Alcoholism and Native Americans Essay

Alcoholism is one of our nation’s largest social issues to date, and carries with it many negative aspects, the most dire being death at the hands of this disease. Alcohol and alcoholism have been part of societies for centuries. This habit was brought over to the new world when the first settlers landed on the shores of what was to become America. Furthermore, in bringing alcohol to this new land an entire nation of Native American Indians were introduced to a product that has affected them more negatively than any other to date, and continues to suffer from today and probably well into the future.

The effects associated with alcohol are produced by the ethanol in the alcohol. The severity of these effects is reflected by the concentration of alcohol in an individual’s blood, which is dictated by the amount of alcohol ingested, the volume of blood, the individual’s metabolism, and amount of time since ingestion. In large doses, alcohol acts as a depressant of the central nervous-system. A blood alcohol level of 0.1% affects some of the motor areas of the brain associated with speech, balance and manual dexterity. A blood alcohol level of 0.2% depresses all motor functions and the area concerned with emotions is depressed. At a blood alcohol level of 0.45% the entire section of the brain that handles perception is depressed and the individual becomes comatose. At a blood alcohol level of 0.7% the parts of the brain that control the heartbeat and breathing are depressed and the individual

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

Drinking pattern does differ by race and ethnicity in the United States. Our book discusses the difference between Irish, Italians, French, Asia & Native Americans, Hispanics, and African American. Studies show that African Americans have higher rates of alcoholism than whites do. This conclusion is due to the lack of research on drinking pattern amongst blacks (Lex, 1985; Sterne, 1967). Evidence also show that white women has a lower rate of alcoholism than black women, yet African American women have a higher abstain rate (Harper and Saifnoorian, 1991). Most African American males don’t encounter with alcohol related problems until about their 30’s. Seen in a study by Herd’s (1990) it revealed that is was some similar patterns between white and blacks as well as differences. White were found to do more

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

Alcohol has always been one of the most profitable industries in the business world. More than $400 billion worth of alcohol purchased in the US alone in 2013 according to an economic website. Alcohol is a common figure where it can be easily spot in every household to grand restaurants, however, it is a huge factor contributed to the death rate each year. It has ruined an innumerable number of people lives due to excessive drinking or affect by an alcoholic person. In his book, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, Sherman Alexie emphasizes how significance alcohol can affect a teenager life, where Junior, the main protagonist has lost 3 family members because of alcohol. He shows that alcoholic should not be taken as a

Substance abuse is a topic most prefer not to discuss; it destroys lives, relationships and families all over the world. Native Americans seem to have suffered immensely by it. Since the coming of the Englishmen and the introduction of new knowledge and tools Native people have been trying to hold on to their own culture and their own way of life. Unfortunately with them came new items for consumption, alcohol was one of the main ingredients to the internal downfall of Native populations. Native American populations suffer greatly due to the ongoing epidemic of substance abuse and dependence; some things are being done about the problems people are having but in the end will it be enough to heal a nation? To open this paper I will look at

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

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)

Following the European invasion in America, Native Americans came to endure many problems. While some have faded, others still linger on in their lives. The issue of alcohol and alcoholism is one of them. From settlers using it to deceive, to today’s issues on the reservation, alcohol has played a devastating role in the lives of Native Americans. Knowing how the issue of alcohol became such a predominate part of Native Americans lives will allow us to spawn ideas on how to end the problem.

Ethyl alcohol, which is the type of alcohol found in alcoholic drinks, enters the bloodstream through the walls of the gastrointestinal tract, mostly from the walls of the stomach and of the small intestines. Once ethyl alcohol enters the bloodstream, it passes through the brain and bathes the brain cells. This is how alcohol "kill" brain cells and damages the brain. (5) Different levels of alcohol in the blood have different effects on the behavior of a person; however, these effects are not predictable. At low levels, the inhibitory centers are usually suppressed and there is a "false sense of increased confidence and a feeling of well being." The depressing effects of alcohol on the brain may relax a person but equally likely, may make a person irritable, mistrusting, and very sensitive. (3) (4) (5) (6) While feeling relaxed is generally good for a person, it carries negative effects when a person gets in trouble from being overly relaxed. For example, there are cases in which women are raped as a result of being too comfortable with the men they drink with. Studies show that a substantial percentage of victims of violent crimes were intoxicated at the time of their assault (2). Offenders may

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

Alcoholism has various physical, mental, psychological, and social manifestations due to high levels of liquor in the blood. Alcohol abuse has adverse effects specifically on driving performance in terms of sight distortion, lack of coordination, greater aggression, weakening of judgment and slow reaction time (Ammar et al., 2016). Since alcohol cannot be digested, it is readily absorbed into the bloodstream. Because of this, most people who drink frequently acquire alcohol dependence, which leads to the weakening of driving skills. This visible manifestation can eventually result in a higher probability of road accidents (Sivakumar & Krishnaraj, 2012).

In Jill Dombrauckas’s (2015) report, she discussed that the Pennsylvania DUI Association made a large amount of researches about alcohol’s effect on body systems. In one research, alcohol affects the central nervous system which means when the individual drink alcohol, the messages that are carried to and from the brain and the body’s muscles can be slowed delivery. For example, the incoming signals from the brain, like the painful sensory that will decrease the injury’s awareness. Also the signals from the brain to the muscles will lead the motor skills becoming insensitive.

Alcohol and Alcoholism Alcohol is a drug, but unlike the other drugs, marijuana, cocaine, heroine, and probably all the others for some reason this is socially accepted and is legal. Alcohol is bad for you and does have long term affects associated with it. Such as the long addiction to it, effects on the body, and the social interaction effects. Alcohol, and alcoholism is common in America, but drinking is more common around kids. Social drinking a term kids and drinkers have come accustom to, social drinking is defined by one standard drink per hour, and no more than 3 per day, but some people just socialize around people that drink as heavily as they do and confuse that for social drinking.