Over the centuries, the relationship between alcoholism and impulsive behavior has been controversial.  People are not sure whether being under the influence of alcohol increases the likelihood for someone to have impulsive behavior or if there is no relationship between the two and that a drunk person will make the same conscious decisions as a sober person. In the short story “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty, this issue is addressed in a wartime situation. In the story the republican snipers use of alcohol could potentially be why he was almost killed.  “The Sniper is about a republican sniper who is faced with several personal problems in a time of civil war.  He is malnourished, tired, and as the story goes on is known to drink a lot.  Throughout the story he makes several impulsive decisions.  Including whether to smoke a cigarette and risk being seen by enemies, also if he should get drunk and be impaired while he is under immense pressure. Research on impulsive determinates on social behavior can help the reader understand some of the impulsive decisions that the sniper makes under the immense pressure that he is under, and why he feels like he is under this much pressure.  The republican sniper is under a lot of stress because after choosing to light the cigarette he was shot by an enemy sniper.  The next day an enemy civilian reported that there was a sniper on the roof to a heavy armored vehicle.  He ended up having to kill the gunner and the civilian.  Another sniper fires at him but misses and allows the republican sniper to kill him.  In the end of the story the sniper goes to retrieve the dog tag of the other sniper.  Upon approaching the dead body, he feels uneasy, after turning the body over he is horrified to learn that it was his brother, and that he killed him while being under intense pressure.  Some people feel like they are under pressure when sometimes they are not, this is describing anxious behavior and it can be very dangerous, it is also an effect of long term alcoholism. Another effect of this alcoholism is the consumption of more alcohol which could cause someone to ignore their personal values and continue to make unethical decisions that could harm them.  This story provides many examples and details of how there is a difference between being sober and being under the effects of alcohol and how the decisions made under the influence of alcohol can correspond with some decisions made sober.  However, research allows us to dig deeper and reach to the conclusion that alcohol and impulsive behaviors are related, just not inversely. The inheritance of alcoholism and the effects of alcohol on impulsive behaviors are directly proportional, and can determine what a certain person’s personal values are.  However, it cannot be simply traced back to environmental effects or someone’s genes.

The origin of the development of alcoholism has yet to be discovered.  However, scientist believe that it is either genetic or environmental.  Studies done by Cloninger states, “susceptibility to alcoholism is familial, but its distribution cannot be explained by either genetic or environmental factors alone” (Cloninger 1). What can be taken from this is that alcoholism does run in family trees, but cannot be linked to genes themselves because not everyone in a certain family will have alcoholic tendencies, but it does make them more susceptible to becoming an alcoholic.  In this sense this means that along with genetics your environment must be another factor in whether you become alcoholic in your adulthood.  In contrast, Cloninger also says that “alcoholism is not simply the sum of separate genetic and environmental contributions” (Cloninger 1).  This can become confusing because if alcoholism is not simply environmental or genetic then what could be the reasoning behind where it comes from.  Examples from the story, for instance when the sniper, “takes the whiskey glass from his pocket, he emptied it in a drought” (O’Flaherty).  In a battle scenario, high emotions and split second decision making is almost inevitable, both can be related to high levels of stress.  In stressful situations is when people turn to alcohol for answers. The sniper demonstrates similar behavior to that of an alcoholic.  Heavy drinking such as what was just described is usually explained by situations of high stress and might be considered as a stress reliever, this is the beginning stages of alcoholism.  The only thing the sniper could do to relieve his stress was finishing bottles of alcohol and his is constantly under large amounts of stress, a large amount of alcohol would be required.  Alcoholism can “vary from country to country, between social classes, between persons of different occupation between men and women” (Cloninger 2). In certain countries as well as social classes alcohol is used more often.  Ireland, a country that comes to mind when the word “alcoholic” is ranked number seven in the world for the most alcohol consumed (World Atlas).  It is safe to assume that Ireland has a very high rate of alcoholics, which happens to be where this story takes place.  This would add credibility to the claim that the Irish republican sniper has a higher likelihood of becoming an alcoholic.  As well as location and social class, occupation and sex also play a large role in determining whether someone is more likely to become an alcoholic.  Men are more susceptible to becoming alcoholics as well as men in the armed forces.  This is easy to believe because being in the armed forces can cause PTSD and other forms of mental blocks which increase stress levels.  Watching people die and killing others can be disturbing to almost anyone who maintains sanity while at war.  Alcohol is an easy and affordable escape from the modern hell that they are living in.

There are many long-term side effects that come with alcoholism that many people don’t realize.  Most people think that the worst thing that comes from alcohol is the hangover or becoming sick and throwing up.  However, there are many long term mental effects that come with lifetime alcohol consumption.  One of these consequences is reduced serotonin transports.  Research by Heinz states that, “A significant reduction in the ability of brain stem serotonin transports was found in the alcoholics, which was significantly correlated with lifetime alcohol consumption and with ratings of depression and anxiety during withdrawal” (Heinz 2).  There is about a thirty percent decrease in serotonin transports in the brain stem of lifetime alcoholics.  This causes them to become very emotional and inhibits their ability to make conscious decisions during times of withdrawal.  Along with this there are signs of depressive behaviors and anxious behaviors that are reoccurring.  The story the republican sniper is confronted with the decision to either smoke a cigarette and potentially give away his position or not smoke a cigarette and be forced with anxiety.  What a lot of people do not realize is that if an alcoholic is not under the influence they can act unlike themselves and do things that they otherwise wouldn’t, the don’t consider what anyone else is doing or the personal values of others (Heinz 3).  If the republican sniper is in fact an alcoholic, then he would in fact be very anxious in this situation because he is sober.  Cigarettes often are used to help with anxiety and stress, this could possibly be why he decided to spark the cigarette instead of go through with the pains of withdrawal.  The following consequence would be his position being compromised and shots being fired.  Heinz furthers his experiment to see whether the effects of alcoholism, such as low serotonin receptors, influences impulsive behaviors and rational decision making.  He states that, “Increased sensitivity of postsynaptic serotonin receptors may be due to reduced serotonin turnover…which has been associated with impaired impulse control and increased alcohol consumption” (Heinz 3).  What can be concluded from this is that reduced serotonin turnover is directly correlated with impulse control.  Which means that over time the effects of alcohol impaired the sniper’s ability to make conscious decisions, not just while he was drunk but also while he was sober.  Along with impaired decision making skills higher rates of alcohol consumption is an effect of low serotonin turnover.  This can possibly be the effect of the depression or anxiety that also affected the sniper with the long-term effects of lowered serotonin turnover.  This is particularly disturbing because alcohol is the main cause of the problem and a consequence is the urge to continue drinking at a higher rate, naturally making the problem worse.  The issue at hand is now how much low serotonin turnover effects impulsive behaviors. 

Impulsive behavior, when it becomes a trend, can become quite an issue.  In the story the republican sniper makes several impulsive decisions in a row that threaten his life and easily could have resulted in him being killed.  One of these impulsive decisions was the one that he made to run across the main road straight into enemy territory, directly through enemy heavy machine gun fire.  Whiteside says that, “the behavioral approach defines impulsivity as observable behaviors that an individual engages in, rather than a characteristic of the individual” (Whiteside 1).   Putting himself in a situation where he is being fired upon by machine guns is a behavior that could be considered as impulsive.  Although this action is impulsive, one cannot assume that this would make the republican sniper an impulsive person.  However, it can be assumed that he is making impulsive decisions due to the large amount of alcohol that he previously consumed in his sniping outpost, before it was attacked by enemies.  This could be a description of what type of individual he is.  Making rash decisions and rapid alcohol consumption are symptoms of low serotonin transporters.  Both were demonstrated by the republican sniper, leading to the conclusion that he is an alcoholic.  Whiteside’s studies say, “the personality approach views impulsivity as a trait that one possesses and that influences behavior” (Whiteside 1).  This would mean that the republican sniper suffers from alcoholism as well as an impulsive personality.  This would explain why he makes very quick decisions and why they are so risky.  An impulsive personality is especially dangerous while in a war time situation, combine that with the effects of long term alcoholism and it is unpredictable.  Rash decision making is often a side effect of urgency.  Moving with a sense of urgency in the republican sniper’s situation is presumably required.  Urgency can be described as the tendency to experience and act on strong impulses, frequently under conditions of negative effect.  Whiteside considers urgency mankind’s worst enemy (Whiteside 3). This would make sense because when driven by urgency you are forced to make decisions quickly.  If someone is forced to decide without taking their time and thinking it all the way through, then it probably isn’t the best decision to be made.  Along with making rash decisions people who are very urgent have been described to have trouble resisting their cravings.  Therefore, the republican sniper in the beginning of the story was faced with the dilemma of smoking a cigarette, which is a craving, or waiting he smoked the cigarette.  By adding this the author provides a personal scenario for the sniper to either be impulsive or rationalize his decision making.  This urgent decision almost caused him his life.  Which concludes urgency did not allow the sniper to make rational decisions.  

Suffering from alcoholism and its symptoms like impulsive behavior it makes it difficult for the republican sniper to make reasonable decisions.  They do not reflect their actions before acting upon them.  Research explains that, “Based on the assumptions that human beings do what they believe is good for them.  Thus, they are constructed as ‘rational animals’ capable of recognizing the value or utility of their actions” (Strack 5).  What this means is that humans are capable of recognizing what they are doing and can most likely predict what the consequence of that action will be.  The sniper’s decisions in the story play out when, “he paused for a moment considering whether he should risk a smoke. It was dangerous. The flash might be seen in the darkness, and there were enemies watching.  He decided to take the risk” (O’ Flaherty).  This proves that while the republican sniper is sober, because he has not yet taken the sip out of his bottle, he can rationally decide whether to take the risk.  Making the bad decision is a negative effect of his alcoholic tendencies.  He could not control his habit and is an example of urgency. Making rational decisions would reflect a person’s personal values. This is because allowing someone to think through their decisions would mean that they would do what they genuinely believe the right thing to do.  Strack believes, “the impulsive system elicits behavior through associative links and motivational orientations” (Strack 5).   This means that your impulses control what you are motivated to do. If both things are true, then that means that someone that suffering from the negative effects of long term alcohol abuse have limits on their personal values.  Or at least they have to many impulses and don’t think through their decisions enough to makes valuable decisions.  Strack believes that impulse is the effect of people,” not reflecting their values” (Strack 5). Which is natural because, some people make occasional bad decisions that have bad consequences and they learn from that bad experience that they had and consider that one of their personal values not to do it again.  However, the repetition of bad decision making, which is ignorance towards the negative consequences can be a representative of impulsive behavior.  This would bring others to the conclusion that alcoholics do not have personal values.  In the story the republican sniper was described to be, “reckless under the spirit” (O’ Flaherty).  This is an example of how even after the consumption of alcohol that it makes him become reckless. When someone is reckless they are not aware of their surroundings and do not care about what their consequences are.  Once he was reckless he decided to leave the roof which almost resulted in his immediate death if he was not as lucky as he was.

In conclusion, it is known that while the use of alcohol cannot be directly related to impulsive behavior, the long-term effects of alcohol abuse can be seen to cause lack of impulse control.  Research says that low serotonin levels causes anxiety which can cause a sense of urgency.  When anxious the republican sniper made bad decisions that had several negative impacts. This relates to the story because the republican sniper who through his behavior could be considered an alcoholic, suffers from these symptoms of low serotonin transports makes several impulsive decisions.  The impacts that they had caused him to get shot and almost ended his life.  If he wasn’t anxious and urgent, he would most likely have been able to keep control over his addiction to cigarettes and the light from his lighter would not have given away his position.  Learning from situations like this would be a personal value that most rational people would have.  Unfortunately, the republican sniper didn’t react to his personal values because of his lack of impulse control.  This lack of impulse control continues to affect him throughout the story as more and more situations present themselves. When faced with the decision to look for his commanding officers, which would require him to leave his weapons and a safe position to run across a main battleground into gunfire, he becomes impulsive.  Low serotonin levels are proven to cause the desire for more alcohol.  Which obviously makes you drunk.  Especially when consumed at a rate in which the republican sniper did.  The effects of alcohol along with the personality that is impulsive would cause him to make to decision to risk his life for no apparent reason.  Doing things like this could easily be described as a personality that does not have any personal values.  The research that was provided says that it is all dependent on the past use of alcohol.  This means that the sniper has been abusing alcohol for a while.  This can go back all the way to where he came from, the fact that he is a male, and even how he is in the military.  This is backed up because in the military you are put under a large amount of stress and your mind could be clouded and it could make him want to get drunk to clear his mind.  Alcoholism is determined by what type of specific person you are, it cannot be specifically traced to genes or environments, it depends specifically on events that occur in a person’s life.  
