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Introduction
Alcohol has a lot of negative effects, and is dealing with society in many different ways. It is so unfortunate that the majority of the efforts being made in fighting drug abuse, is centered on other drugs such as cocaine, leaving alcohol which is today the worlds number one drug headache. The adverse effects caused by alcohol, may be mild and as an extension threatening to the life of the person consuming it, his immediate family and the society at large. From a research carried out in the United State of America, about 15% of the matured people in the country were found to have had a feel of alcohol abuse at one point, or the other in their lives. Stopping the act, for those that drinking has become a habit, is much more life threatening that the withdrawal from some other drugs assumed to be deadly.
The misuse of alcohol has to do with or is accompanied with some of the following traits, not performing ones duty at office, or not doing class assignments, involvement in unnecessary arguments etc. A steady use of alcohol which is dangerous, for example, when working in a workshop, might result to accidents to the individual and to his colleagues. Often times the individual who is dependent on alcohol is likely to break the law and is most likely to be in the hands of the authorities, stressing the family members and their resources. An individual who is dependent on alcohol and has personal problems, ranging from financial to family, etc is likely to continue with his dependence on it than an individual who has less life problems. The dependence of an individual on alcohol is a serious problem for the individual and the society at large. The resultant effect of depending on the drug is that such an individual finds it difficult to do anything without taking a considerable amount of the substance. When an individual, who initially was totally dependent on alcohol wants to quit, some of the thing that are noticed with such an individual is the reduction in the amount that is originally consumed by such a person. Oftentimes some of the following symptoms are seen, for example the person finds it very difficult to sleep and at time he or she vomits and is unnecessarily anxious. It is common to see the person trying to utilize alcohol, to prevent some of the symptoms that are associated with withdrawal. When an individual takes or consumes more than he originally intended, and then he or she is finding it difficult to withdraw, even when he is very uncomfortable with his or her prevailing status as an alcoholic, and at times forgoing activities that are very dear to him or her just in the name of wanting to consume just a little more bottles, then such an individual is said to be in a critical situation or totally dependent on the substance.
Alcohol Abuse
One of the commonest thing that is associated with the abuse of alcohol, is the continued consumption of the substance even when it becomes obvious that the individual is not enjoying the experience in any way. And still such an individual or person finds it difficult to withdraw. Alcoholism is generally used to refer to two major disorders, one of the disorders is the abuse of alcohol, and the second disorder is the reliance on the substance. The general feature common with this two disorders is that the individual is on a steady basis associated with problems which cover a wide range of his or her life. Another important point to note is that the two disorders are likely to cause severe damage to the individual depend on it , even to the point of even taking the life of such an individual. The sorry part of it is that, when an individual is dependent on alcohol the damage is done not just to the individual and to his immediate family but to the society at large.
Description
The damage that is caused by alcoholism cannot be overemphasized. The consumption of alcohol deals negatively with every part of the individuals body, resulting to health conditions that are very complicated. Some of the identifiable health problems that result from the dependence of a person on alcohol are, the difficulty of such an individual to walk properly, nutritional malfunction, and the chief of it all lever complications. Other health issues that are linked with the consumption of alcohol are the difficulty of the blood to clot properly, increase blood pressures and regular alterations in the rhythm of heart beat. Personal to the individual are issues like marital break ups or problems, job losses and a destabilized life style in general.
According to (Bernard, 67) Alcoholism is also a major source or cause of social problems, amongst which are involvement in crimes which ordinarily the person wouldnt have been involved, homelessness, murder, suicide and injury . Alcohol has been identified as one of the major cause of road accidents and other social vices.
Alcohol and Suicide
The risk of attempting to commit suicide is greater among the population that is dependent on one form of substance or the other. And alcohol is one of those substances on which the people that are dependent on, are likely to commit suicide. This is as a result of the courage they derive from the consumption of the alcohol on which they live. The rate at which suicide is attempted or committed is discovered to increase as the rate of consumption of alcohol grows. This is commonly observed among the younger generation, or it is commonly more obtainable amongst the younger generation than the older ones.
Alcoholism Causes
The basic cause or reason while people get dependent on alcohol is not clearly been established. Some schools of thought attribute the reason for alcoholism to genetic factors, while some differ on it. This has made this area of research a controversial one. But it is commonly been observed that children that are born of parents that are dependent on one form of substance or the other, are likely to be alcoholics, the reasons for this are not yet clearly established , but some still believe it is as a result of the orientation they get why growing up. Some researchers have come up with an argument that, a particular gene exist which when inherited by the child in a particular way, the child is likely to take after the father in drinking. On a general note a lot of factor are seen or believed to be responsible for the reason while most individuals take up drinking or get dependent on the alcohol. These reasons are social in nature and prominent amongst them is the influence from friends. Young people are likely to indulge in alcohol consumption in order to impress their peers, they usually start drinking on a light note this habit grow gradually and subsequently the individual becomes dependent on the substance. Psychological factors also account for a few cases of alcohol dependence, an examples of such a case is stress and depression.
Alcoholism Symptoms
There is no fact denying that the dependence of an individual on alcohol is a disease. This is commonly observable in the behavior of the individual and the resultant effect of such an act on the individual. According to (Versh, 85)
Alcohol abuse and alcoholism are associated with a broad range of medical, psychiatric, social, legal, occupational, economic, and family problems. For example, parental alcoholism underlies many family problems such as divorce, spouse abuse, child abuse and neglect, welfare dependence, and criminal behaviors, according to government sources.
It is very unfortunate that most of the cases relating to alcoholism are not noticed by medical personnel on time. This is because, those who are dependent on alcohol usually hide the facts regarding their levels of consumption and how often they get indulged in the consumption of the substance. It is saddened that most family members who are supposed to speak regarding the conditions or status of their family members that are alcoholics, tend to hide the situation or condition from the medical practitioners, whenever they are expected to give account of their members. The resultant effect of this is that, this people continue with the act, and the family members suffer the immediate consequence of these behaviors. However it is not in all cases that the family members of those that are alcohol dependants know the actual status of their loved ones.
The usual thing that most alcoholics do is to deny that they are dependent on the substance, even when it is very obvious that they are. Alcoholism is a social problem that is very complex to discuss. There are certain behaviors that when an individual exhibit, he or she is suspected to be having problems with drinking. These behaviors are not far from those mentioned earlier as symptoms. (Bernard , 56 ) listed the following as connected to alcoholism, insomnia, frequent falls, bruises of different ages, blackouts, chronic depression, anxiety, irritability, tardiness or absence at work or school, loss of employment, divorce or separation, financial difficulties .
At an advance stage of drinking, serious medical complications are observed; among the medical issues relating to the excess consumption of alcohol are cerebella atrophy. When a comparism of the children who come from homes where the parents are alcoholics, to those from more decent homes, the ones whose parents are dependent on the substance are likely to experience alcohol abuse (Petrakis, 83). It is very important to note that people, who are dependent on alcohol, stand greater chances of having psychiatric problems and an attempt at taking their lives or that of other persons, by their actions or inactions( Room, 168). People who are dependent on alcohol, carry themselves with a feeling of deep seated guilt, this is very noticeable when their acts have caused them some damage. It is very funny that some people plagued with alcoholism blame it on others, they feel the action of one family member or a problem with a loved one caused them to seek refuge in the glass bottles. The most painful aspect of alcoholism is that, when medical complications occur they are very slow to respond to treatment. Often times or in rare cases this alcohol dependents are required to take some dose of the substance to which they are addicted to or dependent on, in order to respond to treatment effectively( Daniel,48).
Alcoholism and Cancer of the Lever
The origin of cancer can be from the lever or it could get to the lever after it must have started from another location. Example of such is the cancer of the colon; it is believed that the cancer of the colon is one of the commonest forms of cancer in the world today. It is a very deadly form of cancer, and the basic treatment is by its removal. It is sad, but interesting to note that alcoholism is one of the major causes of this form of cancer (Versh, 29)
Seeking Medical Care
Individuals, who consume alcohol to the extent that it affects certain areas of their lives, need professional advice in dealing with their problems. It is unfortunate that hardly will you see an alcoholic going to seek for professional advice regarding his or her problem (The world report, 92). The usual thing they do is try to hide the complexity of their condition, making every one believe their condition is not as bad as it is been perceived. When an alcoholic goes to any professional know you that they have been forced by their family members to do so. Even at the point where they allow or give the medical practitioners their attention, by allowing them to treat their conditions, it hardly last since the next day, they are likely to go back to their usual life style of drinking. They fail to understand that most health complications that are connected to alcoholism, if not attended to immediately result to acute conditions, where death is always likely to occur or the chances of recovery are slim. In very negligible situations after treatment the individual who is dependent on alcohol develops some form of motivation to quit drinking, in such persons if properly guided they stand the chance of withdrawing from the act of drinking. But the sure thing is if after the treatment no support is given to the individual in question, he or she gets back to the act just in a matter of days.
Most alcohol related diseases require immediate attention in order to prevent the escalation of such conditions. It has been researched that 50% of road accidents result from alcohol influence, and about 60 % of fire accidents are caused by the influence of the over consumption of alcohol. Often time because of the lack of control on the party of those that are involved because of their state this accidents result to death. The painful aspect of it is that not just the alcohol dependent suffers the consequence but the society at large is meant to suffer ( Orkuma, 35).
Conclusion
Alcoholism is a disease, which is contracted from the carelessness of individuals. From the resultant adverse effects of the actions of those that are involved in the consumption of excessive quantities of alcohol, for their safety and that of the society at large, it will be imperative for the government to establish maximum consumption levels that an individual is allowed to consume at a particular time. Though this will be very difficult to implement, something has to be done considering the magnitude of the damage that alcoholism has caused to individuals and the society in particular. This will also go a long way in reducing the number of cancer cases that are recorded annually. And the number of lives that are wasted on alcohol consumption will be reduced drastically.
Works Cited
Bernard, Daniel. Drink and Pay The price. Maiduguri: Alhdul, 2001.
Daniel, Charles. The consequence of excessive Drinking. Cairo: reds, 2003.
Maffli, E. Problem drinking and relatives . In:Klingemann H, Gmel G.eds. Mapping the social consequence of alcohol consumption. Dordrecht, Kluwer academic Publishers, 2001.
Neuroscience of psychoactive substance use and dependence .Geneva, World Health Organization, 2004.
Orkuma, John. Drinking in the Mordern Age. Yobe: Salu, 2000.
Petrakis, I. et al. Comorbidity of alcoholism and psychiatric disorders , Alcohol Research and Health, (2002): 26(2).81-89.
Rehm, J. The global distribution of average volume of alcohol consumption and patterns of drinking . European addiction resaerch, (2003):9,147-156.
Room, R. et al. Drinking and it burden in global perspective:policy consideration and options . European Addiction Research,2003: 9,165-175.
The world report 2002: Reducing risk, promoting healthy life.Geneva, World Health Organisation. Web.
Versh, Uva. Youths and Alcohol Abuse. Dublin: Ellen, 1998.
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