mental and social problems‚ including problems with job responsibilities and relationships‚ according to the National Institutes of Health. As is the case with other addictions‚ alcoholism is considered a disease by many in the medical community‚ including the American Medical Association. A drawback to framing alcoholism as a disease is that we tend to think of diseases as something that needs to be diagnosed by a professional‚ Young said. However‚ physicians often only meet with patients for a
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“Alcoholism has emerged in our time as a unique and highly specific illness. Yet it is a problem that dates from the beginnings of civilization‚ a subject that has been discussed and pondered as one of the great issues of human life” (Dorris 1). Alcoholism not only affects the addicted‚ but those around them as well. The alcohol addict can be male or female‚ adult or child‚ and almost no family in the United States today goes completely untouched by its affects. In order to understand the effects
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Identification of the issue. Alcoholism is a chronic‚ progressive and potentially fatal disorder which leads to physical and psychological harm‚ and impaired social and vocational functioning. It is characterized by tolerance‚ physical dependence and/or pathological organ changes‚ all of which are the direct/indirect consequence of the alcohol ingested (Light 5). Alcoholism‚ also known as "alcohol dependence‚" can be recognized by four obvious symptoms. The four symptoms of alcoholism are loss of control
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An alcoholic is a man or a woman who suffers from alcoholism - they have a distinct physical desire to consume alcohol beyond their capacity to control it‚ regardless of all rules of common sense. According to Alcoholics Anonymous UK‚ who say they have no unique definition for alcoholism‚ it may be described as a physical compulsion‚ together with a mental obsession. Apart from having an enormous craving for alcohol‚ an alcoholic often yields to that craving at the worst possible times. The alcoholic
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The Negative Impact of Alcoholism There are many negative effects of excessive use of alcohol. Alcoholism negatively impacts one’s lifestyle and health in many ways. There are many major organs that are impacted by the heavy consumption of alcohol. A person’s brain is directly affected by alcohol. Alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways; which causes changes in mood and behavior. This change in mood and behavior impacts the social and mental health of an alcoholic by impacting
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Alcoholism: A Family Disease Today‚ over 76 million American adults have been exposed to alcoholism in the family‚ and it is responsible for more family problems than any other single cause (Parsons). Alcoholism does not just take over the life of the alcoholic‚ but also the lives of the family. Every family member is affected differently‚ but they collectively share the pain and the suffering of living with an alcoholic. When the father is an alcoholic it has the greatest impact on the family
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a depressant; it impairs your ability to drive‚ slows down your reaction time and causes you to make some risky decisions that you wouldn’t normally take. This essay will also help you comprehend how and why things happen‚ because of alcohol. Alcoholism can kill in many different ways‚ and in general‚ people who drink regularly have a higher rate of deaths from injury‚ violence‚ and some cancers. The earlier a person begins drinking heavily‚ the greater their chance of developing serious illnesses
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Alcoholism in the 21st Century The dictionary describes alcoholism as continued excessive or compulsive use of alcoholic drinks. However‚ this disease is much more complex. Alcohol abuse is a growing problem in the United States today‚ causing more and more deaths each year. It affects nearly everyone in the U.S. today‚ either directly or indirectly. Over half of Americans have at least one close relative that has a drinking problem. About 20 million people in the United States abuse alcohol
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Alcoholism has been demonstrated as the leading addiction in the United States. One of the assumptions can be the availability of the substance. Typically‚ men have been shown to form addition more than women. Additionally‚ alcohol addiction has typically been associated with the disease and moral model of treatment. Discussions regarding if alcohol is a disease that a person is born with or is it a personal choice they make. The DSM-5 has made adjustment to include dependency in the Alcohol
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alcohol problems were less of a social control issue and defined them to be focused on “alcoholism and [alcoholics].” As a result of this changing perception‚ the modern alcoholism movement began. According to this movement‚ drinking moderately was socially acceptable behavior and alcoholism was the true problem. The movement believed that “only a minority of the population was afflicted with the disease of alcoholism” which meant that
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