Can Alcohol Cause You Permanent Brain Damage?
Wet Brain and the scary truth
Trevor has Wet Brain!
My alcoholic stepdad went Cold-turkey when he decided to stop drinking. He should have sought medical advice, but he did not. Trevor soon became psychotic, and he was admitted to a mental health unit where he was sectioned under the mental health act and detained.
Trevor was diagnosed with Alcohol-Induced Psychosis.
After a short spell in a mental health unit Trevor was diagnosed with permanent brain damage, and he was discharged home with medication to help control his altered mental state. Trevor will need to take his medication every day for the rest of his life. A psychiatrist calls him weekly to check-in.
A brain scan revealed that his brain is small and has no obvious signs of alcohol-induced dementia so far. However, he does have voices inside his head whom he ‘chats’ to, and he has severe social anxiety and depression. Trevor’s anxiety prevents him from leaving the house, and he cannot make decisions about anything; He has paranoid thoughts and struggles with daily chores.
Trevor shows no emotion and is indifferent to his surroundings. He has some memory loss and sometimes fabricates memories to fill the blanks. Trevor’s symptoms are not only mental; he has a few physical symptoms, such as some loss of sight, hearing, and his gait is altered.
Trevor has permanent cognitive impairments due to alcoholism; Trevor’s anxiety becomes elevated in the company of others, and he can no longer participate in conversations — he is easily distracted, and he becomes noticeably agitated and confused.
Trevor is incapable of making decisions; he has forgotten how to cook simple meals or care for himself; he has the mentality of a twelve-year-old, and he needs to be cared for as one would do for a child.
Trevor has a condition called Alcohol-related Brain Damage, also known as ‘Wet Brain Disease.’
What is Wet Brain disease?
Wet brain disease is an umbrella term covering two major mental health diseases related to alcoholism; Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s Psychosis. Both conditions are brain damage caused by alcoholism, but their variations in symptoms can identify each. Trevor’s symptoms appear to cross over into both definitions, and therefore the diagnosis of wet brain disease is a definition without distinction.
Alcohol-related brain damage is a debilitating illness that occurs when the brain becomes deficient in essential Vitamin B1 known as Thiamine. The absorption of vitamin B1 is inhibited by excessive alcohol intake, and over time, vitamin B1 deficiency will cause brain damage.
Thiamine is a vitamin absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract and is stored in the liver. A healthy diet maintains Thiamine levels, but when the liver becomes depleted of Thiamine, the brain begins to show signs of damage. If left untreated over a prolonged time, the brain will become damaged.
Trevor relies on a daily home-help to come every morning to prepare breakfast and assist with household chores.
It is too soon to know if this is the extent of Trevor’s disability or whether symptoms may develop further. But for now, he is house bound, socially unaware and incapable of coping with day-to-day tasks.
