This week I decided to do a reflection on an article about "Alcoholism" I read a few years back. Alcoholism, is a progressive illness involving excessive ingestion of alcohol. Alcoholism, as opposed to merely excessive or irresponsible drinking has been variously thought of as a symptom of psychological o social stress or as a learned behavior. More recently it has come to be viewed as a complex disease . Alcoholism develops over a period of years. A common symptom includes placing excessive importance on the availability of alcohol. Alcoholics have a high tolerance to alcohol, consuming more and showing less effects than others. Alcohol is a leading cause for death which causes nearly 4 percent of deaths worldwide, more than Aids, tuberculosis, or violence. Approximately 2.5 million people die each year from alcohol related causes. I also choose this topic because a week ago as you know, my father died in his sleep. He was an alcoholic for over 20 years, on and off trying to get sober. At times my father drank about 5 or 6 cups of rum and coke daily until he drank himself to death. What my father neglected to realize was alcoholism can lead to organ damage such as cirrhosis of the liver, epilepsy, or gastritis. Alcoholism is a disease, it sometimes is genetic and environmental factors have plenty to do with its development. An example in this case would be my grandmother, she drinks beer all through the day and ever since my father was little seeing this probably caused him to want to drink as well. Alcoholism's first stage is craving; a strong need for the drink. Second is a loss of control which is where you become unable to control or limit one's drinking. The third sage is physical dependence such as withdrawal symptoms. The fourth and final stage is tolerance, the need to drink cup after cup to achieve your high or buzz. Characteristics of severe physical dependence are cravings and…