Alcohol Abuse Effects

As of January 2015 alcohol related deaths were represented as accountable for approximately 6% of deaths worldwide. That is 3.3 million deaths from alcohol related car accidents to alcohol poisoning. The consumption of alcohol can be tied with being a factor in a variety of diseases, disabilities, tragedies, and crimes. An estimate of over 76 million people suffer from alcohol dependence and abuse. Consumption of alcohol can become a serious threat to personal and public health when an individual engages in activities such as binge drinking or drinking while driving. In other words, harmful drinking is anytime an individual becomes unable to have full perception and control of his/her surroundings because of alcohol. Harmful drinking can also be defined as a pattern of alcohol consumption causing health problems that are directly connected to alcohol.

Alcohol impairs a person’s judgement and can increase aggressive behaviors (it does most of the time). Alcohol related crime/violence rates are rising very quickly throughout the country. There are two million incarcerated men and women in the United States, and 37% of those people admit to drinking before being arrested. When it comes to rape and sexual assault, 90% of cases involve the drinking of alcohol. Almost 30% of inmates reported being under the influence of alcohol or drugs when committing murder. Almost 3 million violent crimes happen a year in which alcohol is involved. In addition, 95% of all violent crimes reported at American colleges involve alcohol. It has been proven that binge drinking or prolonged drinking can lead to acts that are more violent and that can put other people around the drinker in serious danger. Substance abuse plays a huge role in these violent crimes. The more a person drinks the less they can control their actions and how violent they become.

Alcohol abuse has become one of the principal causes of mortality and morbidity in the United States causing more than 200,000 deaths every year (Hendey, Dery, Barnes, Snowden, &

The principle of treatment therapy is to helping the patients to reduce problematic drinking, deterring relapse back to heavy drinking and achieving and maintaining abstinence from alcohol (Edmunds, 2014). An oral naltrexone (ReVia) or injectable Vivitrol, Acamprosate and Disulfiram are used for the treatment of alcohol abuse (Edmunds, 2014). Disulfiram are used more often if unpleasant physical symptoms when alcohol is ingested but is reported to be more expensive and have reported to have adverse reaction to the patients (Edmunds, 2014). Benzodiazepines such as Lorazepam and Diazepam are also widely used for treatment of alcohol withdrawal. With the side effects and overdosing of benzodiazepines remains controversial in treating alcohol withdrawal and is always in need to monitor the patient for abuse (SAMHSA, 2013). Additionally, social detoxification and lifestyle management would benefit the whole treatment process such as referring the patient to social support groups and encouraging the family to support the patient during the treatment

Addiction is an epidemic in the United States of America. Yet out of all the addictive substances that are available to Americans, Alcohol has become the leading stimulant to flourish this outbreak. According to the 2014 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration statistics, 60.9 million Americans considered themselves binge drinkers while 1 in 10 underage alcohol users, age 12 to 20, already themselves considered heavy alcohol users (SAMHSA, http://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-FRR1-2014/NSDUH-FRR1-2014.pdf ). Since alcohol addiction can affect any socioeconomic status and any street corner in America, many Americans know a friend or a family member that has been struck by this epidemic. I myself am one of those Americans. Although my grandmother lost her battle to addiction more

According to the Dual Diagnosis website, “In 2012, as many as 87.6 percent of American adults over age 18 were reported in a SAHMSA…study to have consumed alcohol at some point in their lives…The National Institutes of Health…estimated that 17 million adults in the United States in 2012 had an alcohol use disorder” (“Disease…”). Approximately one in every 12 people either are abusing alcohol, or they are becoming, if not are, victims of alcoholism (National…). Alcohol consumption is especially known in our society’s culture. There are numerous people who like to drink every now and again in moderation; however, there are far too many people who abuse the alcohol and may even be completely dependent on it. Several

In 2008, a National Institutes of Health Survey counted a total of 1.3 million children from the ages of twelve to seventeen that have experienced alcohol abuse just within the last year, and a total of 2.3 million young adults from the ages of twelve to twenty who have drunk five or more times within a single occasion. “At age twelve, 11 percent of boys and 9 percent of girls have commenced drinking, and 1 percent of them are classified as binge and heavy users. By age fourteen, the numbers are 31 and 33 percent use, respectively, and 6 percent of them are binge and heavy users. At age eighteen years, 73 percent have commenced drinking, 42 percent have used alcohol in the past month, and 39 percent are heavy users,” (Sherwood, 2012, p.1). However, the most common group in which abuses the use of alcohol is the college age. In 2007 alone, over 1800 college students were killed due to alcohol-related accidents, along

At the beginning of the 21st century, it was estimated that the annual number of deaths related to excessive drinking exceeded 100,000 in the United States alone (“Alcoholism”). In fact, in 1995, 140 million Americans were using alcohol is an abusing way (Ammerman, Ott, and Tarter). “It is a chronic and progressive illness that involves the excessive inappropriate ingestion of ethyl alcohol” (“Alcoholism”). Equally, it can be characterized as an emotional and many times, physical dependence on alcohol. It is thought to come from a combination of a wide range of physiological, social, and genetic factors (“Alcoholism”). Even

lSubstance abuse affects an estimated 25 million Americans. This includes the individual abusing the substance as well as others that are indirectly affected by the substance abuse, such as: friends and family of the abuser as well as people injured or killed in accidents related to substance abuse impairment. There are 16 million adults who are considered alcoholics (heavy drinkers) and almost 300,000 people under the age 18 (Mental Health America, 2015).

In today's modern society alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse has become one of the most complex, life-threatening issues. Most depressed individuals usually indulge themselves in bars or pubs with their alcohols to escape from their stressful life. It has become increasingly alarming how alcohol does not only attract the adults, but also teenagers these days. "Research has shown that approximately 14 million Americans (7.4%) of the population meet the diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse or alcoholism" ("Facts about Alcohol"). Alcohol addicts may encounter social impact such as loss of respect from others who may see the problem as self- inflictive and easily avoided. Repeated use of alcohol over a period of time can result in

Alcoholism has always been considered a major problem in America. There are two key statistics that point out the severity of the problem. From a study performed in 2013, the American Society of Addiction Medicine determined that 30.2% of all males over the age of 12 had reported at least one binge drinking

Misuse can lead to academic problems such as increased absences, poor grades, and academic failure. It is also lined to unwanted and unprotected sexual acts, pregnancy, and STD’s. In 2015, almost 100,000 college students reported alcohol-related sexual assault or rape (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2015). Alcohol is the main reason behind premature death. It is the leading cause of motor crashes, falls, drowning, violence, homicides, suicides, intimate partner violence, cancer, and mental illnesses. In 2015, approximately 2,000 college students died due to an alcohol related injury or accident, including vehicular crashes (Califano,

Alcohol dependence is known to be the most severe form of alcohol abuse. A person becomes so dependent on alcohol consumption that he/she loses sight of all the other important things going on around him/her. Family matters and social responsibilities become secondary worries to his/her primary concern for existence, which is drinking (Stephens, 2007). Nearly fourteen million Americans are somewhat dependent on alcohol. Alcohol dependence is more prominent in men, and young adults ages 18-29 (Stephens, 2007). According to a study done by Saitz “85,000 deaths, along with substantial disability from medical and psychiatric consequences, injuries and “secondhand” effects (ex: motor vehicle crashes) are attributed to the use of alcohol” (Saitz, 2005).

Alcohol is one of many dangerous substances that effects our bodies. The effects of this drug can be very harmful. Alcohol is a potent non-prescription drug sold to anyone over the national legal drinking age, 21. Unlike other deadly drugs it is easy to access. This makes it easy to over-consume and create a tragic accident, even death. It can damage a person not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. Many people each year become more and more addicted to alcohol and soon experience all of it?s dangerous effects. Even if alcohol use is discontinued, some of these damages can not be cured, because the scars have been left on those that drink and those that surround them. The only hope

In the United States, 17.6 million people – about one in every 12 adults, abuse alcohol or are alcohol dependent. (NIH: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2012) The Mayo Clinic defines alcoholism as a chronic disease in which your body becomes dependent on alcohol (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2010), and indicates that more than 100,000 Americans die annually from alcohol related causes (Johnson) . Aside from the physical problems that alcohol addiction can create, there are frequently emotional and social complications. Alcoholism is a disease that harms not only the alcoholic, but also the co-workers and family of the alcoholic.