Judgment Interference Factors

Exercising good judgment means being able to discern appropriate responses and actions and make effective decisions when cognitive reasoning is not impaired. Sound judgment relies on healthy brain functioning, but there are several factors that may impair one's judgment. Some of these factors include the use of drugs/alcohol, medical conditions and mental health disorders.

Alcohol Affects Judgment

• When alcohol is ingested, it enters the blood stream and begins to impair brain functioning, including judgment. Alcohol narrows the visual field and interferes with the capacity to differentiate light intensities, which makes driving or operating machinery while drinking hazardous. Alcohol use affects the brain's information processing system. People who have been drinking are unable to concentrate when performing tasks that involve multi-tasking such as looking ahead, watching your speed, staying within the lines on the road and signaling when necessary.

Drug Use Affects Judgment

• Drug use affects the brain and how it functions so that you cannot think clearly or practice good judgment. According to the National Institute On Drug Abuse, even smoking marijuana can affect your judgment to the point where you may not be able to remember things, fail subjects in school or even have a car accident. Even marijuana use may affect decision making so that you might behave in ways that you would never behave otherwise. This may include taking risks in sexual relations or being the passenger in a car when the driver is under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Mental Health Disorders

• Mental health disorders can affect a person's judgment. People who are severely depressed, for example, may begin to believe that they will never feel better and start to think about suicide as the only way out. In reality, there are effective treatment approaches to improve their mood and outlook. Patients suffering from schizophrenia may experience hallucinations and paranoia which may alter their judgment and perception.

Physical Disorders

• Medical disorders such as dementia experienced by Alzheimer's patients can affect a person's judgment. The brain is altered so that a person may be unable to reason effectively and, therefore, may exercise poor judgment such as not dressing appropriately for the weather or behave inappropriately in social situations. Other diseases that may affect judgment include Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease and Pick's disease. Some brain tumors may also affect judgment.