Alcoholism: A Chronic Or Progressive Disease?

According to MedlinePlus, alcoholism is a disease in which a person has a physical or psychological dependence on drinks that contain alcohol. This can last for years or even last a whole life time. There are more than 3 million cases per year. Alcohol abuse can have many negative effects on family, friends, and the alcoholic. It can damage a person’s body, such as the heart, and the liver, health, and it can affect your life decisions.

Alcohol addiction can destroy your family, and it is hard to believe that because you may even have a particular gene that everything can disappear in the snap of a finger. I understand that there are also others that just need to take responsibility for themselves, but there are others that do need to seek help because it can cause them to be abusive, lose their families, destroy finances, decrease your health as well other behavioral problems. Some treatments or techniques can be used for this addiction if these individuals are willing. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a treatment for alcoholics. AA does not treat alcoholism as a disease but more a spiritual concern. These individuals can also be clients to professional counseling which would use the technique of empathy and cognitive therapy. Others that are severely addicted to alcohol may need to detox at inpatient clinic and start recovery there because of intense

First, before I could answer this question, I had to do a little research. Alcohol addiction is a physical dependence on alcohol which occurs gradually. Over time, drink too much alcohol changed the balance of chemicals in your brain associated with the pleasure aspects of drinking alcohol. Excessive, long-term drinking can affect the balance of these chemicals, causing your body to crave alcohol to restore good feelings or to avoid negative feelings. “Alcoholism was officially recognized as a disease by the American Medical Association in 1991”. ( http://www.learn-about-alcoholism.com/alcoholism-disease.html ).

Alcoholism is a baffling and powerful disease. It affects all people from all walks of life. It has been medically proven and recognized by most of society as a disease. However, for some people who either have not been affected or just do not have any knowledge of the disease, it is considered more as a weakness of character. Alcoholism has many effects, on the alcoholic them self, towards their family and friends, and on their health, on their spouse and children, mentally and physically, but the good thing is there is help out there for all of these people.

Alcoholism has raised many debates over the truth of its nature. Many scholars argue that alcoholism can be treated as a disease. Such approach to defining alcoholism means denying that alcohol abusers own a choice. In consequence, the treatment related differs and may or may not actually help alcoholics recover. A wrong diagnostic of this addiction can lead to serious health issues; therefore, it is vital to answer the following question: Is alcoholism a disease? Most experts in this field criticises this view of alcoholism as a disease due to the fact that this theory simply lacks a cure. It also victimises alcohol abuser, hence, completely negating the power of will. Finally, the disease theory comes from a history of misinformation that has now resulted in the very source of confusion within our society. Alcoholism is extremely complex and affects all part of the abuser, the brain, the body, the genes, and the psychic; hence, it is hard to classify alcoholism as a whole Instead, it should be regarded in a case-by-case fashion.

Many ask “what is alcoholism?” Alcoholism is also known as alcohol “dependence syndrome”.Alcoholics crave alcohol and it's a compulsion to drink. The author of this quote “Alcoholism is a behavior pattern characterized by uncontrolled drinking of alcohol to the extent of impairing health & social function” ( Cosper 1). Now knowing what alcoholism is, let's discuss the side effects.

1. What is alcoholism? 2. How do people become alcoholics? 3. What are the effects of alcoholism, on both the alcoholic and their family? 4. How do you diagnose alcoholism? 5. Is there a cure for alcoholics? 6. What is the treatment? What is Alcoholism? Alcoholism can be defined as the dependency on alcohol; addiction to alcohol. It is a chronic disease, this disease called alcoholism is progressive and potentially fatal. “ In 1966 the American Medical Association (AMA) declared Alcoholism a disease, but it is still judged morally by society” said Father Martin. There are different types of alcoholics, the first type of alcoholic is the everyday drinker. These alcoholics drink on a daily basis with a high dependency on alcohol. A

Alcohol is a drink that consumed socially, but most often people take it too far and it becomes an addiction. Most people drink it to relax or even decrease the chances of having anxiety, but when consumed too often it becomes alcohol abuse called alcoholism. Alcoholism is an addiction of an uncontrollable desire to intake alcohol, alcoholism can also be known as alcohol dependency. Many people suffer from this addiction unknowingly the consequence it has on the brain. People who are addicted to alcohol is not only harming themselves but it can also affect the people around them and their daily lives. Loss of employment, deaths by car accidents, and health problems are some of the consequences of alcoholism.

The disease theory of alcohol never directly states how or why people are alcoholic, it never specifically informs you on what causes people to drink compulsively. It reveals that people drink compulsively because they have compulsion. The definition of alcoholic is people who can never drink in moderation. Most people say that lack of control is vital to the disease theory but “If we define disease as an ‘impairment of health or condition of abnormal functioning,’ then alcoholism is a disease, along with stealing, nail-biting and partner abuse.

Alcoholism is a chronic disease that affects over 18 million people around the world (Yasinski). Alcohol isn’t a bad thing as long as you don’t abuse it like alcoholics do. Alcoholism affects a lot of things! It affects the person, because they can potentially lose their job if they get a DUI (drinking while driving) or they get caught drunk at work. It also affects the alcoholic’s health because they can die of an overdose (Roan). It also in fact affects family members and close friends. They may not know how to help their struggling alcoholic.

With the progression of time comes variations; and so many words have been stretched, modified, and altered to different ideologies. Alcoholism is a word with slight yet significant variations. Try typing “alcoholism definition” into your preferred search engine, two dominant denotations will come up; one along the lines, “an addiction to the consumption of alcoholic liquor or the mental illness and compulsive

Alcoholism is defined as a person's desire to drink four or more glasses of alcohol at a time. The bad news is, the more years the greater number of women who suffer from this condition.

Alcoholism is a an addiction of excessive consumption of alcohol that has been the cause all kinds of abuses in thousands of families. Throughout many years families of an alcoholic person have suffered the hardships of dealing with a person who consistently drinks alcohol in excessive and can not be controlled.While the causes of why a person becomes an alcoholic varies for each person, the effects of this addiction can sure noted. NOt only does alcoholism cause damage to your body, but it also cause a destruction in family, and poor conducts with the people you love and people you do not even know.

Alcoholism, or alcohol dependence, is a disease that includes strong cravings for alcohol and continuing to drink, despite repeated alcohol-related problems. Although alcoholism can be developed due to excessive consumption, a user is at higher risk when the disease runs in the family. The four main symptoms of alcoholism are craving, impaired control, tolerance, and physical dependence. 3,4 For most adults, moderate alcohol use is up to two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women and older people. Obivously, the safest way to avoid alcoholism is to not drink at all. But if one must intake alcohol they should try to stay around the moderate alcohol intake.

The term alcoholism is broad referring to all problems related to alcohol. In general terms, it implies uncontrolled and compulsive intake of alcoholic drinks that detriment the health, social standing, and personal relationships of the drinker. Medics have considered alcoholism as a disease categorizing it as an addictive illness; in psychiatry, it is referred to as alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse. The World Health Organization has defined alcoholism as a syndrome of dependence on alcohol (Vaillant, 2009).