him .
If children grow up in an environment where alcohol is present, the nest in which they are raised will be absolutely disintegrated in which anxiety , pain and remorse reign ; In this way, children will acquire the behavior of unstable adults, they will burden themselves with responsibilities that do not correspond to them and they will develop qualities typical of alcoholics, lying and manipulation, above all.
Overcoming parental alcoholism
When they reach adulthood, children of alcoholic parents, if they have not worked on the focus of the problem with the help of a therapist, often have harmful attitudes towards themselves. Given that they have had a childhood steeped in critical attitudes and guilt , their adulthood does not usually escape them and they manifest a clear low self-esteem that leads them to decide on two opposite paths: do the same as their parents, as their models ( become alcoholics ) or surrender to a life of denial , trying to become successful people and hiding their self-esteem problems.
There is, however, a parallel path and, surely much more recommended, it consists of reviewing , studying the existence of your parents, internalizing your childhood feelings and with all that doing something different, building self-love in a way healthy and recognizing that criticism can often be productive, depending on who it comes from and how it is said, and that, from it, a healthy self-criticism and a judgment of one's own environment can be developed , outside of the prejudices and shocking experiences of childhood. marked by alcoholism.