22.02 Alcohol and its Behavioural Effects

The key ingredient of “alcohol” in alcoholic drinks is ethanol. Ethanol is one of the few legal psychoactive drugs.

Behavioural effects of ethanol include myorelaxation, anxiolysis, sedation, impaired cognitive function, and an anticonvulsant effect. At higher doses it can cause motor incoordination, ataxia, amnesia, hypnosis and anaesthesia, and eventually respiratory depression and coma.