Alcoholism

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What is Alcoholism?

The definition of alcoholism can be described as a chronic illness, which is marked by uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages that interferes with physical or mental health, and social, family or occupational responsibilities. This dependence on alcohol has only been diagnosed as a medical disorder recently in the medical field. Like many other diseases, it has a predictable course and is influenced environmentally and sometimes genetically. The disease can also be called progressive and fatal which means that the disease can persist over a long period of time, bodily changes progress as the drinking continues and can cause premature death through overdose, suicide, motor vehicle crashes and complications of the brain, liver, heart, and other organs. Alcoholism can be detected by four basic symptoms, they are tolerance which is the increasing need to drink excessive amounts to feel its affects, also impaired control which is the problem of not being able to stop oneself from drinking at any given time. Craving is another symptom characterized by a strong compulsion to drink, and the last one is physical dependence which shows withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, sweating, nausea or shakiness. Some other common minor symptoms would be solitary drinking, making excuses to drink, episodes of violence while under the influence, unexplained mood swings, neglect of physical appearance, and hostility when confronted about drinking. Also, one can have what is called preoccupation of alcohol which means excessive focused attention given to the drug, its effects and its use.
Causes of Alcoholism
There is no definite cause of alcoholism, however, many factors can play a role in the development of the disorder. In a family with an alcoholic parent, a child is more likely to become an alcoholic than a child without an alcoholic parent. Alcoholism can be inherited genetically from parent to child. An alcoholic disorder can occur if one or both parents drank alcohol at the time of conception or the mother drank alcohol during pregnancy. A women drinking during pregnancy can also cause several other complications besides a drinking disorder. In a study done it concluded that if one person in a family was an alcoholic that nine out of ten times alcoholism will be reported in two or mor...

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... in which the patient works daily and visit his family, but he returns to sleep and eat at the halfway house. This kind of treatment gives the person independence and lets them function in a life of sobriety. A less common type of therapy called aversion therapy is a drug that produces very unpleasant side effects if there is alcohol intake within two weeks of the drug being taken. This kind of treatment is very forceful making the person dislike the alcohol because of the repulsive side effects. A self-help group called Alcoholics Anonymous exists that gives emotional support and acts as a role model because of the recovery being made by the alcoholics.
The majority of the patients are very unwilling to get help because they are either too lazy or just don’t really care too much. To help induce treatment, dealing with motivation to help maintain and increase his or her desire to recognize and then to stop his or her alcohol related problems.
Therapy can be done by all professionals or nonprofessionals or both. Through a series of steps of identification, confrontation, and then medical and psychiatric treatment, most alcoholics can be guided through the process fairly smoothly.

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