Binge drinking
Alcohol abuse can result in brain damage which causes impairments in executive functioning such as impairments to working memory and visuospatial function, and can cause an abnormal personality as well as affective disorders to develop. Binge drinking is associated with individuals reporting fair to poor health compared to non-binge drinking individuals and which may progressively worsen over time. Alcohol also causes impairment in a person's critical thinking. A person's ability to reason in stressful situations is compromised, and they seem very inattentive to what is going on around them. Social skills are significantly impaired in people suffering from alcoholism due to the neurotoxic effects of alcohol on the brain, especially the prefrontal cortex area of the brain. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for cognitive functions such as working memory, impulse control and decision making. This region of the brain is vulnerable to chronic alcohol-induced oxidative DNA damage. The social skills that are impaired by alcohol abuse include impairments in perceiving facial emotions, difficulty with perceiving vocal emotions and theory of mind deficits; the ability to understand humour is also impaired in alcohol abusers. Adolescent binge drinkers are most sensitive to damaging neurocognitive functions especially executive functions and memory. People who abuse alcohol are less likely to survive critical illness with a higher risk for having sepsis and were more likely to die during hospitalization.