Male Alcoholics: A Case Study

Financial and emotional stress, conflicts in the workplace or in the family, and personality traits are all risk factors that could potentially lead an individual to become an alcoholic. Financial stress, specifically unemployment, can cause negative emotions and potentially negative behavior such as alcohol abuse. In an article by Ioana Popovici and Michael French it states, “From a psychological perspective, the financial challenges associated with unemployment could increase tension, anxiety, and family discord, thus leading to increased alcohol use”(2013). Stress within the family, such as divorce, is also a main factor in the development of alcoholism. According to Begoña José and Hans Van Oers in their article titled “Stressors and Alcohol Consumption”, both getting and being divorced is linked to heavy drinking(2000). If alcoholic behavior occurs in a family it is common for the relationships to be weakened and more stress to be created, which can further push the alcoholic into isolation and worsen their drinking behavior. Not only can outside factors have an influence on the occurrence of alcoholism, but certain personality traits can contribute to an individual’s likelihood of becoming an alcoholic. Personality characteristics can determine how a person will react to stressors. One person may abstain from alcohol while another will resort to heavy drinking while

Ever since I was a little girl I have always aspired to follow in my grandfather’s footsteps and become a prosperous attorney like him. He exerted himself strenuously, graduated from Northeastern Law School and was one of the founding partners of the Morrison, Mahoney and Miller Law firm currently located in Boston. It has been an arduous journey for me to verbally express the least endeavoring to follow my grandfather’s legacy. Shortly after graduating high school, my life consummately spiraled out of control and I was faced with adversity that seemed insurmountable. It is paramount to take a moment and apportion some brief history considering that I my past has molded me into the strenuously exertive, goal oriented student I have always aspired to be.

One of the most powerful factors for relapse is stress, since it triggers the sense of drug seeking and craving behavior mostly during the abstinence period. This feeling of stress at the time is predictive of the rehabilitation period. Addicted individuals comparably show increased susceptibility to stressors than others who are not addicted. Examples of relapse inducing stressors include fear, anger, or sadness. Relapse and substance abuse costs and affects the individual, the community, and family in significant ways; it is also measurable through common aspects that include un-employability, loss of productivity, and mental health issues for the user. It also reduces their quality of life as shown through the increased rate of crimes, neglect of children, increase in violence, and dependency on non-familial support systems for

“Further, AA members are much more likely to revert to binge drinking than are alcoholics seeking other forms of treatment.” Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an organization that helps people overcome their addiction to alcohol. Alcoholics Anonymous does not help people break free from their addiction to alcohol.

The history of alcohol and drug abuse can be dated back for hundreds of years around the world; in addition, the side effects from abuse can last just as long. The extent of alcohol and drug abuse may change dramatically due to societal views and normality such as the Prohibition era and the legalization of medicinal marijuana. Understanding alcohol and drug abuse means that one must not examine the behavior of the drinker, but also the place, time, and context of the consumption of drugs and alcohol. Dating back to the Mayflower, the New World welcomed the brewing of beer and ale as a tradition of the early culture. The consumption of alcohol was excessive- it was consumed from the crack of dawn to the crack of dawn, at work, alone, together,

After watching the videos on Alcoholics Anonymous and reading about it in my book, I learned that while it works for some it may not work for all. Alcoholics anonymous works because it follows explicit rules while having the support of others who have come across similar circumstances. Further, it works because it is a free program available to everyone. In my opinion, I think it works for some individuals because of its anonymous nature. Additionally, due to the self-help approach that it provides, alcoholics can benefit the most by this because they can work together and help each other due to the similar situations encountered. On the other hand, it may not work for everyone because some individuals may see the program as a religious affiliation

High Functioning Alcoholics' (HFAs') differ from regular alcoholics because they are responsible and can maintain healthy romantic and family relationships (Addiction Intervention). They live a double life, where one moment they may be drunk and partying, and the next be a mother and wife. Statistically most HFA's are white with a professional job such as a, healthcare provider, manager/administration, professional technicians, teachers, and sales people. 89% of HFA's are White, 20% Managers/Admin, 20% Professional Technicians, 6% Healthcare Providers, 5% Sales, and 3% Teachers (Alcoholics Anonymous). A majority of HFA's are also married with children, they take up 38% while the others sit at, 29% single, 24% divorced, 5% separated, and

from ancillary service providers. Thus, these consumers are more expensive to treat; they require more medication and have more health related episodes. Outpatient facility struggled to adequately service those who take medication. If these individuals are not compliant often the treatment level of care offered by the facility are incomplete. Reference.

Debra is a heavy alcoholic that drinks while Gavin is present. Debra also drives while under the influence while the child is present; Debra has been in car accidents and the car was totaled out. There are people in and out of the home often that come to the home to drink and party with Debra and her husband. Two months before this report was made, Debra left Gavin in the home with Jimmy. While at the home Jimmy held a gun to his head threatening to kill himself. The reporter stated Gavin could be heard begging Jimmy not to kill himself with a trembling voice. Gavin eventually walked two streets over to another grandmother’s home; a friend Raymond recorded the entire incident. Jimmy takes medications, he stays drunk, and takes pills; Debra

These situations trigger great quantities of stress, a common prompt for substance abuse and relapse.

In order to recover from the craving, the victim has to overcome not only various social stigmas of an addiction, but also their own psychological barriers. The very famous twelve steps which are part of rehabilitation program of Anonymous Alcoholics group begin with the statement that

In the article “We Should Retain the Disease Concept of Alcoholism” the eminent psychiatrist George E. Vaillant, who received the Jellinek Prize for research on alcoholism, refutes the inconsistent concepts of the medical model of alcoholism. Although alcoholism is not a disease for itself, the uncontrolled consumption of alcohol causes a state of vicious dependency that should be treated as a disease. Valliant argues the significance to define alcoholism as a disease by highlighting the crucial role of an accurate diagnosis in the rehabilitation process. Also, requiring a medical intervention in the withdraw stage, alcoholism cannot be considered on a par with vices such as gambling and fingernail

I enjoyed doing this assignment because I liked that we had to pick on Mark next move to determine the outcome of the situation. Mark is at risk for using Alcohol because of his dad's history of being an alcoholic. The good thing I noticed was the father going to AA meetings in which I felt like that is a good example to show his son that he is trying to get better. I also notice that when Mark suffered from pain that he took his pain medication extremely fast since he did get a week worth of medication. I think he should see that as a red flag and maybe tell his doctor in the future about how he is at risk to abusing pain medication and his father's history of being an alcoholic. Studies show that a person's environment can contribute to them

matters. If an alcoholism information service is available locally, that is a good starting point.

People drink in many ways, for many different reasons. We drink socially, to gain acceptance into a group. We drink alone to ease stress, to cope with our problems, or we “drink because we like the taste or how it makes us feel”#. Often drinking is a learned behavior, starting out as a social drinker; you quickly become psychologically and physically dependent. When someone reaches this stage they are often classified as an alcoholic. To an alcoholic, drinking becomes a compulsion; they cannot stop themselves from having another drink, like a social drinker can. In many cases alcoholics don’t even have to drink continuously in order to be an alcoholic. One the problems of alcohol addiction is that it’s something that doesn’t just effect the individual but it effects, friends and family as well. Spouse abuse, child abuse and dysfunctional family relationships can all be influenced by alcohol abuse.