Effects of Alcohol Abuse

Alcoholism is one of the most intractable and pervasive psychological disorders known. Though the negative health consequences of alcohol are widely understood, and, if anything, the social consequences of alcoholism are even more widely acknowledged, it seems that no matter what steps are taken by public health officials or private organizations, no strategy can ever be fully developed for eradicating alcoholism. There are a number of reasons why this is true. This paper will explore some of the social and medical problems created by alcohol, but in it I will also consider the role of alcohol in my personal life and the way I have seen the disease play out in the lives of people around me. The paper will also examine the social and political responses to the problem of alcoholism and attempt to determine where productive approaches have been taken and areas where mistakes have been made. Before discussing such wide-ranging questions, it is important to understand what alcoholism is and how it is manifested.

Car accidents are the biggest risk of injuries and deaths. According to the article Drinking (Alcoholic Beverages), drunk driving kills more than sixteen thousand people each year in the United States. Most of the time, death occurs when there is a driving incident. That death toll rises when being under the influence is involved. If the drunk driver does not pass away, it is usually the innocent victims in the other vehicle that do. Serious injuries also happen besides death. There can be a fall that can lead the person to break a bone or one might fall into a pool and drown without even knowing it. Violence is another form of injury that the intoxicated person can cause. Abuse towards others is the most common one. There is rage that gets build up until it is finally released. They can harm others, weather it is physically or verbally abusive. Being an alcohol addict can make someone have aggressive behavior. This makes the person violent to themselves but mainly to others. As stated in Drinking (Alcoholic Beverages), 36.3% of violent crime offenders were under the influence when the crime was committed. That goes to show what alcohol does to a person as long as they constantly consume

Many people, including alcoholics, are not fully aware of the devastation caused by alcohol abuse. Not only does alcohol have an impact on physical health, it causes a host of problems from a mental and emotional standpoint. This addiction is not only harmful to the body, it tears families apart, leads to job loss, and often causes isolation for the person who drinks.

Recent studies show that approximately fifty-three percent of adults in the United States have one or more close relatives that have drinking problems. Alcohol Abuse has cost the United States more than 220 billion dollars in 2005 alone. Problem drinkers are most often found in young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 years old, and the fewest in adults who are 65 years of age or older. Alcohol Abuse is one of the major risk factors for violence, and research shows that fifty percent of all homicides and forty percent of all assaults in the United States are alcohol related. In the United States, more than forty percent of the people who start drinking when they are fourteen years old or younger are more likely to become alcoholics than those who don’t. One in ten Americans, currently have alcohol problems.

Alcoholism is a major social issue around the world today. The ProQuest Staff of SIRS Researcher defines alcoholism as excessive use of alcohol that eventually results in dependence, or addiction where the body craves a drug. There are roughly 140 million alcoholics currently in the world, which results in higher rates of crime, abuse, illness, car crashes, and lower productivity in work (ProQuest Staff). According to Dr. Mark Willenbring, most

One of the growing epidemics of young adults in the United States is the dependence and/or abuse of alcohol, which is commonly referred to as alcoholism. The condition is described by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-V, as an alcohol use disorder (AUD), a type of substance abuse disorder, which encompasses both alcohol abuse and dependence. More specifically AUD is defined as, “medical conditions that doctors can diagnose when a patient’s drinking causes distress or harm (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2007).” When the reliance or use of alcohol interferes with daily functioning, or causes greater harm to the one’s self, it can then be looked at as a disorder. According to the DSM-V, patients

The DSM IV-TR criteria for substance dependence requires the person to have three or more of the following; tolerance, characteristic withdrawal symptoms, substance taken in larger amount and for a longer period of time than intended, persistent desire or repeated unsuccessful attempt to quit, more time or activity to obtain, use and recover, important social, occupational, or recreational activities given up or reduced, and use that continues despite the knowledge of adverse consequences.

Bailey (2004) used the Substance abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], and the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health to gain access to records and reports on how many Americans were binge drinkers and drug users. It was concluded that an estimated 14 million Americans (in 2004) met the diagnostic criteria for alcohol/drug abuse (Bailey, 2004). She used this information to compile the data used on the first page of her report to explain that alcoholism and addiction are devastating problems that many people/families deal with daily.

Three short-term effects of alcohol abuse include disinhibited behavior, decreased perception and coordination, and slow reflexes. In terms of disinhibited behavior, someone who is consuming a low to moderate dose of alcohol may begin to have a lack of restraint when it comes to interaction. This type of behavior can come off as rude or even offensive. In addition, decreased perception and coordination also become an issue when someone has had a few drinks, since coordination and balance may become difficult. Lastly, slow reflexes are also one of the short-term effects for alcohol abuse. The consumer may have a delayed reaction since they are not in the right state of mind. More then often, this impairment is not apparent to the affected person

Outline: Alcohol abuse I. Introduction A. Attention getter. Story of Stacy Rhymes from Daily Mail news report, and statistical facts of alcohol abuse. B. Thesis: As the report of National Institute of Health revealed, the Alcohol Use Disorder has become “the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States”, which warns us of this issue and calls for effective remedial actions to be taken. C. Preview: I will talk about the effects of alcoholic abuse, and then discuss the three main aspects of the causes of this problem.

In the world we live in today, people have quite easy access to things that can corrupt them. These things cloud one’s judgment and coerce people into doing things they should not. Alcohol is one of those things. Alcohol is extremely easy to get ahold of. It can be attained from anywhere; there are bars and liquor stores on every corner. One can get alcohol in grocery stores, gas stations, people can even brew it themselves if they know how. Alcohol that is commonly abused comes in a large variety ranging from weaker alcohols like wine and beer to stronger substances like tequila and vodka. When one abuses alcohol it taints the minds of even the purest souls and then they do things they normally would not do or it brings out their darker

Alcohol will destroy everything in its path. When consuming alcohol, the alcohol can seep into your bloodstream leading up to cause aggressive diseases. It affects the liver and you could possibly develop cirrhosis or even develop a liver disease. Alcohol can lead up to cancer as well. Cancers caused by alcohol are head and neck cancer, liver cancer, esophageal cancer, colorectal cancer, and one of the most common cancer; breast cancer. Despite the fact alcohol leads up to many cancers, people continue to still drink it.

Alcohol is a harmful drug consumed by many including young people ranging from the ages 15 to 29. Meanwhile alcohol does have some benefits when drank in moderation as an adult, when it comes to young people there is only negative impacts both psychically and mentally resulting in dangerous and life altering outcomes. What many seem to forget is that not only does alcohol effect the individual but also has a negative impact on their family, loved ones and community.

The abuse of alcohol over long periods of time may also cause diseases such as cirrhosis, acute alcohol hepatitis, and the most severe liver disease. Cirrhosis is a disease in which the liver becomes so scarred that the patient lacks sufficient healthy tissue to perform the organ?s functions. Once you?ve got it, you are stuck with it. (Gross, 6) The worst thing about these diseases is that you will not know you have them unless you are medically examined on a regular basis. Alcohol consumption is a large contributor to the development of several types of cancer- mostly dealing with the neck and brain. We know that cancer kills and therefore it is safe to say that in some cases, alcohol can be deadly. It is important to realize that alcoholism is a disease. A heavy drinker will experience the effects of withdrawal syndrome (which include hypertension, anxiety, disorientation, hallucinations, and seizures) if he decides to stop drinking. Being addicted to alcohol is similar to being addicted to any other drug in that once one starts using, it is tough to live without. It is also a ?gateway drug? just as marijuana and other sedatives. (Bennett, Woolf, 13-23)

There are some long-term effects on the body due to the abuse of alcohol. You can end up with brain damage, and dementia. Common disease resulting from excessive alcohol consumption are pancreatitis, gastritis, hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver, and heart disease. Alcoholics are also at risk for developing cancer in the mouth, throat, esophagus and even the liver. You can also develop psychiatric problems such as depression and anxiety which may lead to suicide. Woman who are pregnant shouldn’t drink alcohol because it will cause damage to the fetus.