Alcoholism: The Biggest Problem In America

The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition is a very interesting book written by W.J. Rorabaugh which anlyze the high prevalence of alcohol consumption in United States during the early 19th century. When he explains how he started writing the book, he said that when he was looking for a long essay in a particular subject he came across a lot of temperance pamphlets from the 1820’s and 30’s. That is the starting point of writing the book for him. He has stated in the preface Ix that Americans drank more alcoholic beverages percapita than ever before or since between 1790 and 1830. He has mentioned

Throughout the eighteen hundreds saloons were the site of rockus drinking, profane drunkards, and unthinking violence. This drinking culture was defined by masculinity and by free flowing alcohol that permeated all throughout America, city to city. The saloons became so popular with working men because it was time they could spend away from their wives and their homes. In Catherine Murdock’s book Domesticating Drink she argues that these elements of saloon culture, exclusivity, inebriety, and violence, were eliminated by the increase in popularity of mixed sex speakeasies, cocktail parties, and the overall domestication of drink. But this conclusion misinterprets the history of alcohol from Prohibition to the present. Although alcohol is now consumed without the exclusively of the past, it has evolved to be over sexualized and associated with a masculine culture of binge drinking over sexualized and domestic violence.

College drinking is a major problem and it affects the lives of students their families and the community. As the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism website notes: “About four out of five college students drink alcohol. . .” (“College Drinking”). The Affects of alcohol have impacted the lives of many people. I believe drinking is a problem, and believe that it is a problem that it is often overlooked by Parents, colleges, and students. Parents, colleges, and students need to learn about college drinking, the factors that make it a problem, and how to prevent students from drinking while attending college or limit

In his book, The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition, William J. Rorabaugh makes the argument that early American society was a place where alcohol flowed freely through every level of society. Americans in the late eighteenth century and into the nineteenth century partook in so widely it was one of the defining characteristics of the culture of the early United States. Using data collected from censuses, surveys, and reports from those who traveled across the country in its early years, Rorabaugh concludes that the drinking in the United States found no barriers with age, sex, race, class, or location. But his assumptions and conclusion are not proved strongly enough by hard evidence and data to be considered a reliable narrative of the early America.

I was very one sided as I walked into a AA meeting. I thought that the meeting where boring and little bit too much for people who wont to stop drinking. I couldn’t understand why people look forward to these meeting when they can simply talk to someone at home. Nevertheless, I was wrong. Hearing these people story who suffer from alcohol addiction was very heart breaking. I remember one story about this man losing his son to car accident. The only way he dealt with the pain of losing his son was to drink. He stated ever night he drunk him self-asleep. He was so adamant about telling his story because if it wasn’t for the hospital staff he would have lost his life. Alcoholism is an addiction to the consumption of alcoholic liquor or the mental illness and compulsive behavior resulting from alcohol dependency. alcohol is the main common substance abuse in the united states. The reported show over 16.3 million adults over 18 years older had a least try alcohol in the life time. 71 percent reported that they drank in the past year. 4.7 percent of people ages 18 or older reported that they engaged in binge drinking in the past month. 6.7 percent reported that they engaged in heavy drinking in the past month. 50 percent of marriage fell due to the spouse drinking uncontrollably (Burke, 2015)

Think About how long thirty minutes is. How many thirty minutes are in a day, quite a few, twenty six to be exact. On average one person dies every 30 minutes due to an automobile accident caused by alcohol. Not only does alcohol kill, it clouds decisions, and is involved in a large percent of crime. Alcohol doesn’t stop there it negatively effects our youth. Alcohol is the worst drug problem in the U.S.

Drinking pattern does differ by race and ethnicity in the United States. Our book discusses the difference between Irish, Italians, French, Asia & Native Americans, Hispanics, and African American. Studies show that African Americans have higher rates of alcoholism than whites do. This conclusion is due to the lack of research on drinking pattern amongst blacks (Lex, 1985; Sterne, 1967). Evidence also show that white women has a lower rate of alcoholism than black women, yet African American women have a higher abstain rate (Harper and Saifnoorian, 1991). Most African American males don’t encounter with alcohol related problems until about their 30’s. Seen in a study by Herd’s (1990) it revealed that is was some similar patterns between white and blacks as well as differences. White were found to do more

Webster’s New World Dictionary defines alcoholism as a chronic condition which is mainly characterized by excessive and compulsive consumption of and dependence on alcohol as well as nutritional and mental disorders. This definition depicts alcoholism as a disease that is beyond one’s control. It has however been argued in some circles that alcoholism is a choice and the idea of alcoholism as a disease is a myth. Since it is an individual choice to take alcohol, alcoholism is a consequence of free will. Both sides of the debate are discussed in this paper and it is my conclusion that there is strong evidence that suggests that alcoholism is a disease that needs treatment.

Alcoholism is a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. Alcoholism is a complex disease with physical, social and psychological consequences, but it can be treated through detoxification and anti-anxiety drugs. What will be explained in this essay is basically the history of alcohol, signs of one possibly being an alcoholic, possibilities to why one becomes an alcoholic, and treatments for it.

Alcoholism, the 3rd health related drug problem in the United States. A research on alcohol concluded that “Seven in ten adults or one hundred million Americans, ages eighteen and up are estimated to be drinkers” (Raby). In addition, approximately “10 million of the one hundred million Americans” have developed alcoholism (Raby). Around the late 18th century temperance movements to abolish alcohol were created, eventually abolishing alcohol through the 18th amendment, also known as the Volstead Act which stated “… beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.” (Raby). Unfortunately, it did not last very long, instead of solving problems, it created more. Crime organization, increase growth in bootlegging and consumptions erupted due to the inability

Many small towns make up the community in Putnam County, Ohio, where from weddings to graduations, to baptisms to funerals, everything is centered on excessive consumption of alcohol. According, to Healthy People, Putnam County was ranked number two in the state of Ohio for the second year in a row in alcohol consumption (Putnam County Sentinel, 2014). Approximately twenty four thousand of the thirty four thousand residents in Putnam County, Ohio are over the age of twenty one, and have access to more than one hundred and thirty establishments that serve alcohol (Ohio.gov, n. d.). Meanwhile, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines moderate drinking among women as up to one drink per day. Additionally, the number of

The term alcohol is such a casual term in America. Few people think twice about it. We Americans think we know everything about it, but do we really? The truth is, alcohol is in fact a drug. It is not one to take lightly either. Whenever an American sees a couple of guys drinking beers at a bar or a couple in love having a glass of wine, those people are really just doing drugs and trying to get a high. But few people see it like that; how it truthfully is. Alcohol has a lot of the same characteristics and attributes as many illegal drugs that people consider so dire. Alcohol kills people, ruins relationships,

The subject that we will be fixing in this essay is ‘Doug’. Doug has a problem with drinking. He had an easy upbringing, but lived with a military father. Doug has been drinking since he was a teenager. Doug realizes that if he continues to drink that it will continue to damage his life. His drinking has caused major problems in his life already, he has gone through two divorces because he cannot stop drinking, he has lost two children, and broken his family. Doug uses drinking as a crutch. By helping Doug end his drinking habits, he could turn his life around for the better.

First, in order to better understand the scale of the problem let’s take a closer look at the numbers. Since late 2007, nearly 8.5 million jobs were lost; in

Alcoholism and drug abuse has existed for as long as we can remember. For teenagers its something cool to do and numb whatever pains they have. For adults it’s a way to get away from everyday stress and avoid conflicts in life. To everyone it’s a way to feel free and as if they are in charge of the world by altering their moods, and ironically a way to actually feel good about themselves by absurdly doing something that makes them look like unpleasant people.