African American Drinking Pattern Essay

Native Americans have dealt with many problems after European colonization, and one of the prevalent issues is alcoholism. With the history of alcohol being an invasive and with modern times leading to more cases of alcoholism, it is hard to say when the Native Americans will see the day when their communities are free of this trouble.

The impact of various kinds of substances to cultural groups has historically been precipitated by the significance of particular substances on different cultural groups (Moore, 2010).This is mainly because the long term usage of these substances leads to the integration of the consumption of the substance into the cultural patterns of the given group. One such group that has been affected by the extensive usage of a particular substance is the Native American community. According to the Associated Press (2014, August 28), as noted on the MSNBC website, out of ten deaths among the Native American population, one is Alcohol related. Additionally, the prevalence of Alcohol consumption among the Native American population relates to

There are reports that there is a problem with binge drinking among college students; approximately 80%–85% of college students have used alcohol, with approximately 40%–45% being classified as binge drinkers. Native Americans are more likely than other groups to binge drink; 32.8% of American Indian/Alaska Native adults binge drink in comparison to 23.4% of whites. Native American youth have reported higher rates of lifetime and recent alcohol use in comparison with those from other racial/ethnic backgrounds. Many colleges have manditory alcohol awarness courses for incoming

Native Americans as a whole have been typecast as drunks ever since the coming of the white man’s “fire water.” TS Naimi, MD et al. reports that alcohol is responsible for 11.7% of all American Indian and Alaska Native deaths, compared to 3.3% for the U.S. general population (939). This disturbing discrepancy reinforces the age old notion of the “drunk Indian.” Generalizations aside, is there some truth to this stereotype? Are Indians more likely than other races to be drunks? Of all the races, “Native Americans have the highest prevalence (12.1%) of heavy drinking…A larger percentage of Native Americans (29.6%) also are binge drinkers” (Chartier and Caetano 153). Although some research has been done on genetic causes, little is

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)

Although tribes vacillate with regard to the use of alcohol and drugs, substance dependence is one of the principal sources of health problems facing Native Americans. As the graph below shows, there is a disparity in abuse.

Alcoholism is a prevalent social epidemic for Native Americans, especially among youth between the ages of 13 to 18 that reside on the reservations. Alcoholism and chronic substance abuse among Native America youth is increasing at a rapid rate in the past few years. Alcoholism is risk of substance abuse or dependence is consistently elevated in adolescents who had been victims of assault or who had witnessed violence (Kilpatrick, Acierno, Saunders, Resnick, Best, & Schnurr, 2000). Inherent risks associated with substance abuse range from minor poor judgement errors to life-threating events, for example dose overdose or acute drug hypersensitivity (Beauvais, 1992). Studies have not yet found a clear biological mechanism that would explain alcoholism and excessive drinking, but a number of them have suggested a possibility of some kind of predisposition to the condition (Clinard & Meier, 2015). This paper presents an analysis of family structure, alcoholism diagnosis criteria, and psychological effects associated with chronic alcohol abuse among Native American youth.

Despite concerted efforts to improve alcohol and drug abuse prevention and clinical programs as well as decades of research, available information suggests that the prevalence of problematic substance use has not appreciably changed in many American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities (Novins et al., 2011). The severity at which the problematic issues persist varies in each of the communities but overtime it has been categorized as a long-standing problem. According to a recent report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA 2010), 14.8% of this population

Alcohol abuse is a serious health problem when it comes to college students. "The average amount of binge drinkers on college campuses is 50% of men and 39% of women" (<a href="http://www.oregoncounseling.org/ArticlesPapers/">http://www.oregoncounseling.org/ArticlesPapers/</a>). There are various reasons why students drink and serious short and long term effects on the body and mind. Alcoholism is a serious problem for college students and there are many actions being taken to try to lessen the problem among colleges throughout the country.

Many factors have contributed to the abysmal condition of Native Americans in the United States. Two of which had the most impact have been poverty and alcoholism. There are many possible reasons why Native American’s were introduced to alcohol. For instance, their religious practice incorporated alcohol to be able to achieve a transcendent experience. It was not escape from reality that Native Americans sought, but more about fulfillment and discovery of oneself. However, Native Americans were uneducated of how potent alcohol was and what was to come from it being abused by the uneducated, and younger generations. Unfortunately, Native Americans have played a more ambiguous role on proliferating and facilitating the spread of alcohol throughout their communities. Alcohol has led to many health conditions in Native Americans, including kidney failure, and blindness. These health conditions have also led to diabetes, and with little hope from loss of land, Natives Americans still to this day live in poverty.

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 is perhaps the most common form of drug abuse in North America today. Scientists report that the reason alcohol is so popular to people is because it is pleasant, relaxing, and is considered a "social beverage." But what individuals often do not take in to consideration is the fact that alcohol dulls the brain and confuses physical reactions. This can lead to numerous injuries, accidents, and death. Alcohol affects every part of an alcoholic's life: their body, their mind and their family life. The body has a natural chemical that gives a feeling of a "natural high". It happens in the presence of a life-endangering situation. This chemical is adrenaline, which is meant to prepare the body for defense in

National surveys of the quantity/frequency of drinking, conducted over the last half century, show that the percentage of nonabstaining women has remained at about 60%. Although male/ female differences in drinking are smaller than they were a generation ago, this appears to relate primarily to drinking by young adults. Study of social attitudes toward male and female intoxication has consistently indicated more disapproval of female intoxication. Alcoholism in women has a complex etiology that includes biological factors, positive family history, difficulties in impulse control, depression, and drinking by significant others in the social environment. Male/female differences in patterns and consequences of alcoholic behavior are summarized,

Teenagers are America’s greatest natural resource, and they need to be protected from some of the evils that lurk in the world. A subject that needs special attention is the abuse of alcohol by teens. Statistics show that there is a problem currently between teens and alcohol. There are many causes of teenage drinking and effects that prove that drinking is an important issue that needs to be dealt with to preserve American teenagers. Teenage drinking will become worse of a problem if it continues unchecked on its current path to destruction. Alcohol abuse among teenagers in the United States is a plague that is destroying the structure of American society.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate numerous factors as predictors of three alcohol use patters: cessation, reduction and no reduction. The participants were chosen from several groups such as: sociodemographic, health history, health behavior and psychosocial factors (Kitsantas, Gaffney, Wu, & Kastella, 2013). With a whopping number of 311,428 participants; 10.6% of women were 19 years old or younger, 75.7% were between the ages of 20-34 years old and 13.7% were 35 years of age or older. 62% were white non-Hispanic, 16% were black non-Hispanic and 3.3% were Hispanic. Nearly 63% were married. 18.8% had less than high school education and 28.1% had at least 16 years of education (Kitsantas, Gaffney, Wu, & Kastella, 2013).