Alcoholism Defined
Alcoholism is a long-term, progressive disease that has not a whit to do with weakness of character or a lack of willpower. Alcohol is the most available and widely abused substance in the world.
The disease of alcoholism is influenced by genetic, psychological, social and environmental factors. All of these play into this illness; for instance, certain racial groups, such as Native American Indians and Native Alaskans, are more adversely affected by alcohol.
Depending on how your body responds to alcohol, you may or may not have an increased chance of alcoholism. Scientists theorize that 50 percent of the risk of alcoholism may be gene related. A combination of environmental and psychiatric factors is thought to account for the rest of the influence of alcohol on one’s body.
Red Flags to Watch For
The warning signs of alcohol abuse or dependency are many and at times, varied among men, women and adolescents. You may be curious about the role of alcohol in your own life or someone else’s. The following are common signs that alcohol may be taking over that life.
- Ever wake with a hangover bad enough to drive you to partake in a “hair of the dog” ritual? An eye-opener? Need a shot to kick-start your day?
- Do you feel a strong need for a drink? When you do start drinking, you find it difficult to control the amount you drink?
- It takes an increased amount of alcohol to reach the same state of euphoria than previously experienced.
- You drink alone or hide your drinking, including hiding alcohol from family and friends in unlikely places at home, work or school.
- When you always have drinks at a certain time, you find yourself annoyed when those plans are interrupted or questioned.
- You are experiencing blackouts – periods of time when you don’t remember what you did.
- You order doubles and/or chug your first drinks to get to that level of intoxication to feel good or “normal.”
- You lose interest in activities such as socializing or sports.
- You have legal troubles and possibly, relationship, employment or financial problems because of your drinking.
- At times, you feel guilty about drinking.
- There are times you consider cutting back “out of necessity.”
- You get annoyed by others’ comments about your drinking.
- When you don’t drink, you experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, shaking and sweating.
- You are a woman who has four or more drinks a day or a man who has five or more drinks a day. A drink is defined as a 12-ounce beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor.
The differences between men and women regarding alcohol are significant. Women develop long-term consequences of alcohol abuse, such as heart and liver damage, a higher incidence of breast cancer and a negative effect on reproductive functioning, faster than men. Experts think that is due to women metabolizing alcohol at a slower rate than men. Women also have a higher alcohol-related mortality rate than men.
The psychiatric diagnoses of men and women also differ in the following ways: women deal with alcohol-dependent issues, major depression, anxiety, panic disorders, borderline personality disorder, PTSD or bulimia. Women also are more likely to have a history of domestic or sexual violence than the general population. Men tend to deal with narcissistic or antisocial personality disorder, impulse disorder, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Teen and Young Adult Alcohol Abuse
Alcohol abuse in teens and young adults is the major cause of deaths in this age group for alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents. Alcohol is also found to be the cause of many deaths by drowning, suicide or homicide. Young people who drink have been found through research to be more sexually active than their peers and to engage in high-risk sex that may expose them to STDs, sexual abuse or date rape.
Risk Factors
There are some risk factors that are obviously not good ideas, but people do them anyway. Other risk factors are built into our social fabric. U.S. studies have shown that drinking at an early age often leads to problem drinking and alcohol abuse. Family history is also a risk factor for those with parents, siblings or close relatives with alcohol problems. Drinking too much for too long or bingeing can get you into trouble. Many times, overdrinking is also seen in those with anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, dependence on other drugs and bipolar disorder.
Having friends who often drink heavily could increase your chances of becoming a problem drinker. For those with low self-esteem, peer pressure is a powerful force. A stressful lifestyle may contribute to your need to drink. And the media plays its hand in dealing out glamorous images of the beautiful people sipping eye-catching drinks.
Treatment
There are two philosophical camps when one talks about treatment outcomes, and they determine the treatment course. One camp is about zero tolerance, and the other camp is about managing alcohol intake. Most drug agencies and counselors agree that the zero-tolerance philosophy is the best solution to this terrible problem. Typical treatments include drug detoxification, in which the alcoholic gets off of alcohol. Because of the nature of alcohol withdrawal, this often requires the use of medical supervision because a long-time alcoholic could suffer fatal seizures. This period may take months, or for as long as depression and anxiety last. On average, research has shown that it takes one year of complete abstinence to recover one’s cognitive effects from chronic alcoholism. Patience and perseverance are key when it comes to recovering from alcohol addiction.