David B Smith asked:


There’s regularly a lot of perplexity over what actually defines addiction to alcohol.

People tend to think in terms of the total of alcoholic drinks they consume in an evening or think it is a matter of how consistently they drink. Alcoholism is defined neither by the amount a person drinks nor by the regularity of alcohol . Alcoholism is an alcohol dependancy. If the person is reliant on alcohol, they are by definition alcoholic, regardless of how much or how often they drink.

‘Alcoholism’ is a disease, and a disease that affects many people around the globe. Moreover, it is a horrific disease that is chronic, progressive and regularly fatal. The disease first attacks the physical health of the victim and then disturbs emotional and mental equilibrium by effecting the alcoholic person’s family and social life.

It is a disease that is usually found amongst men, and sadly, most especially amongst young men. Consistent with the distinction we made above, medical practitioners distinguish between two types of alcohol-related problems – namely, ‘alcohol abuse’ and full-blown ‘alcoholism’.

‘Alchol abuse’ refers to specific events where individuals over-indulge in alcohol consumption and so damage their health, but do not necessarily become addicted to the substance such that these incidents become a regular and unavoidable.

‘Alcoholism’ refers to that state of being where the consumer of alcohol has become dependant. They have surrendered all control over their intake, such that they continue to consume compulsively, despite the obvious inflictions the drug is doing to their physical and mental well-being.
There is a straightforward medical explanation as to how alcohlism . Regular heavy-intake of alcohol leads to chemical imbalances in the brain or leads to depletion of certain chemicals, which makes the body desire alcohol. Having said that, assorted factors generally combine to lead someone into alcoholism – both social factors as well genetic and psychological ones.

In terms of genetics, it has clearly been shown that persons with a history of alcoholism in their families are far more likely to become alcoholics themselves that those without such a family history. Moreover, general high stress levels or a particular intense emotional trauma can lead a person to drink excessively, as the alcohol has a direct effect on the stress hormones.

In terms of the more expansive psychological factors, a low self-esteem and depression regularly contribute to increased alcohol consumption, which can result in alcoholism. In terms of friends and peer group, if a person mixes frequently with alcoholic persons, this will clearly make them more open to the disease.

Ironically, this can be a problem at both ends of the social spectrum. It is regularly the culture of high-powered business people to drink numerous cocktails and highly-alcoholic drinks at social gatherings, and certainly continuous alcohol consumptions can become the norm for young working class males who make it each day to the pub after work.

There is no quick and easy cure for alcoholism. Distinctive from other diseases, neither drugs nor surgery can do anything to remove the problem. One curious discovery though that researches have made about alcohol addiction is that the person indulging in the habit feels better, not while indulging, but at that instant the decision is made to indulge! This suggests that the most successful way to deal with alcoholism may require zooming in on that moment when thought of indulging enters the brain. If an alcoholic can will himself such that he can divert his attention when the introductory thought arises, this may be the simplest path to a cure!

Of course, given the numerous of contributing factors and differing levels of self-discipline, every case of alcoholism is going to be unique, which is why treatment is generally best handled by specialized health-care professionals.



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