Alcohol-related violence has been making headlines with increasing frequency, but not everyone who drinks alcohol, even to excess, becomes aggressive. In fact it's only a small minority, says psychologist and Stanford University substance abuse researcher, Dr Adrienne Heinz. But their behaviour can have far-reaching consequences.
Families and friends can be the targets of alcohol-fuelled outbursts, as can other unsuspecting members of the public. For Caldicott, who regularly sees the results of alcohol-related violence, personality is a key element that separates aggressive drunks from everyone else. Studies of alcohol and aggressive behaviour square well with Caldicott's observations. People who are more irritable, have poorer anger control, and who display lower levels of empathy towards others when sober, are more likely to be aggressive when they have alcohol in their system.
Gender also has an influence: men are more likely than women to be aggressive when drunk. There is increasing evidence that subtle variations in brain function mean some people behave worse than others when they have a few drinks. One way in which alcohol's effects on brain functioning have been measured is to look at how people use what's known as the brain's executive system.
Decision-making, problem solving and reasoning are all jobs the executive system takes control of. As Heinz explains, it is like the command centre of the brain, that "tells you when to put on the brakes, think about the consequences, steer yourself towards a better long-term outcome. But when we drink alcohol, executive control flags, making it harder to reflect on our behaviour and self-regulate. Instead of taking a few deep breaths when we feel slighted or insulted, we give in to our impulses, which for some are violent.
Experts agree that violence is a product of many factors — mental health , social acceptance of aggressive and violent behaviour, and particular situations and contexts 2, And in the future, you should reconsider when and how much you drink.
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