Alcoholism conflicting definitions
By Ed Philips
Apr 30, 2008
Alcoholism has many differing meanings. If often means continuing to drink heavily in the face of significant social and health issues. Some view alcoholism as a social problem, others as a medical disease. The term can refer to feeling compelled to drink alcohol, and also an inability to see the negative influence heavy drinking has. Most indicate that current alcohol consumption is necessary for alcoholism, and others mention the long-term issues of heavy drinking such as dependence on alcohol resulting in symptoms of withdrawal.
The behaviour regarding alcohol consumption which leads to alcoholism varies wildly. It is impossible to predict the probability of becoming an alcoholic
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Huss in 1849, but it was not brought into common usage until the 1940s with the founding of the Alcoholics Anonymous. The AA didn't have a clear definition for the disease, so they likened it to a kind of allergy.
E. Morton Jellinek was a pioneer in perceiving alcoholism as a legitimate disease. His study in 1960 limited the definition of alcoholism to patients showing a genetic history of the disease. Modern medical definitions have been revised since then, but the majority of people in medicine still believe it is an illness, and not just a social choice. Dr. Peele and Dr. Fingarette are exceptions, stating that alcoholism is not a disease. They concede that the term 'alcoholism' refers to an illness, and refer instead to the term 'heavy drinking' when discussing excessive alcohol consumption.
Classifying someone as an alcoholic can be hard because the physiological features of an alcoholic and someone who drinks a lot can be the same. To identify an alcoholic, often it is necessary to judge the negative impact heavy drinking has on the person's quality of life compared with the perceived benefits the alcoholic is receiving. There are always instances where it is difficult to establish whether or not a person is an
The full alcoholism definition is an addiction to the consumption of alcoholic liquor or the mental illness and compulsive behavior resulting from alcohol dependency (webster). It’s saying that alcoholism is something that can not just be stopped anytime it wants the person with it would need the support of their loved ones to help them get through their addiction. If someone does not know if they have alcoholism they can test themselves by asking some questions to themselves and answer them honestly. Some examples of the questions that could be asked would be, does the person need more to drink in order to feel the effects of alcohol, do they feel guilty after drinking, these questions would help someone find out if they have alcoholism or not (healthline). However, if that person wants a professional opinion they could go to their doctor and he or she would ask similar questions, but more toward the person’s everyday life such as do they drink and drive, have they experienced blackouts while drinking, have they ever tried to quit drinking before these questions could also help determine if that person has alcoholism (healthline). Doctors may also use a survey to give to the patient and it will diagnose the person to how severe their alcoholism is (healthline).
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
What is alcohol? Is it just a drink? Is it the reason teenagers party? Does it bring a fulfillment into the body? Or is exactly a drink of a lifetime? From stories, movies, and novels, like F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, alcohol portrays its own underlying character in today 's world. Realizing it or not, alcohol fills up the society and individuals are drowning in a seven letter - word - riptide. The understanding of alcoholism changes from day to day, subscribing to the idea that alcohol stays the constant variable in the picture as a whole. The symptoms, effects, developments, and causes may vary from individual to another, but the alcohol itself continues to lead the structure of a chronic alcoholic. While the symptoms of alcoholism may seem to disappear and one may no longer depend or abuse alcohol, an alcoholic will always be an alcoholic.
In 1849, Swedish physician, Dr. Magnus Huss coined the term “alcoholism” to describe a diseased condition caused by excessive consumption of alcohol. Also in 1849, a French doctoral candidate, M.Gabriel, first used the term in its modern sense, as a disease which causes one to lose control over his/her intake of alcohol, leading to excessive use of alcohol, what we now call addiction ( Keller & Doria,1991).
In the article, “Alcoholism is a disease”, it says that U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) explains that alcoholism is a disease. They say this is a disease just like diabetes or high blood pressure. They say you can also inherit alcoholism. It says that alcoholism can be “treated with and various medications, alcoholism cannot be cured.” it also says that “In the organization's opinion, the best treatment for alcoholism is to stop drinking completely.” NIAAA is the leading U.S. agency for research on alcohol abuse, alcoholism, and other health effects of alcohol. They say that the disease is so strong that an alcoholic needs alcohol just like a person needs food or water. It has also been proven that an alcoholic will continue to drink even if they have health problems or if their family does not
Alcohol Use Disorder, most commonly known as Alcohol Abuse or Alcohol Dependence, is widely known as problem that occurs with individuals who consumes an enormous amount of alcohol on a regular basis often in a single use. The individual is consumed with the thought of drinking most of the time and often feel as though they need it to continue with living their daily lives, even though, they are not really living at all because the enormous amount of alcohol causes a dysfunction for their daily tasks. It inhibits their ability to take care of their family, have social relationships and performing activities at work. It is believed that genetics can play a massive role towards an individual developing an Alcohol Use Disorder.
Alcoholism today is not considered as a moral failure, majority of the people view it as a disease. Alcoholism is a chronic primary and progressive disease and it can also be fatal in some instances. It is termed as a chemical disease as it breaks down in the stomach as well as bringing a different effect on the brain of the alcoholic as compared to a non-alcoholic. Alcoholism can be classified as a biological disease since the chemical predisposition of alcohol consumption is inheritable. Therefore, alcoholism should not be punished instead it should be treated. The reason behind classifying alcoholism as a disease is because the progression of alcohol dependence occurs through stages in a natural sequence .This progression is similar to that of the development of physical illnesses. In recent interpretations of alcoholism as a disease the focus is on the biological factors which differentiate alcoholics from nonalcoholics. This disease concept has led to development of the idea that those who abuse alcohol are often out of control and abstinence is the only method for treating this disease.
Alcoholism is defined as a disorder characterized by the excessive consumption of and dependence on alcoholic beverages, leading to physical and psychological harm, impaired social, and vocational functioning (dictionary.com). Alcohol is the number one drug problem in the
Alcoholism and alcohol abuse are different, although they have several connected characteristics, including genetics, how you were raised, social environment, and emotional health. Some of the following are indicators of alcohol abuse e.g., craving alcohol, having tried to quit in the past, but could not, spending longer time drinking than you expected, or continuing to drink even though it causes trouble with family or friends. An alcoholic is someone who has no control over alcohol and is unable to live a normal or healthy life; consequently, it causes a psychological and physical dependence upon alcohol. Alcoholics typically experience physical withdrawals when not drinking. Both disorders have a significant attribute for risky behavior e.g., drinking and driving or unsafe sex. Alcohol distresses all parts of the body, particularly the brain, pancreas, liver, and heart.
Have you ever thought alcoholism is a serious disease and thousands of people die each year due to excessive use of alcohol. Alcoholism is a chronic disease characterized by uncontrolled drinking or inability to manage drinking habits. It is also commonly referred as an alcohol use disorder. An estimated 88,000 people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women) die from alcohol-related problems, Annually, making the alcohol third leading preventable cause of death in the united states(National institute of alcohol abuse and alcoholism). Alcoholism
but then there are select groups that will drink more nights out of a week than others. They will drink heavily in order to get drunk which is a risk one is taking with their life and health. Those that drink heavily experience problems caused by alcohol consumption because it impairs their ability to get things done. They are also affecting their health. Consuming too much alcohol can affect our liver by deteriorating it and our brain by impairing the way
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.
Change of behavior caused by alcohols has negative impacts on one's surrounding and will, eventually, creates a rift among loved ones. Alcoholic can do anything without thinking for the future as long as they get the money to buy alcohol, ones may use the rental money for the house to buy alcohol and the worst case could happen is he loses his jobs. With this, drinker cannot be dependent on and divorce is inevitable as he could no longer support his family. Not few child abuse cases caused by alcoholic parents. Studies have shown that "2/3 of child abuse case involves alcohol" ("Facts about alcohol"). Family members also began to avoid friends, hide problems and cover up for the drinker as they are ashamed of their family member who is alcoholic. "More than one-half of American adults have a close family member who has or has had alcoholism" ("Dawson and Grant") Moreover, there is higher chances for their teenager child to be alcoholic too as they are used to seeing their parents drunk.
Alcoholism has been a major problem in society for a number of years. In fact, alcoholism should be compared to a virus. This is because a person can never be completely cured from alcoholism; they can only fight the battle, day to day, hoping not to relapse. When it comes to the etiologies, or causes, of alcoholism, there seems to be three distinct origins of alcoholism. These causes are genetic factors, dependency caused by brain chemical imbalances after long-term use, and social and emotional factors.
Some of the behavioral and physiological factors tend to increase or decrease a person’s risk for alcohol problems. Including tolerance to alcohol’s effects or may be directly linked to genetics. Like for example, being a child of