Alcohol: Alcoholism and Alcohol Related Activities Essay

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Alcohol is one of the most widely used drugs that is viewed acceptable by most, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous. This drug has been a problem since prohibition from 1920-1933, and still causes many problems for people today, if not more. These problems include family problems, health issues, and addiction. Even though this drug is seen as “acceptable” to society, everyone should think carefully before indulging in alcohol related activities. Drinking alcohol comes with both short and long term effects on an individual and their body. After one beer the short term effects start, even if somebody doesn’t notice them right away. After a night of drinking more and more, those short term effects will heighten. The most common effects include vomiting, slurred speech, impaired judgment, and decreased perception and coordination. If somebody drinks for a long time, say every day, then the long term effects come into play. These effects take more of a toll on the body of the drinker. The effects include liver disease, permanent damage to the brain, ulcers, and heart related problems. All of the long term effects can build lifelong problems for a heavy drinker, and these effects are also the outcome to a chronic disease caused by drinking, called alcoholism. Alcoholism is a chronic disease of physical dependence to alcohol where the user drinks through all their health problems, physical and mental. For alcoholics, alcohol completely controls all of their relationships and other aspects of their lives. There’s also alcohol abuse, but this does not include physical dependence to alcohol. The transition from alcohol abuse to alcoholism is sometimes unnoticeable, because people will become alcoholics due to their increased tolerance to alcohol. There is a lot controversy debated on whether alcohol is actually a disease or not. A lot of physicians will say it is not because the actual definition of alcoholism is not a medical one, and is perceived as just a personal weakness. However, some physicians will treat alcoholism as an actual disease. My father who is a physician of family practice stated this, “Alcoholism may not be a disease such as cancer or diabetes, but it is still a disease nonetheless. I may classify it as a psychological disease.” Other physicians would agree to this as well. Even though it is also a personal weakness, a person feels they NEED alcohol to get through the day and that they need to keep drinking. This is all coming from the person’s not well state of mind. If a person were to go through withdrawal symptoms, the most common ones are not physical withdrawal, and more psychological like depression or anxiety. That shows that this is not a physical addiction, but a psychological one. Overcoming alcoholism is a very hard thing to do. Because this could be classified as a mental disease, a person would have to want to stop drinking or the treatment would not work. The treatment for alcoholism is a pretty simple process, with the goals being to lower withdrawal symptoms from users, and get them to therapy to stop drinking altogether. Users that have moderate to severe withdrawal symptoms may receive inpatient treatment in a hospital or rehabilitation center. With this, the patients are watched closely for their withdrawal symptoms. On the other hand, people with mild to moderate withdrawal symptoms would get outpatient treatment. Outpatients have to live in a sober environment and meet up with a health care provider until they are stable, also having to attend AA (alcoholics anonymous) meetings on a regular basis. Alcoholics have a huge effect on their society and families. A family that has an alcoholic in it has a lot of hardships, especially if there are small children in the family. The family altogether will sometimes try to hide the problem going on in their family, feeling embarrassed. Hiding the problem leads to dysfunctional family roles for every
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