In today's modern society alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse has become one of the most complex, life-threatening issues. Most depressed individuals usually indulge themselves in bars or pubs with their alcohols to escape from their stressful life. It has become increasingly alarming how alcohol does not only attract the adults, but also teenagers these days. "Research has shown that approximately 14 million Americans (7.4%) of the population meet the diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse or alcoholism" ("Facts about Alcohol"). Alcohol addicts may encounter social impact such as loss of respect from others who may see the problem as self- inflictive and easily avoided. Repeated use of alcohol over a period of time can result in alcohol abuse. Millions of people enjoy drinking on occasion. When drinking becomes a routine, people become dependent
on alcohol. Alcohol addiction has enormous and somewhat fatal consequences on humans. It has, directly or otherwise, an impact on the individual, family, friends and the society.
Anyone could become a permanent drinker if he lacks self-control. Haring states that "If people drink to relax or have fun, escape from responsibilities and pressures, loosen up to feel more sociable and accepted, or drink just to ease the discomfort of low self-esteem, they are at higher risk of abusing alcohol than people who drink infrequently" (21). Once an individual has become an alcohol addict, it has become an uphill task for him to terminate this particular habit and it is in his best interest that he does not procrastinate any further. Addiction to alcohol could lead to behavior changes in oneself, physically or mentally as evidential in how one could hurt others or use abusive languag...
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...ed by drunken drivers and innocent lives are involved. To prevent those road accident from happening, many country impose rule such as "no alcohol after 10" ("Prevention Works") and cars are stopped by the traffic police to check the driver's breath to detect those who are drunk and they will get fine if they are. However, study shown that there are "over 2 million drove a car in 2001 while under the influence of alcohol" in America ("The Alcohol Addiction Dilemma"). This large digit will contribute to the risk of having automobile accident.
Excessive consumption of alcohol may result in consequences of one's health and, to a certain extend, the people around them as it is said "better safe than sorry", it is adamant that we avoid excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages which may cause addiction. Large amount of alcohol are both costly and deadly.
Researchers state that binge drinking can cause death and disease at a rate of 3.7% and 4.4% respectively all over the world (Hermens at el.,2012:1). Apart from this, further research indicates that alcohol contributes to negative outcomes that kill or disable people at a relatively young age (WHO,2011:20). This can give a result that many people can loss many
Frey and Schonbeck explain that it is estimated that over 76 million people worldwide are affected by alcohol abuse or dependence. The chance of having an alcoholic in one’s life is very high. Children that grow up in an environment with an alcoholic may increase that child’s chance of becoming an alcoholic themselves. In the United States, the most commonly abused drug among youth is alcohol. Even though the legal drinking age is 21, nearly 20% of all alcohol consumed in the United States is by people under the legal age (83). In fact, when youth start drinking at social events in their teenage years, they are greatly increasing their risk of developing alcohol problems (85). Alcoholism can affect people of all ages. Furthermore, some experts try to differentiate between alcoholics and social drinkers. Typically, they base this off of five categories. Social drinkers do not drink alone. They consume minimal amounts of alcohol during social functions. Situational drinkers may not ever drink unless they are stressed out. These drinkers are more likely to drink by themselves. Problem drinkers can be described as a drinker that alcohol has caused problems in their life. However, they usually respond to advice given by others. Binge drinkers are out of control in their alcohol consumption. They may drink until they pass out or worse. Alcoholic drinkers have found that their lives have become unmanageable and that they are completely powerless over alcohol (84). Alcoholics should be cautious of their surroundings to prevent
“Alcohol ruined me financially and morally, broke my heart and the hearts of too many others,” wrote comedian Craig Ferguson, in his book American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of An Unlikely Patriot. Alcohol consumption is a learned behavior - no one enjoys the taste of alcohol at first. People drink out of curiosity, out of custom (toasting the newlyweds), or to elude unpleasant feelings. However, out of constant drinking comes alcoholism: a term to describe the disease formed by the continuous misuse of alcohol. Although it is considered a disease, it is specifically an addictive illness (Benton). Those affected by alcoholism range wider than just the person who has developed it. Thus, persons with alcoholism are a detriment in today’s society by not only damaging their own bodies, but also martyring their families mentally and physically.
Throughout history alcohol has been a common drink in social and celebration environments. However in today’s society it is easily accessible, very cheap, and advertised on every channel available. Alcohol has taken over our society, from teenagers to seniors, everyone is exposed to the culture of drinking. That is not the issue though, the issue is in today’s society gluttony is a common virtue and many people take drinking beyond social and celebration environments. Many Americans suffer from a disease known as alcoholism, it is not only the addiction to, but the inability to function without alcohol. Just like many other substances, in excess alcohol can create many issues within the body both mentally and physically, this is the issue behind alcoholism.
“Alcoholism (alcohol dependence) is a more severe pattern of drinking that includes the problems of alcohol abuse plus persistent drinking in spite of obvious physical, mental, and social problems caused by alcohol” (Ringold, M. S.). Alcoholism is a major social problem in today’s world. People can agree that alcoholism threatens the lives of the person and the people they care about. Alcohol is one of the drugs that have caused serious problems for the younger generation. Alcoholism is greatly influenced by peer pressure. To get stress out, sometimes an alcoholic will drink heavily. Alcohol consumption is associated with your health. Drinking heavily can be the cause for liver cancer. Also, you can be intoxicated and could be driving drunk
A majority of American citizens can honestly say that they, or a loved one, have been personally victimized by the dangerous side effects of alcohol. Yet alcohol is still considered a recreational beverage, that too many people take for granted. The addiction to alcohol is officially labelled as “Alcoholism.” Alcoholism can affect one’s life in a numerous amount of ways. It is an overlooked danger in the U.S. which can negatively affect the youth of America and the economy, which is why it is an enormous danger to the U.S.
In conclusion to alcoholism and alcohol abuse everybody who has an alcohol problem should hear everything contained within this paper. The number one drug killer is alcohol, even if all the deaths of overdoses were combined alcohol still makes up for more deaths. If you cannot drink responsibly you will pay for it in the long run.
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, alcoholism is defined as "the compulsive consumption of and psychophysiological dependence on alcoholic beverages." It is a problem that can tear apart marriages and families, cause someone to lose his job, and many more negative results. In order to recover from this dependency a person must lose his desire for and dependence upon alcohol, continue to remain sober, and resolve all conflicts caused by the alcohol abuse. There are several alternatives an alcoholic has to rehabilitate himself. The best solution is a combination of individual therapy and a support group like Alcoholics Anonymous.
Alcohol is causing too many deaths. Each year, excessive drinking is responsible for the deaths of 80,000 people in the United States, 4,700 of which are young Americans (6). Alcohol by itself is dangerous; this danger is (made greater) when individuals consuming it are allowed to drive a vehicle. Research has shown that a pedestrian struck by a vehicle moving at 40 miles an hour has a fifty percent chance of getting killed as a result of the impact (9). A distracted or impaired driver will not be able to react as fast as a non-impaired driver, meaning a drunk driver is a more dangerous driver than a sober one.
“For every family that is impacted by drugs, there are another 10 to 15 families impacted by alcohol abuse. It's a pretty big deal. We have a tendency to only look at part of the puzzle.” (Kevin Lewis). As a society we tend to categorize the severity of addiction in a way that drugs are the most dangerous and alcohol being just a problem. Because alcohol addiction can be a slow progressive disease many people don’t see it in the same light as drug addiction. An addiction to drugs is seen as being a more deadly and dangerous issue then that of alcohol because a drug addiction can happen more quickly and can kill more quickly. Alcohol is something that is easy to obtain, something that is found at almost every restaurant. People with an alcohol addiction can not hide from alcohol as easy as a drug addict. Approximately 7 million Americans suffer from alcohol abuse and another 7 million suffer from alcoholism. (Haisong 6) The dangers of alcohol affect everyone from children with alcoholic parents, to teenagers who abuse alcohol, then to citizens who are terrorized by drunk drivers.
Drinking alcohol is associated with many adverse health problems in the short and long-term. These include cancer, stroke, heart disease, miscarriage, premature birth and unintentional injuries. Despite the fact that alcohol brings many negative impacts, many people still choose to drink and do not overcome their drinking habit. They have been successfully seduced by alcohol until drinking has become their addiction. However, some of them try to quit drinking, but they still cannot break the addiction. Basically, quitting alcohol is difficult and almost impossible for them because of brain-craving, lack of belief and support, and weak willpower.
Health problem and drunk driving hit the list. Alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways, and can affect the way the brain looks and works. In addition, alcohol causes the pancreas to produce toxic substances that can eventually lead to pancreatitis, a dangerous inflammation and swelling of the blood vessels in the pancreas that prevents proper digestion [3]. Not only that, alcohol can also increase the risk of developing certain cancer. But almost every drinker knows these horrible diseases above, then why they never stop drinking? The point is, a short-term alcohol consumption does tiny harm to human’s body, only long-term alcohol consumption can impair the body badly. Nevertheless, the contradiction is apparent to find out: when a drinker finds that there is something wrong with their health, it is too late. And in a drinker’s early life, they can not completely realize which kind of damage that alcohol consumption can lead because they were healthy at that time——at least on the surface. Alcohol just like a chronic disease, making drinkers less vigilant, and brings on severe health consequences in the end.
Research shows that 17.6 million people are suffering from alcohol abuse. According to the article “Facts about Alcohol”, it states that 88,000 people has died from excessive alcohol use and that alcoholism is the 3rd leading lifestyle related cause of death in the nation. Many people can debate on what excessive drinking truly is. Some may say having two to three drinks on a daily bases is excessive and then you have people that argue and say having a drink every day is excessive. Doctors and phycologist often say that excessive drinking goes to the purpose of why the person is drinking and often ask is the drink a want or a need. If the person answers as if they need the drink or drinks then they would classify those individual’s as excessive drinkers and that they are experiencing substance
Effects of alcohol are many and are all bad. There is not one good effect of excessive alcohol drinking, except what an alcoholic considers a good feeling after getting drunk. The alcoholics drink for many reasons, but the results are all the same. Alcohol has very bad effects on all human body organs; it causes disease and some of those diseases are dangerous and even fatal, and the most common diseases re...
The problem of alcohol use is very relevant nowadays. Today alcohol consumption characterized by vast numbers in the world. All of society is suffering from this, but primarily jeopardized the younger generation: children, teenagers, young people, and the health of future mothers. Because alcohol is particularly active effect on the body that are not formed, gradually destroying it. The harm of alcohol abuse is evident. It is proved that when alcohol is ingested inside the body, it is carried by blood to all organs and has harmful effect on them until destruction. Systematic use of alcohol develops a dangerous disease such as alcoholism. Alcoholism is dangerous to human health, but it is curable as other diseases. The big problem is that most of the alcohol products which are made in private places contain many toxic substances, defective products often leads to poisoning and even death. All this has negative impact on society and its cultural values.