High on risk-taking

RUMA SINGH / TNN / Aug 7, 2007, 00:00 IST

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Astronauts drinking before take-off? Stress makes people take all kinds of risks when it comes to alcohol, say experts

There were also reports of episodes of ‘heavy drinking’ before launch
IT was news that shocked the world. Aviation Week & Space Technology reported that a special panel studying astronaut health and behaviour and NASA’s psychological screening process found that on two occasions astronauts were allowed to fly after flight surgeons warned they were so drunk they posed safety risks to others.
There were also reports of episodes of ‘heavy drinking’ before launch, though that drinking was within the standard 12-hour ‘bottle-to-throttle’ rule all astronauts have to comply with.
And it’s not the first. In 2005, two commercial US pilots were charged with trying to fly a jetliner while drunk. The two had drunk 14 beers at a sports bar in an all-night binge before reporting for duty.

And at a lesser level, though no less dangerous, people are caught every day driving with the Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) levels over the limit.
Losing control?
Consultant neurosurgeon Dr Sujay Rao says alcohol works in three ways. The first is the acute phase that
affects the system immediately, affecting motor skills.
The second is the loss of cognitive skills. By and large, people in desk-based jobs don’t require high levels of skills as required by drivers, surgeons and pilots. The loss of ability to make rapid reflex actions is the most dangerous.

The diminished assessment of space is a major problem, he adds. People tend to do stupid things, and the ability to do what’s safe or not disappears that’s known in medical parlance as stereognosis.
The most severe long-term issue is a degeneration of personality wherein someone loses the ability to say, I can’t drink, I have to go on duty.
Over time the person will increasingly make a nuisance of himself in public. An astronaut might regularly forget to do mandatory safety procedures, like buckling up.
Keep a tight check
Not surprisingly, those in jobs that require a high degree of skill have numerous checks and balances in place to prevent alcohol abuse.
Says a pilot from a leading national airline, We are not permitted to drink any alcohol 18 hours before we fly. We are also subjected to breathalyser tests when we come on duty.
If caught, we’re taken off the roster for three months and we lose our salary for that period.
So naturally, pilots would not want to take that chance and drink before flying the risks are too great,” he says. And the time taken to get completely sober again varies from person to person.
Highs ’n’ lows
The excuse that alcohol is a de-stressor for those in high pressure jobs doesn’t hold good, Dr Rao says. Alcohol doesn’t de-stress, it dulls the mind, but the stress factors remain, and diminishes performance in the high stress job.
This becomes a vicious circle and the person increasingly becomes a danger to those around him.
Increasingly, people are turning to alcohol to de-stress in today’s environment, say experts, and that’s where the line between acceptable social drinking and binge or drinking at inappropriate times becomes commonplace.
Alcohol is commonly used to relax says counsellor Ellen Shinde, It’s increasingly being sanctioned as a de-stressor, and tends to become a problem when healthier de-stressing options aren’t being used like exercise.
Fortunately, people are becoming aware of choices in seeking help in these matters, like availing of counselling, says Ellen.

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