The Movie ' When A Man Loves A Woman '

Randomly, people will turn their drinking habits into a reason why to drink. Whether they drink to just have fun, to release some stress, or because they drink to help with various sorts of problems. Often, the alcoholic in the family starts drinking too much, causing the family to always be on edge and be cautious with his mood swings, because they never know how they’ll end up acting. Often in times a sign of abuse on alcohol is when ¨Legal problems, such as being arrested or harming someone else while drunk¨ said researchers in Talbott Recovery. Once the alcoholic figures what kind of power they have over the family, they’ll often tend to use it in a more manipulative way, to make sure they get what they want in the end of the day. And when they’re drunk, they could care less about the family and just desire to get another bottle, and to let their emotions/actions lash out. That is when a person ends up becoming an

Released in the summer of 1994, the movie “When a Man Loves a Women” produced by Touchstone Pictures’ producer Jon Avnet created a film that touches on a female alcoholic. This film included stars like Meg Ryan, Andy Garcia, and Lauren Tom. An airline pilot played by Garcia as Michael and his wife Alice portrayed by Ryan are forced to deal with her alcoholism. Within this family it includes that of her two children and the nanny (Lauren Tom). The film offers several hinting scenes to Alice’s addiction. Alcoholism is a disease of denial, the movie focuses on not only the alcoholic but those around her that deny and have even grown accustomed to her drinking.

Alcoholism is known to destroy many lives and cause a lot of suffering. There has to be a point of realization where one figures out that it is a choice. Many people do not realize that they can become dependent on alcohol until it is too late. People with alcohol addiction often do not notice that they are relying on alcohol to get them through the day. To them, it may seem like a coping mechanism when it actually is anything but that. When the word alcohol is mentioned, many take it as a word that helps cope with stress or personal problems. In reality, alcohol is a depressant that does more harm than good. The effects of alcohol addiction are intoxication, withdrawal, and harm to self/others.

In the film, When a Man Loves a Woman, Meg Ryan plays the character Alice Green. Alice is a wife, mother, and school counselor. She is married to the handsome and consistently dependable airline pilot, Michael, played by Andy Garcia. The film illustrates how alcoholism affects a family. Despite the fact that Alice is an exciting and fun person, she is often reckless when drunk and very negligent to her children. She has a difficult relationship with her mom, and alluded that her dad drank excessively and that her mom made her “feel like nothing” (Mandoki, 1994). Alice’s mom makes passive-aggressive remarks such as, after asking Alice if she has lost weight and she says no, “you must be tired” (Mandoki, 1994). As the movie proceeds, the viewer sees multiple occasions where alcohol causes problems with her family. Alice, Michael, and their children, who are sweet and adoring of their parents, live a comfortable life in San Francisco. All the same, Alice drinks too much and is diagnosable as an alcoholic.

A man or a woman suffers, they have a distinct physical desire to consume alcohol beyond their capacity to control it, regardless of all rules of common sense. The symtoms of being an alcoholic is having rituals and being irritated/annoyed when these rituals are disturbed or commented on. This could be drinks before/during/after meals or after work. Dropping hobbies and activities the person used to enjoy; losing interest in them. A person who abuses alcohol may have many of these signs and symtoms- but they do not have the withdrawal symtoms like an alcoholic does, nor the same degree of compulsion to drink. Then comes along, binge drinking. When a woman consumes over six units and a man consumes more than eight units of alcohol in one sitting. Sipping wine, beer, or spirits three or four times per week increases the risk of binge drinking. Men who drink 22 or more units of alcohol a week have a 20% higher rate of admissions into acute care hospitals than non-drinkers. Healthy young adults who regularly binge drink may have a higher risk of heart disease later in life. "Underage drinking should not be a normal part of growing up. It's a serious and persistent public health problem that puts our young people and our communities in danger. Even though drinking is often glamorized, the truth is that

Today, one out of every thirteen adults abuse alcohol or are alcoholics. That means nearly thirteen million Americans have a drinking problem. (www.niaaa.nih.gov) This topic offers a broad range of ideas to be researched within the psychological field. For this particular project, the topic of alcoholism and the psychological effects on people best fit the criteria. Alcoholism is defined as a disorder characterized by the excessive consumption of and dependence on alcoholic beverages, leading to physical and psychological harm and impaired social and vocational functioning. (www.dictionary.com) Through this project, the most important information regarding personal experiences

Alcoholism is a chronic and progressive disorder (“Alcoholism”) affecting more than twenty-two million Americans in the United States today (Wholey 18). Alcoholics are prone to dramatic and

The point at which the client’s symptoms were most extreme was towards the end of her alcoholism, which was in her early thirties. She used humor, felt incomplete and fragile, oversensitive to other’s reactions of her, felt the need to hide from people whether it was through work or through drinking, and was aware of her drinking problem. She also presented with anxiety, excessive exercising and healthy eating, and denial of drinking in excess.

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.

Drinking can cause a person to have a complete personality change and become violent or hostile after drinking. They may also become irritable or panicky during times when a drink is expected. An alcoholic may drink to the point of black out; this is where they don’t remember what they’ve done or said that happened during a bout of drinking. A definite red flag for alcoholism is when a person has to have to drink in the morning when they first wake up.

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.

Relaxation, celebrating, and socializing are often reasons people engage in alcohol. However, the enjoyment of alcohol in moderation may become difficult for some individuals to manage when using alcohol as coping mechanisms or scapegoat, for other underlining issues: personal, social and work-related concerns. Unfortunately, lack of proper management may or can result into alcoholism. According to the DSM-V alcoholism is diagnosed as alcohol use disorder or alcohol addiction, in which a person becomes physically and psychologically dependent on alcohol to the point that he or she cannot function without it (American Psychiatric Association,2013).

Plenty of people always seem to ask “what are the causes of alcohol abuse?” As a matter of fact, there are many origins that come to mind when actually thinking of why people drink alcohol excessively. Alcohol abuse can run in a person’s family, or sometimes it may be caused by the environment a person is in or if someone is taking on stress (WebMD). When people are frazzled or feel as though they are facing a serious issue within their life, they tend to feel the need to turn towards drinking alcohol so that they can get rid of all the pain they are feeling. Some people treat alcohol as an escape from the grief they are

Before seeking treatment, Alice’s struggles are pretty evident. I think the struggles are the most evident when looking at Jess. You can tell that she knows her mom is not well and that she worries about her. She watches her struggle to get out of bed in the morning, and voices her worries to Michael when she does not come home when she is supposed to. Trying to find a solution to their struggles, Michael suggests that they rearrange his flight schedule and take a trip to Mexico. While there, Alice continues her heavy drinking and reckless behavior. This results in her falling out of a rowboat, into the water and if not for Michael jumping in to save her, drowning. This event scared the two of them enough to realize that she had a problem and needed to start putting in some serious effort to stop.

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.