Background
Alcoholism is a behavior arising from physical addiction to alcohol by an individual. A victim of alcoholism will continue to drink despite experiencing health problems that may be physical, social or mental. Alcoholism is different from alcohol abuse since alcohol abuse describes a situation where drinking may result from problems emanating from the act of alcoholism, it is more behavioral than physical addiction (PubMed Health, 2011).
Alcoholism is a disorder in which an individual takes alcohol despite being aware that it will ruin their lives. Alcoholics cause several problems with the people who are close to them, and they demonstrate some sense of irresponsible behaviors, for instance, by abandoning school or jobs. Alcoholism results from several years of alcohol drinking and it worsens further with more drinking.
When alcoholism is not treated, it will likely destroy the emotional and physical well being of an individual; extreme alcoholism might even lead to death. Alcoholism is a family disease since it hurts and directly and indirectly affects the lives of victim’s family members and the people who are close to the alcoholic person (Cleveland Clinic, 2010).
People drinking alcohol do not always have knowledge of when alcohol drinking gets out of hand. The problems of alcoholism may be mind as well as life threatening, and they affect the individual, family and the society. Alcoholism is the taking of alcoholic beverages to an extent that it can interfere with the physical behavior and activities of the alcoholic person (Gifford, 2009).
Thesis
Alcohol is a widely used and an accepted psychoactive drug that disrupts the neurochemistry in the brain causing emotional, social, behavioral, spiritual and vocational problems.
Alcohol. Definition
Alcohol is as a central nervous system depressant that when taken in limited quantities, it can have a small and mild stimulant effect. Alcohol is a legal drug accepted by societal and cultural norms of particular jurisdictions. Consistent consumption of alcohol may lead to the body adapting to its persistent presence.
Neurochemistry. Absorption, Distribution & Metabolism
Since alcohol is a beverage and hence it dissolves in water, it has the potential to diffuse easily into the body tissues, body fluids, and to the brain as well.
Classification. Depressant
As a depressant, alcohol as the ability to slow down the functioning of a neural system of an individual; it achieves this by blocking messages from reaching the brain.
Effects of Alcohol
Short Term Physical Effects
Unconsciousness
In the context of alcohol, this unconsciousness is a form of a blackout. This is a situation where a patient loses his/her senses and thus appearing as if they are in a dreamless sleep, but they will try their best to appear as though they are conscious, which may not be possible.
Alcohol poisoning
Alcohol poisoning is an illness caused by excessive intake of alcohol. Alcohol poisoning can cause damage to the lung, and it might as well lead to cases of heart attack.
Hangover
When alcoholics drink late into the night, they may suffer from hangovers in the following morning. This is because alcohol has the effect of irritating the stomach. Furthermore, heavy drinking can cause sickness and nausea. Hangover is because of the dehydrating effect of alcohol (Wekesser, 1994).
Sleep disturbance Irritability and anxiousness
Alcohol is a depressant substance, which has a stimulating effect. Due to this effect, it can slow down the brain and the entire central nervous system hence resulting to loss of sleep.
Death
Intoxication, which results from alcohol consumption, may lead to death. When people drive under the influence of alcohol they can easily lose control and cause a fatal accident.
Physiological
Central Nervous System (CNS)
Alcoholism undermines an individual’s mental judgment resulting to low inhabitation and alteration in the thoughts and the emotions of the alcoholic person. Persistent drinking can lead to the inability of the victim to coordinate body muscles (Gifford, 2009).
Brain and chemical imbalance
Alcohol affects the brain and the entire neural system and brain cells. An individual who has been dependent on alcohol, in the event stops drinking, he/she will experience a chemical reaction which will excite the nervous system and can agitate the level of body chemicals which in turn can prevent stress and impulsivity.
Consequently, the drinking of alcohol can trigger the release of neurotransmitters like serotonin that produce euphoric feelings and reward sensation (National Institute of Heath, 2003).
For a particular period, excessive consumption of alcohol can deplete the stores of serotonin, also consistent drinking may result in loss of mood.
Fatty Liver
Too much consumption of alcohol may result in fat deposits in the liver. Continuous drinking of alcohol can lead to the inflammation of the liver, which may in turn result, into hepatitis. Hepatitis can cause the liver to fail leading to death.
Alcohol Abuse and Dependency
Alcohol Use
Alcohol use is like a disease. This is due to the reason that alcohol use characterized by a maladaptive drinking pattern of alcohol may lead to adverse effects.
Factors of Intoxication
Intoxication is the primary cause of all alcohol problems. Intoxication may lead to injuries and in extreme circumstances death.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
This is the universal standard used by mental health practitioners in the United States of America for classifying metal disorders. It has three components namely: diagnostic classification, diagnostic criteria sets and the descriptive text.
Progression of the disease
Alcoholism is a progressing disease in the sense that an individual continues drinking even if he/she is already drunk to the capacity. Continued drinking may result in the individual being irresponsible.
Alcoholism is a situation where an individual develops persistent culture of drinking even after experiencing the problems due to drinking. The loss of control is progressive and the victim can spend most of his time drinking (Manzardo & Goodwin, 2006).
An alcoholic person may drink more and he/she will be accustomed and more reliant on alcohol; the alcoholic becomes obsessed with alcohol.
Consequences Associated with alcohol Abuse and Dependency
Behavioral
The behaviors emanating from alcoholism can be particularly risky. Alcoholism exposes the victim into risky behaviors that may result from their impulse actions. Risk takers and sensationally oriented behaviors are because of the use of alcohol. High consumption of alcohol may result to high susceptibility to risk taking behaviors (National Institute of Health, 2003).
Social
Alcoholism has an adverse economic impact on the entire society. Alcoholism may result in low productivity, massive expenditure in health care, diseases and illness and premature deaths. Much of the costs resulting from alcohol abuse are borne by those who do not take it. Alcoholism may also result in the commission of crimes.
Emotional
Alcohol suppresses emotional pain; it is a loyal friend in the event of relationships failing. Alcoholics are often, tempted by the negative feelings that might force them to return after a long period of withdrawal (New York Times, 2011).
Vocational
Employment Assistance Program
Alcohol can affect every aspect of a patient’s life. According to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, most of the people that are addicted are in employment hence leading to hazards in workplace and development of an unproductive workforce.
Treatment and Recovery
Background on the organization
Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) is a self-help group of both men and women who are recovering from alcoholism. This group involves individuals who share similar hope, aspirations, strengths and experiences. It is interested in proving emotional assistance to people with the problem of alcohol dependence.
They have braches in several countries on the globe. The group utilizes a 12-step approach to achieve its mission and objectives. The group has a common agenda of assisting others to recover from alcohol dependency (Grapevine, 1958).
Founding principles
The addicts should meet one and the only demand of stopping to drink before joining the group, and there are no charges or subscription fee. AA is a non- governmental organization and not affiliated to any religious or political group; twelve steps to realize its objectives guide the group members.
Problems and resistance
Aexperiences a lot of problems and resistance in its desire to achieve the desired goals. This resistance and problems are:
Its stressing on absolute abstinences: for many alcoholics, total abstinence is a difficult task; various alcoholics would prefer treatment that will permit them into taking alcohol again than abstinence.
Stigmatization: stigmatization of alcoholics is a reality in every society, alcoholics therefore avoid joining AA due to the fear of stigmatization and they instead opt to remain alcoholic.
Fear of being noticed by friends or acquaintances: there is the fear by the victims that in the course of AA meetings, they risk noticed by their friends or business associates.
Medication therapy and other philosophies
Naltrexone
The patient is injected with a version of a Naltrexone which can be administered to the patient once in month. There are, however, some circumstance where the patient can take a pill, recommended that the patient take the injectable drug since it is preferable for people who are highly dependent on alcohol.
Injected drug also has the advantage of consistency. The drugs aid in blocking the brain hence reducing the demand and the craving for alcohol by the patient.
Rehabilitation
After the victim undergoes detoxification, rehabilitation can enable him/her to stay away from alcohol. In the rehabilitation, the patient is counseled, provided with psychological help, nursing service and medical attention to prevent cases of lapse.
Behavioral therapy
This is a crucial part of alcohol dependency treatment. It is acknowledged that alcoholism can have a deep psychological roots and therefore a perfect therapy program is necessary to assist the victim understand what has caused his/her behavior as an alcoholic and this will enable him/her to make some amendments into his/her life (Maltzman, 2008).
New treatment and research
Very many drugs that if taken can assist in suppressing the withdrawal symptoms. Some medications can be effective in blocking part of the brain that is responsible for producing sensations when there is intake of alcohol.
There are two main kinds of treatment: long-term and short-term while others may be in in-patient and outpatient. Longer duration of treatment can be effective and can produce better results. These treatment facilities can be private or public.
Sober living and independence
According to many alcoholics, overcoming or avoiding intake of alcohol is a difficult task. Stopping to drink alcohol is the best remedy. Abstinence does not depend on the duration within which the alcoholic has been drinking alcohol neither does it depend on the degree of addiction but it takes individual decision (Siclair & Escapa, 2008).
Conclusion
Alcohol is a socially accepted drug that can devastate all areas of one’s life. It disrupts the neurochemistry in the brain and gets progressively worse if not treated. Although there is still much to learn about alcohol and addiction, today research offers promising hope for those addicted to alcohol.
Alcohol is progressive disease and if not arrested at its early stages, it may lead to health, physical and emotional problems, and at the extreme case, it may lead to death. Alcoholism may be because of addiction, compulsion and obsession.
References
Cleveland Clinic. (2010). Alcoholism. Web.
Gifford, M. (2009). Alcoholism. New York, NY: ABC-CLIO.
Grapevine, A. (1958). AA: other problems than alcohol. Alcoholics Anonymous. Web.
Maltzman, I. (2008). Alcoholism: its treatments and mistreatments. New York, NY: World Scientific.
Manzardo, A., & Goodwin, D. (2006). Alcoholism (4th ed). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
National Institute of Health. (2003). Understanding Alcohol: investigations into Biology and behavior. Science Education. Web.
New York Times. (2011). Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse. New York Times. Web.
PubMed. (2011). Alcoholism and alcohol abuse. PubMed Health. Web.
Siclair, D. & Escapa, R. (2008). The Cure for Alcoholism: Drink Your Way Sober Without Willpower, Abstinence Or Discomfort. New York, NY: BenBella Books.
Wekesser, C. (1994). Alcoholism. New York, NY: Greenhaven.