The consequences of underage drinking can range from short-term and acute like accidental injury, to long-term addiction and damage to the brain, heart, liver, and stomach (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2017).
Drinking habits in youth can be modeled and predicted by Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) (Connor, 2005). SCT suggests, an individual’s behavior is explained by triadic reciprocity of dynamic, cognitive, behavioral, and environmental factors, which perpetually influence each other (McLeod, 2016). Consequently, an individual’s relationship with alcohol is determined by their knowledge surrounding alcohol and their environment. As such, influencing these factors provide an effective means of targeting underage drinking. The environment, health literacy, and personal values of youth are predominantly determined by parents, hence, by implementing a health-initiative targeting parent, underage drinking can be successfully curbed at a community level (Gross, 2016). Moreover, targeting parents aligns with the Ottawa Charter action area “supportive environments” as informed and healthy parents are essential to a supportive environment (Hurley, 2016).
Insight into barriers, enablers, current drinking trends and available community resources regarding underage drinking is necessary to holistically consider how to decrease it at a community level.
Analyzing secondary data and pre-existing trends regarding underage alcohol misuse will help direct and specify the aim of the health initiative. In 2017, 41% of students aged 12-17 reported drinking in the past year, 23% in the past month, and 14.5% in the past week (Alcohol Think Again, 2017). On the other hand, the average age of first alcohol consumption has gradually risen from 14.8 years in 1995 to 16.1 years in 2016 (AIHW, 2019). These statistics convey the effectiveness of currently provided community resources in influencing youth to drink at an older age. However, current resources cannot effectively reduce harmfully high underage alcohol consumption once it has begun, as evident in the 14.5% underage weekly alcohol consumption. Hence, a relevant health initiative will aim to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed by teenagers, rather than promote drinking at an older age. These critically high underage drinking rates indicate a significant presence of barriers and a lack of enablers in adolescents’ lives.
Identifying key determinants, barriers and enablers will help determine the most effective method to reduce underage drinking. The determinants of health most pertinent to underage drinking were identified as culture, family, and health literacy, as these factors directly relate to the social cognitive theory (Gerran, 2017). Personal and behavioral factors are directly influenced by the knowledge of the individual, thus health literacy will influence one’s personal/behavioral tendencies toward alcohol (Chin, 2018). Furthermore, the most significant factors contributing to a teenager’s environment include family and culture (Youth.gov, n.d.). Depending on the condition of these three determinants, they can each assume the role of a barrier or enabler.
Our heavy drinking culture is a barrier to healthy underage drinking practices due to alcohol being heavily connected to social situations and promoted in sporting events (Gerrans, 2017). As alcohol consumption is endorsed to adolescence from a young age, it is likely many may adopt these romanticized attitudes toward drinking. This is due to the theory of observational learning. The theory suggests that one learns from and adopts their own values, attitudes, and beliefs from their environment (Schwartz, 2015). Hence, a teenager brought up in a heavy drinking culture will be more encouraged to drink than one that isn’t exposed to said culture. This conclusion is supported by the World Health Organisation, stating “many factors contribute to affect the health of individuals. Whether people are healthy or not, is determined by their circumstances and environment” (WHO, 2019). Furthermore, per the social cognitive theory, as drinking culture is a significant component of a youth’s environment, it will incline them personally and behaviourally toward alcohol consumption, due to the reciprocal relationship between these factors. To offset this barrier it is essential that the second determinant of health pertinent to one’s environment is an enabler – parents.
Parents have the unique ability to shape a teenager’s environment and personal values toward alcohol from birth. This is reinforced by a study review conducted in 2016 stating “Almost all prospective studies on this topic have found that parental drinking predicts drinking behavior in their children,” (Rossow, 2016). Consequently, whether children observe parental drinking significantly determines their own drinking habits. For parents to be considered an enabler and protective factor for teenagers, minimal observed parental drinking is paramount. As such, unhealthy drinking habits in parents are critical barriers to a child’s own healthy drinking behaviors as supported by The American Addiction Centres stating “children who grow up with an alcoholic parent run a higher risk of becoming alcoholics themselves” (The America Addiction Centres, 2019). Similar to parents, health literacy can act as both a barrier and an enabler, depending on the extent of the individual’s knowledge. High health literacy acts as an enabler as it deters underage drinking by allowing youth to make more informed decisions (Gordon, 2016). According to the theory of observational learning, parents would be the most effective means of instilling sufficient health literacy into teenagers as they have been observing their parents since birth.
Currently, there are numerous national health campaigns that have been implemented to decrease underage drinking e.g. “I need to you say no – alcohol think again” (Alcohol Think Again, n.d.). Though somewhat effective (as evident in the increase of the average first drink age) these resources do not target a specific community and haven’t sufficiently decreased the rate of underage drinking (14.5%). Clearly, an initiative needs to be put forth to meet the alcohol-related needs of adolescents. Adolescents need an initiative that offsets barriers like drinking culture while promoting enablers such as health literacy and a minimal-alcohol environment. The overall analysis of barriers, enablers, resources, and trends demonstrates the effectiveness of reducing underage drinking by targeting parents, hence, the initiative needs to develop parent-based resources. As supported by the theory of observational learning, the initiative will aim to reduce observed parental drinking and provide parents with health literacy-based resources.
The usage of substances is pretty common from the past till now. However, the alcohol use is quite popular among the young male students of East-West University (EWU). Moreover, students of different socioeconomic background have different preferences of the types of alcohol. However, the amount alcohol consumption varies from man to man in accordance with the mental state. As well as different people have different causes of taking alcohol, but almost all of the alcohol addicts face numerous consequences. As the problem is enlarging day by day, therefore, working on such kind of issue is very important.
Methodology
All of the respondents I got for this work are my friend. Moreover, I have a lot of alcohol addict friends. Therefore, I have selected the respondents on the basis of simple random sampling. I have collected data by taking interview over audio calls on Messenger, and used a semi structured questionnaire at the time of interview. I have tried to present the quantitative data in pie chart and bar chart, such as the amount of alcohol consumption, and type of alcohol preference. Moreover, I have made the thematic analysis of the qualitative data.
Results
Different Preference on the Type of Alcohol Use
Two types of alcohol are available in our country, such as foreign and local. Different peoples’ choices their different brand in accordance with their affordability. The variance is noticeable among the respondents. Moreover, thirteen respondents prefer the foreign brands such as Whiskey and Vodka. However, among respondents two were indigenous, and they prefer their local or homemade alcohol, including Mohua, Chuani etcetera. Ironically, a few have also said that, at the time of money crisis, they also take locally made alcohol, which is very cheaper; in contrast, when they have money, they take foreign brands.
Amount of Consumption
Though all of the respondents are students, therefore, they are unable to consume alcohol on a regular basis due to the scarcity of money. Moreover, they have different styles to consume alcohol, as well as amount of consumption also varies. Ten respondents have said that they take alcohol on certain occasion, such as a marriage ceremony, festivals, beginning of the new semester, and some of them not being able to stop drinking once drinking has begun. However, most of them could not tell the actual amount accurately that they take. Moreover, eight respondents consume once in a month, and take alcohol on physical dependency, and withdrawal drinking after seeing the symptoms of nausea and vomiting. Consequently, they have said that they can take ten to twelve pegs. And two respondents specifically told that they must need to consume alcohol once in a week, and to take two-three pegs.
Alcohol as a Means of Relaxation
Alcohol can change the reality and provide relief and relaxation. One of the respondents has said that he just takes alcohol once in a week. Consequently, he can sleep deeply. I want to quote his speech:
“I just drink 2-3 pegs of whiskey in a week. And I can sleep without any kind of tension. I must have to drink once in a week, otherwise I just become mad” (Respondent 1).
Peer Group Pressure in Alcohol Addiction
Peer group pressure accelerates people’s motivation for becoming an alcohol addict. Moreover, in some peer group taking alcohol is just like a fashion. If nobody is able to take it, then he is counted as stupid. Therefore, peer group provokes alcohol addiction indirectly.
“I usually take alcohol with my friends. Whenever they arrange a party, they invite me. And I must have to attend the party. Then, I take alcohol, and gossip with friends. It gives me very good and feeling” (Respondent 5).
Poor Performance in Academic Activity
The academic life of those alcohol addicts is literally a disaster. The CGPA of those respondents is below 2.5. Therefore, they are completely isolated from the department that they are studying.
Single Life Preference
Alcohol addicts are also detached from love life. I have just got two respondents those who are in a loving relationship. Moreover, they are thought to break up their relationship because they could not tolerate their loving partner just because of short temper, as well as sometimes they do rough behave with them. Moreover, among those respondents who went for relationship that did not able to flow it for a long time. Somehow the relationship broke up. Therefore, it can be said that they are not sustainable in a relationship due to the frustration. However, the alcohol addict wants to remain single, and does not want to go in a loving relationship.
Discussion
The things that respondents are claimed for their alcohol addiction are not the real phenomenon. The actual phenomenon lies behind the opposite door that they are saying. Though I am friend of those respondents, that’s why I know background information about them. And as a student of sociology, it is pretty easy for me to interpret the actual phenomenon.
Most of the respondents were my friend, that’s why I particularly observe them for a long time. And I have noticed that they could not able to focus on their studies. Here I can connect the trait theory. For instance, poor academic performance is counted as a psychological disorder. I think this occurs due to the use of alcohol. As well as, according to the social strain theory, modern society is the production house of frustration, and here each and every one suffers for the relative deprivation. As a result, anger, fear, and disappointment grow very rapidly. As well as, continuous conflict occurs between goals and means. Consequently, people amiss the obvious route of life. Therefore, people search the route of coping mechanisms. Finally, people started using alcohol as a means of coping strategy, and they get trapped in the paradoxical situation badly, and the same thing is happening with the male students of EWU.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, it can be said that the alcohol addicts are completely isolated from their academic life and love life. Moreover, they remain every time frustrated. According to trait theory, this type of personality influences to go towards the non-conformity part of the society. Therefore, it can be anticipated that they have a huge probability to get engaged in crime in future.
The usage of substances is pretty common from the past till now. However, the alcohol use is quite popular among the young male students of East-West University (EWU). Moreover, students of different socioeconomic background have different preferences of the types of alcohol. However, the amount alcohol consumption varies from man to man in accordance with the mental state. As well as different people have different causes of taking alcohol, but almost all of the alcohol addicts face numerous consequences. As the problem is enlarging day by day, therefore, working on such kind of issue is very important.
Methodology
All of the respondents I got for this work are my friend. Moreover, I have a lot of alcohol addict friends. Therefore, I have selected the respondents on the basis of simple random sampling. I have collected data by taking interview over audio calls on Messenger, and used a semi structured questionnaire at the time of interview. I have tried to present the quantitative data in pie chart and bar chart, such as the amount of alcohol consumption, and type of alcohol preference. Moreover, I have made the thematic analysis of the qualitative data.
Results
Different Preference on the Type of Alcohol Use
Two types of alcohol are available in our country, such as foreign and local. Different peoples’ choices their different brand in accordance with their affordability. The variance is noticeable among the respondents. Moreover, thirteen respondents prefer the foreign brands such as Whiskey and Vodka. However, among respondents two were indigenous, and they prefer their local or homemade alcohol, including Mohua, Chuani etcetera. Ironically, a few have also said that, at the time of money crisis, they also take locally made alcohol, which is very cheaper; in contrast, when they have money, they take foreign brands.
Amount of Consumption
Though all of the respondents are students, therefore, they are unable to consume alcohol on a regular basis due to the scarcity of money. Moreover, they have different styles to consume alcohol, as well as amount of consumption also varies. Ten respondents have said that they take alcohol on certain occasion, such as a marriage ceremony, festivals, beginning of the new semester, and some of them not being able to stop drinking once drinking has begun. However, most of them could not tell the actual amount accurately that they take. Moreover, eight respondents consume once in a month, and take alcohol on physical dependency, and withdrawal drinking after seeing the symptoms of nausea and vomiting. Consequently, they have said that they can take ten to twelve pegs. And two respondents specifically told that they must need to consume alcohol once in a week, and to take two-three pegs.
Alcohol as a Means of Relaxation
Alcohol can change the reality and provide relief and relaxation. One of the respondents has said that he just takes alcohol once in a week. Consequently, he can sleep deeply. I want to quote his speech:
“I just drink 2-3 pegs of whiskey in a week. And I can sleep without any kind of tension. I must have to drink once in a week, otherwise I just become mad” (Respondent 1).
Peer Group Pressure in Alcohol Addiction
Peer group pressure accelerates people’s motivation for becoming an alcohol addict. Moreover, in some peer group taking alcohol is just like a fashion. If nobody is able to take it, then he is counted as stupid. Therefore, peer group provokes alcohol addiction indirectly.
“I usually take alcohol with my friends. Whenever they arrange a party, they invite me. And I must have to attend the party. Then, I take alcohol, and gossip with friends. It gives me very good and feeling” (Respondent 5).
Poor Performance in Academic Activity
The academic life of those alcohol addicts is literally a disaster. The CGPA of those respondents is below 2.5. Therefore, they are completely isolated from the department that they are studying.
Single Life Preference
Alcohol addicts are also detached from love life. I have just got two respondents those who are in a loving relationship. Moreover, they are thought to break up their relationship because they could not tolerate their loving partner just because of short temper, as well as sometimes they do rough behave with them. Moreover, among those respondents who went for relationship that did not able to flow it for a long time. Somehow the relationship broke up. Therefore, it can be said that they are not sustainable in a relationship due to the frustration. However, the alcohol addict wants to remain single, and does not want to go in a loving relationship.
Discussion
The things that respondents are claimed for their alcohol addiction are not the real phenomenon. The actual phenomenon lies behind the opposite door that they are saying. Though I am friend of those respondents, that’s why I know background information about them. And as a student of sociology, it is pretty easy for me to interpret the actual phenomenon.
Most of the respondents were my friend, that’s why I particularly observe them for a long time. And I have noticed that they could not able to focus on their studies. Here I can connect the trait theory. For instance, poor academic performance is counted as a psychological disorder. I think this occurs due to the use of alcohol. As well as, according to the social strain theory, modern society is the production house of frustration, and here each and every one suffers for the relative deprivation. As a result, anger, fear, and disappointment grow very rapidly. As well as, continuous conflict occurs between goals and means. Consequently, people amiss the obvious route of life. Therefore, people search the route of coping mechanisms. Finally, people started using alcohol as a means of coping strategy, and they get trapped in the paradoxical situation badly, and the same thing is happening with the male students of EWU.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, it can be said that the alcohol addicts are completely isolated from their academic life and love life. Moreover, they remain every time frustrated. According to trait theory, this type of personality influences to go towards the non-conformity part of the society. Therefore, it can be anticipated that they have a huge probability to get engaged in crime in future.
According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (Alcoholism, 2000), alcohol is among the three largest causes of preventable mortality in the United States. Contributing to approximately 100,000 deaths annually, only tobacco and diet/activity patterns contribute to greater death tolls. The Council also estimates that, despite laws against underage drinking, approximately 13.8 million Americans over the age of 18, representing about seven percent of the population, have experienced difficulty controlling their alcohol consumption, including 8.1 million people who are alcoholics. It is particularly disturbing to note that the prevalence of drinking problems is among those individuals within the 18 to 29 age group with a greater number of men experiencing problems than women by a factor of almost three to one. Despite laws against underage drinking, more than half of all high school seniors in this country have reported being drunk at least once and a third of them have reported have three or more drinks in a row in the weeks prior to the survey while another 76 million people, almost half of all Americans, have reported being exposed to alcoholism within the home (Alcoholism, 2000). These numbers are particularly alarming as studies continue to show that individuals who have started drinking before age 15 are up to four times more likely to develop alcoholism than those who started at age 21 and there is a greater tendency for alcoholism to run within family lines. Alcohol can affect not only the physical health of the individual but can have long-term repercussions on their psychology and social life as well, strongly affecting the way they relate to the world and those around them and only controllable through life-long voluntary measures such as Alcoholics Anonymous.
Physically, alcohol can have a dramatic impact upon an individual’s body particularly as it affects the liver. According to Dennis Koop (2007), alcohol damages the body in numerous ways thanks to the way in which it processes the substance when it is introduced. As alcohol enters the liver, it is metabolized by an enzyme called CYP2E1. In this process, toxicity levels are increased in the production of compounds Koop calls reactive oxygen species (ROS) which are formed when oxygen gains an electron, thus reducing the levels of oxygen in the body and functioning to damage other cellular molecules. Animals who have been treated with this compound have proven that the presence of CYP2E1 does indeed increase the level of chemical damage in the body by free radicals, particularly as they affect the lipid components of cell membranes in the liver cells (Dey & Cederbaum, 2006). This is because when the levels of CYP2E1 are high, there is a greater level of lipid peroxidation within the liver, thus a lower ability of the liver to fight against the toxins that have been introduced (Koop, 2007). Thus, the liver damage widely suspected to be directly caused by alcohol consumption is proven and unavoidable. With this knowledge in hand, it becomes a concern regarding why individuals might continue to choose to drink to the point of it becoming an uncontrollable habit.
Main body
According to reports by Psych Central, alcoholism does appear to have some hereditary connections. Those individuals who learn they have a high tolerance for alcohol should also be alerted to the fact that they may also have a greater tendency to fall victim to alcoholism while those who have a low tolerance generally do not develop alcoholic tendencies (Psych Central, 2006). This concept is supported by studies conducted with identical twins. According to Hicks et al (2004), “identical twins have a higher concordance for drinking behavior and possibly alcoholism than fraternal twins”, who do not share the same genetic record. In a twin study involving 542 families, there was a trait found for conduct disorder and alcohol dependence that was determined to be highly heritable regardless of gender. At the same time, it was also determined that a father’s alcohol intake could predict children’s alcohol dependence later in life (Hicks et al, 2004). While this did not indicate that all children of heavy-drinking fathers would grow up to become alcoholic, the combination of poor environment caused by the father’s heavy drinking (i.e. – lack of solid parent-child relationships and poor peer groups) with these hereditary danger signs created a difficult scenario for these children to escape.
Alcoholism is not always the result of hereditary factors, however. For example, while addictive personality can also contribute to the development of alcoholism, there has not been a single type of addictive personality positively identified with alcoholism and these personality types are not considered to be hereditary (Gold, 2006). Nevertheless, there are many addictive personality types who also become alcoholics despite the absence of the illness within the family line. Instead, it is presumed that these personalities turn to alcohol as a result of anti-social behavior within the home, perhaps as the result of poor home life or abusive parent or sibling. It is also not believed that alcoholism is the cause of aggressive behavior in individuals as not everyone who drinks becomes aggressive with the introduction of alcohol. “In trying to elucidate the relationship between alcohol consumption and aggression, researchers have suggested that people with a psychiatric condition called antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) may be particularly susceptible to alcohol-related aggression” (Moeller & Dougherty, 2001). Given that the illness is so complex, involving so many factors including heredity, environment, childhood influences, personality characteristics, and disorders, finding a cure for alcoholism has been impossible. However, there has been some support for self-help groups in maintaining control over the disease for those willing to put in the effort.
The most well-known of these groups is known throughout the world as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). This organization was founded in 1935 as a means of providing a supportive peer group to individuals battling their own issues concerning alcohol consumption. The program is centered upon the concept of total abstinence from alcohol consumption and provides a series of 12 steps that participants are expected to work through as a means of breaking their addiction to alcohol (Mayo Clinic, 2006). Analyzing the quality of life issues, research suggests that participation in these programs does indeed have a positive effect on recovering alcoholics. Referring to Alcoholics Anonymous and similar programs as Mutual Help programs, a study conducted by Ritsher, McKellar et al (2002) indicated participation in the program during the first and second year of sobriety had “a robust relationship with year 5 … remission for both groups.” It was hypothesized that this was due to the increased peer support with like-minded people. An earlier study on the same subject indicated “previous research suggests the relationship between mutual help and positive (Substance Use Disorder) outcomes is mediated by such factors as increased active coping, improved social support for abstinence and improved self-efficacy” (Finney, 1995). Another study followed several men who were first interviewed at their admission to treatment and six months later. According to this study, of the 80 percent of individuals who were re-interviewed, significant improvements were seen regarding drinking behaviors in terms of frequency, quantity, and reported problems. “Frequent AA attendees had superior drinking outcomes to non-AA attendees and infrequent attendees (Gossop, M. et al, 2003). In a Harvard mental health letter (In Brief, 2003), men who had at least four drinks a day were interviewed yearly for a period of two years after hospital release. “At the time they were hospitalized, only 9 percent of the men had attended more than 10 AA meetings in the previous three months. After one year, that figure had risen to 56 percent, and after two years, it was 49 percent.” These men were also reported to have fewer alcohol-related problems and were drinking less.
Not all the research supports the idea that quality of life without alcohol is directly correlated to Alcohol Anonymous meeting attendance, though. Taking a more objective approach, Watson et al (1997) compared four groups of men on issues such as alcohol consumption, number of times jailed, hospitalization, detoxifications, lost jobs, and other related factors during the period of one year. Because they were grouped by the number of Alcoholic Anonymous meetings they attended during their first month after discharge, it was possible to compare whether active participation in the program had any effect on the quality of life following treatment. “Attending meetings frequently did not make a difference among the groups on the average amount of alcohol drank daily,” however, those who attended meetings drank less alcohol daily on average than those who did not attend meetings. Although those who attended meetings were jailed fewer times than non-attenders, other quality of life measures that were compared did not show any significant differences.
There is a personal testimony that Alcoholics Anonymous or similar programs have brought about significant quality of life changes. For many, the changes in lifestyle can be profound. According to one man who had known the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous and achieved his own lifetime sobriety in 1934, it was through the precursor to the 12-step program that he was able to save his marriage. “Houck lost his wife to cancer in 1988, but believes the lessons learned from the Oxford Group gave him a life he had not been sure was possible. ‘A marriage that wasn’t supposed to last one year lasted 57 years.’” (August 2004). These types of changes are thought to be the result of significant changes in personal worldview.
Hoffman (2003) describes the mental progression, or moral career, of entry and participation in these programs as a series of states that were first outlined in a study on psychiatric patients. “Light’s (1980) study of the moral career of psychiatric residents proposes a singular model of residents’ socialization, consisting of five stages: feeling discredited, moral confusion, numbness and exhaustion, moral transition, and self-affirmation.” The first stage is the point at which Hoffman suggests the alcoholic is brought into treatment, whether by self-volition or court, or another mandate. They are discredited by the community at large, by themselves, and then by the members of the meetings as they learn their thinking has been completely false all along. This leads to a state of moral confusion, in which the participant is struggling to identify which beliefs are incorrect and which are acceptable moral behavior. Acceptance of the 12 steps of the program leads to a highly optimistic “pink cloud period of recovery” that “contrasts sharply with the period of isolation and alienation that characterized the member’s life before entering AA.” This is followed by a period of exhaustion that, if successfully navigated, leads to a “moral transition” that allows the participant to “relieve the anxiety and guilt stemming from her past deviance” (Hoffman, 2003). Through this type of experience, another member of Alcoholics Anonymous explains “you’re no better and you’re no worse than the person sitting next to you, but you’re all better for being there and for trying” (Orange, 2004). This interaction enables participants to remain open to change and explore new behaviors in a relatively ‘safe’ setting. “A 51-year-old African American male AA member said that his recovery program made it possible for the first time to get along with other people and to learn necessary social skills, such as being able to tolerate criticism, put up with frustration and accept the viewpoints of others” (Kurtz & Fisher, 2003).
Most research suggests the reason for these significant changes in quality of life is thanks to the inherent nature of such groups to provide an empowering setting in which these individuals can redefine and relearn necessary living skills. “Researchers who investigated empowering settings identified the contextual characteristics as critical to the formation of psychological empowerment” (Maton & Salem, 1995) which “leads to organizational empowerment by providing strengths and competencies needed for social action” (Rappaport, 1984; Zimmerman, 1995). Organizers of successful programs say “our mission is not just to get people to stop drinking. It’s all about living a better quality of life. … This is a chronic illness, and we’ve learned that people need a continuum of aftercare services. We don’t send people home cured. We empower them to understand their addiction and make changes in their lives” (Newhouse, 1999).
That this empowerment does happen can be seen in the various individuals who have proceeded from their participation in Alcoholics Anonymous to affect change in their greater communities as these experiences with others helped them reshape their ideas and their methods of communicating with others as they redefined what was important to them and changed their perspective to include others. One man described his awakening to the value of “knowing oneself and one’s culture. NA led me to go on a quest to meet my family in Cuba. I took the program with me to Cuba and would never have done that in a million years if it wasn’t for NA. Coming back and working with the community, I saw how I am representing my Hispanic side in terms of the frustrations, substance abuse and poverty. I look at the numbers of who’s dropping [out of school], and its Latino young men and women. … NA has taught me how to be strong and how to take on a fight and make a change” (Kurtz & Fisher, 2003). Another individual reported the recovery process, which included attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, gave her the self-confidence and ability to challenge herself. “I’m the type of person who just can’t be happy with the status quo. I’ve never been that way. Sometimes you accept the status quo because it’s bigger than you in a sense, but I don’t have to believe in it … So I constantly try to keep my values and ideals up front. Recovery has given me the strength and the wherewithal to do that” (Kurtz & Fisher, 2003). Although these people have elected to go into community service with their newfound abilities, these cases provide tangible evidence of the boost in quality of life afforded those who have such secure places in which to correct misguided thinking and gain support for an alcohol-free lifestyle.
It can and has been argued that a large degree of the success of the Alcoholics Anonymous program is due to the spiritual path upon which it sets its members’ feet. Although the 12 steps as outlined specifically outline a spiritual path, it particularly steps 2 and 3 that address the issue directly, calling on members to “believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity” and to make “a decision to turn our lives over to the care of God as we understand him.” It is important to note that this is phrased as a completely non-denominational, non-religious context, allowing members to believe in the ocean if that was what it took to find a power they could not stop and therefore greater than themselves. By introducing members to a world that exists beyond themselves and providing the space necessary for individuals to absolve themselves of guilt and obtain forgiveness for past deeds as well as a way of making up for past wrongs by encouraging active participation in some form, Alcoholics Anonymous provides a doorway into a new life.
This process is begun within the first three steps of the program and is reinforced throughout the 12 steps and the cycle of continuation outlined within the program. It is also essential to its members’ success within the program. “AA’s world view asserts that self-centeredness lies at the heart of alcoholics’ suffering; hence, overcoming alcoholism requires overcoming self-centeredness by committing to helping others and by surrendering to a higher power” (Humphreys & Kaskutas, 1995). In one study regarding spirituality in Alcoholics Anonymous, one member of the group said “AA makes you aware of other people. I think the major problem with most of us is that we were always too concerned about ourselves. Now, it’s different. You have to realize that alcoholism is a physical, mental, and spiritual affliction and that AA is more than just not drinking – it’s a way of life, a spiritual philosophy” (Rudy & Greil, 1987, p. 54).
For many alcoholics, the deeds they have done in neglecting their families and supporting their habits may have proven too much to bear, driving them to further drink as a means of forgetting about them. To bring these individuals out of this cycle, the spiritual journey of Alcoholics Anonymous includes the confession of past wrongs and a direct atonement where applicable or indirect atonement in the form of community involvement (within the Alcoholics Anonymous group at least) for those cases in which direct interaction would cause more harm than good. It is by going through this process that these individuals are able to both face the wrongs they have done and receive encouragement to continue on the path of recovery. One man, “After he decided on Dec. 12, 1934, that he would never drink alcohol again, he made restitution with his wife and others he had harmed. ‘I started telling my wife what kind of a fellow I was,’ he says. ‘I did this for three nights to get all of the garbage out. I wanted to be honest about everything in my life.’ He says his wife was grateful for the talk and then understood his behavior. ‘Now we could start our family and raise the children with the same guidelines. We had family quiet time every day. That’s the way we raised the whole family.’” (August 2004).
Conclusion
Through the increased or introduced spirituality offered through 12 step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous or any of the many other programs that have developed for various other disordered behavior/addictions, participants in these programs are able to find a path to a better quality of life and a more complete way of interacting with other people. Both research and personal testimony have demonstrated that this seems to be the case, with varying degrees of agreement regarding the impact on quality of life. Yet even the most pessimistic of research studies have indicated that participation in Alcoholics Anonymous leads to a reduction in alcohol usage, which subsequently leads to a reduction in alcohol-related problems including imprisonment. Meanwhile, connections have been made between the level of spiritual involvement and the length of time spent actively within the program, showing a cyclical relationship in which spirituality feeds recovery and recovery feeds spirituality. Although it is apparent that alcoholism isn’t curable thanks to a variety of mitigating circumstances, it can be controlled when those affected by it are willing to put in the necessary work and find a positive and supportive group to join.
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“In Brief – How Effective is Alcoholics Anonymous?” (2003). Harvard Mental Health Letter. President and Fellows of Harvard College.
Kurtz, Linda Farris & Fisher, Michael. (2003). “Twelve-Step Recovery and Community Service.” Health and Social Work. Vol. 28, I. 2, pp. 137-39.
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Mayo Clinic Staff. (2006). “Alcoholism.” Mental Health. Web.
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Rappaport, J. (1984). Studies in Empowerment: Toward Understanding and Action. New York: Haworth Press.
Ritsher, Jennifer Boyd; McKellar, John D.; Finney, John W; Otilingam, Poorni G.; and Moos, Rudolf H. (2002). “Psychiatric Comorbidity, Continuing Care and Mutual Help as Predictors of Five-Year Remission from Substance Use Disorders.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol. Vol. 63, I. 6, p. 709.
Rudy, D.R. & Greil, A.L. (1987). “Taking the Pledge: The Commitment Process in Alcoholics Anonymous.” Sociology Focus. Vol. 20, pp. 45-59.
Watson, C.G.; Hancock, M.; Gearhart, L.P.; Mendez, C.M.; Malovrh, P.: and Raden, M. (1997). “A Comparative Outcome Study of Frequent, Moderate, Occasional and Non-Attenders of Alcoholics Anonymous.” Journal of Clinical Psychology. Vol. 53, pp. 209-14.
Zimmerman, M. (1995). “Psychological empowerment: Issues and illustrations.” American Journal of Community Psychology. Vol. 23, pp. 581-99.
In his story “Under the Influence: Paying the Price of My Father’s Booze,” author Sanders Russell gives a deeply personal account of the effects of alcoholism in his family as he was growing up. Russell begins by giving an intense description of his father’s addiction. He articulates how his father dies in a trailer as a result of this compulsive thirst for alcohol.
Russell attempts to chronicle the trauma endured by his siblings and himself as a result of their father’s alcohol abuse. By doing so, he demonstrates that alcohol not only negatively impacts on the life of a drinker but it also leaves lasting scars on the people who are forced to live with an alcoholic. The essay aims to discuss more than just the issue of alcoholism but also the social environment that leads to or encourages it.
One of Russell’s primary objectives is to dispel the commonly held myth of drunks as funny and lovable people. He begins by decrying the wide array of comical names such as “..bozzy, woozy, fuddled, or smashed: crocked and shit-faced…” that are used to describe drunkenness. The author notes that these humorous lexicons are a far cry from the folly that is alcoholism.
The author’s description of his father’s drunken stupors is vivid and it highlights the ugly nature of alcoholism. The father’s demeanor is described as “eyes blazing, voice booming” and his actions are equally cruel even as he threatens to give his children a whipping and grabs their mother by her hair, threatening to shut her up by smashing a milk bottle against her head.
Russell lays emphasis on the evils of alcohol and how society is content to turn a blind eye instead of addressing the issue. He points out that he never heard the world “alcoholic” while growing up. This was despite his neighborhood having more than its fair share of drunkards, including his father.
People were willing to ignore the problem even though every member of the family suffers as a result of the actions of the alcoholics. The author speaks of the families of the millions of alcoholics in the US who hide the dark secret of alcoholism that plagues their family. The shame that they feel lingers on and it brings about anger and fear to the people affected.
The author’s tone is vindictive as can be seen from his thoughts concerning the alcohol makers whom he holds responsible for his family’s misery. He plots of how he would travel to the Gallo brother’s address and confront them with the truth about what their product was doing to his father. If the brothers were not remorseful, he says that he would kill them.
The authenticity of Russell’s experiences is evident from his diction as he narrates his story. When referring to the people who run the drug store from which his father obtained the alcohol, the author says ‘because the mom and pop who ran the dump….” This southern affectation is a reflection of the region in which the author grew up.
Russell chronicles the trauma he endured as a result of his father’s addiction. He emphasizes on the adverse effects that his father’s alcoholism had for the whole family and the fact that society turns a blind eye to this problem. He notes that the ugly nature of alcoholism did not die with his father but lives on with him and his siblings.
It is quite unfortunate that Linda aunt is hospitalized with liver disease. Hope she is responding well to the treatments. Anyway, I appreciate her goodwill to co operate with the scientific study about genetics of alcoholism. It is a good move she made at this time. More focused treatments can be given with this attempt. Further, Genetic studies will help you to understand more about the heritability of alcohol dependence and which will positively help you to explore the correlation of alcoholism to other disorders like major depression.
You might have heard that Alcoholism is a chronic disease. Statistics says that more than seventy six million people around the world are affected by this severe syndrome (UCSF, p.1). The reaction of people towards alcohol will be different. Some people are social drinkers but others develop severe and disruptive drinking habits. As far as I realize, your mom is a victim of this troublesome drinking habit. Like many other human disorders, this inconsistency of alcohol consumption is influenced by both heredity (biological factors) and environment. As you know, Genetic predispositions are the hereditary aspect of alcohol dependence.
As per the statistics, about 50% of alcohol dependence is linked with genetic factors and the other half includes the environmental factors. Greater Dallas council which deals with alcohol & drug abuse suggests that alcoholism is greatly related to heredity as there are research evidences confirming this. According to the twin studies conducted by Pickens and coworkers identical twins showed higher similarity of alcohol reliance compared to fraternal twins (Pickens, 19-28). Another reality is that Males are four times more vulnerable to alcoholism than females.
Numerous researches are going on around the world on the issues of alcoholism. According to Collaborative Study of the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA), it is possible to find an important relation between vulnerability for alcoholism and the chromosomes 1 and 7. Mary-Anne Enoch, a research physician of NIAAA, identified a new genotype named COMT Met 158Met. Among European men, this genotype is coupled with late onset of alcoholism and increased alcohol consumption. The same genotype is found to be associated with increased anxiety and reserve. Another study found that a gene on chromosome- 10, the KCNMA1 gene is linked to the level of response to alcohol. (Alcohol: Clinical Experiment Research, 2005). So far, ADH1 group and ADH4 group are the only gene variants that are known to influence our drinking habits, which code the proteins to metabolize ethyl alcohol to acetaldehyde. (Nurnberger; Nurnberger) However, investigations like Human Genome Project is now near to decode the whole genetic composition of the human genetic code.
As your doctor told, people having a genetic record of either alcoholism or depression will be at high risk to develop either of these illnesses. According to COGA, there is a greater possibility for depressive syndrome among alcoholic subjects. The combination of the phenotypes (Traits) Alcoholism and depression can hit more upon the members of a family. As the evidences of COGA suggests, there is an important relation between gene and chromosome 1, which is linked to alcoholism in some people and the same gene predisposes depression among others. A study by Washington University established some similarities on Chromosome 7 among people from alcoholic families and in depressed people. Yet another gene, engaged in many important brain functions is strongly associated both with alcoholism and depression is CHRM2 in chromosome 7. Among Individuals having both alcoholism and depression, the association is found strongest (Wang JC, et al., pp. 1903-1911). About sixty percent of major depression is transmissible to the other generation. The relatives of alcoholics are more vulnerable to alcoholism along with secondary depression if depression occurred in the alcoholic due to alcohol dependence. Likewise, relatives of non-depressed alcoholics are at high risk to develop alcohol dependence. (Nurnberger 2001). Alcohol abuse precedes depression among men. On the contrary, depression paves the way to alcohol abuse among women. (Study Links Depression and Alcohol Problems, 1997).
Alcohol abuse influences your life expectancy and it will definitely influence your life insurance premiums. Hence, the insurance companies will be keen to know about your habits of drinking. However, social drinking will not affect your insurance rate. If you are a problem drinker, some factors like the history of alcohol dependence, treatments taken, post treatment record, the network of support, medical records of the illness, driving records and your lab results will determine your appropriate insurance premium rates (How Alcohol use Affects your Life Insurance Premiums).
Just because of someone has a heritability of a disease like alcoholism; it does not mean that they will certainly develop that disease; just be conscious that such people are at high risk than the others. However, to influence diseases like depression or alcoholism, both heredity and environment have to work together than genetic factors alone. Hence, you do keep an optimistic outlook than getting nervous about your genes.
Works Cited
Alcohol. Greater Dallas Council on Alcohol & Drug Abuse. 2006. Web.
How Alcohol use Affects your Life Insurance Premiums. 2008. Web.
Kalat, J. W. Biological Psychology, 5th edn., USA: Books/Cole Publishing Company, 1995.
Pickens, R.W., Svikis, D. S., McGue, M., Lykken, D. T., Heston, L. L., & Clayton, P. J. Heterogeneity in the Inheritance of Alcoholism. Archives of General Psychiatry, 1991, Vol. 48.
Study Links Depression and Alcohol Problems. Washington Post Health, American Journal of Epidemiology, 1997. UCSF Family Alcoholism Study. 2002. Web.
Wang, J. C, et al, Evidence of Common and Specific Genetic EEffects: Association of the Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M2 (CHRM2) Gene with Alcohol Dependence and Major Depressive Syndrome. Human Molecular Genetics, 2004, vol. 13:17.
The main purpose of this paper is to craft a treatment plan for a patient with many health problems because of his habit of consuming alcohol excessively. The patient is trying to get help to recover and rectify poor health conditions through medical treatment and the support of his family (Perkinson 72). The treatment plan sheds light on his health problems to set short and long-term treatment goals. The diagnosis made on his health issues would include the patient’s medical history and all the descriptions of the events that may be responsible for his current medical health condition.
Client Name: Al Caholic
Problem statement
The client feels lethargic and thus, he could not keep his house tidy and maintained.
LTG: The patient should undertake an exercise in the future on alternate days and get naturally treated with fresh air to feel active.
STG: The patient needs to finish his rehabilitation program till the required period in accordance with his demand for a health condition.
Objectives: It is expected that the patient could feel better and return to his normal routine by adopting healthy activities.
Intervention: Assign the client to attend the counseling sessions at least 1x weekly for about four months.
Problem statement
The client has a problem concerning the development of strong or long-term relationships with people.
LTG: The client needs to finish his sessions with the psychiatrists in the first place and then get therapies with the help of his family.
STG: He needs to talk and share about his condition openly with his family members.
Objectives: To give him a better counseling session and understand his reasons and suggest solutions for his betterment.
Interventions: The client needs to attend the re-union programs and attend different events in the family and report to the counselor about them to assure his efforts in becoming social.
Problem statement
The patient claims to have a habit of sleep-walk and is afraid of harming himself.
LTG: It is suggested that the patient needs to get to the night school to get his license from the lead home inspectors and need to lose weight over time with healthy meals to get away with medical conditions that may cause him to sleepwalk.
STG: The patient should see a nutrition counselor get a guide for reducing weight.
Objectives: To plan a weekly diet chart to get the client into a habit of consuming a healthy diet and omit poor eating habits.
Interventions: Assign him to join an exercising group in a nearby park to work out early in the morning and discuss his issues with the other victims.
Problem statement
Patient having belly pain and sleepless nights may result in ending his job.
LTG: The client should complete the detox treatment by taking help from a professional.
STG: While getting treatment continued, the patient could just take mint-inhalers to relax him to control his craving for cigarettes.
Objectives: The patient needs individual counseling both by a close friend or family. The patient would discuss his codependency with his friend.
Intervention: The client needs to complete his treatments for the relieved belly-pain by 30-11-2014.
Problem statement
The patient could not sleep well because of the nightmares.
LTG: The patient needs to relive his family traditions and parents’ practices to feel better and remain connected with his people by the soul.
STG: The client needs to follow his medication routine and complete his treatment by following the schedule of counseling sessions.
Objectives: The client should get benefit from the biopsychosocial interview and attend counseling sessions 2x weekly.
Intervention: The client should finish his counseling sessions by 11-9-2014 to continue the morning exercise which is required for other treatments.
Works Cited
Perkinson, Robert R. Chemical Dependency Counseling: A Practical Guide. USA: SAGE Publications, 2011. Print
On entering college, one of the more significant and exciting triggers of life cycle change is that one is now of legal drinking age, which is currently 18 years in the country. And yet the Rudd government has now tabled proposals to return the MDA to 21 years owing to evidence from other countries or states (cited by researchers at Deakin University and Drug-Free Australia) that doing so has brought about a 15% reduction in death or injury related to alcohol.
Besides showing that they are perfectly capable of coping with the first drinking bout “rite of passage” (presuming they have not already consumed alcohol illicitly in high school), college students expose themselves to risks of binge drinking, get hungover and miss class, engage in juvenile crimes and have other run-in’s with the police, are more prone to smoke or use drugs, and (for females) bear pronounced risks of incapacitated sexual assault. Emotionally, moderate and heavy drinkers are also liable to depression.
Objectives and Research Questions
In general, the purpose of the research was to arrive at evidence-based recommendations for university policy and guidance programs that could more holistically help students avoid binge drinking or alcoholism and systematically cope with the attendant emotional and substance abuse risks.
Since a comprehensive analysis of such behaviors and emotional effects is beyond the scope of this project, the group focused on a general research objective of defining how men and women differed on such correlates of drinking as:
Wanting to “feel high”.
Reporting depressive symptoms.
The propensity for substance abuse.
Methodology
The study group solicited participation from a total of 10 classes in two universities proximate to QUT. Owing to the nature of the student population, the convenience sample broke out as follows:
266 women and 140 men (total n= 406);
An age range of 17 to 26 years with a mean of 19.1;
The student body was preponderantly White/Caucasian (89.2%) while Asians comprised 10.8%.
The study instrument comprised a structured, self-administered online questionnaire with the following core items:
Alcohol consumption: overall frequency (a pre-defined scale over the past 30 days), frequency of binge drinking (defined as “five or more drinks in one sitting), and incidence of drinking-related problems (dichotomous “yes” or “no” responses to 14 types of adverse consequences).
Coping through substance abuse: this is the four-item sub-set of the COPE Inventory. It queries drug or alcohol use in response to stress with a 4-point scale where 4 means “I usually do this all the time” and 1 “I usually don’t do this at all”.
Motivation to “feel high”: one question asking the respondents about the proportion of their total drinking occasions when they did so to “feel pretty high”. This is part of the Alcohol and Drug Use section of the “Young Women’s Health Survey”. Answers are on a five-point scale (1=”on one occasion”, 5= “on nearly all occasions”).
Depressive symptoms: a composite score of 16 or more (on the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale set of 20 items) suggests a depressive condition. The response was to a three-point scale of prevalence (1= “rarely”, 3= “most of the time”).
We thought to maximize compliance and submission turnaround time by promising a drawing for one $500 AMEX check.
Ethical Issues
Consistent with QUT adherence to the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research and the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Research Involving Humans, the study group ensured integrity of the research and respect for the privacy of respondents by:
Soliciting cooperation by defining the purpose of the study as seeking to update university policy about student drinking with objective information about the preferences and behaviors of students themselves.
Voluntary participation was documented with a signed consent form attached to each questionnaire.
Assuring students that no identification would be collected at all and that other personal information could not be used to trace findings back to them. This we guaranteed by processing and presenting only group or aggregate findings.
Findings
Fieldwork Issues
In general, we planned on employing gender and incidence of alcohol consumption as the key independent and explanatory variables.
The incidence of alcohol consumption, too whatever degree, came to 87.9%.
In turn, the dependent variables are summarized as:
Frequency of drinking and binge drinking;
And the extent to which one drank for the “alcoholic buzz” rather than socially or simply to unwind and relax;
Concomitant substance abuse;
And one hypothesized cause: owing to a depressive condition.
Data Processing and Descriptive Statistics
As respondents “filled in” or clicked on the appropriate buttons in the online questionnaire, their answers were compiled by the built-in tabulation facility in www.surveymonkey.com. That took care of any data transfer or encoding errors. Hence, the main sources of errors in this study were sampling errors owing to the convenience sampling of soliciting participation from whole classes of undergraduate students. Non-sampling error, in turn, can be assumed from response-entry mistakes made by the respondents online; the presumption is that the study participants may have been conscientious enough to avoid making illogical choices since each stood a chance of winning the promised incentive.
Since the default report presentation consisted solely of a set of bar charts, the raw data was downloaded as a.csv or comma-delimited file for further processing in Minitab.
Table 1: Gender Differences in Drinking Behaviour
Mean differences in study variables by gender
Variable
Mean (SD)
t
Overall
Men
Women
Alcohol-use frequency — past 30 days
3.07 (1.61)
3.50 (1.65)
2.79 (1.53)
−4.04***
Alcohol-related problems
1.48 (1.85)
1.80 (2.08)
1.28 (1.66)
−2.57*
Binge drinking
2.15 (1.43)
2.58 (1.52)
1.88 (1.31)
−4.49***
Substance-use coping
6.27 (3.16)
6.92 (3.37)
5.77 (2.90)
−3.28**
Drink to feel high
3.89 (1.39)
4.12 (1.38)
3.73 (1.38)
−2.47*
Depressive symptoms
15.33 (9.96)
16.05 (10.43)
14.88 (10.43)
−1.09
*p <.05, ** p <.01, ***p <.001.
After taking into account the tests of differences, it turns out that male college students claim more frequent drinking, binge drinking, more problems stemming from drinking, admitting to wanting to “feel high,” and resorting to either alcohol or drugs (or both) as a coping strategy.
Men typically scored marginally higher than the cut-off in depressive symptoms while women averaged just slightly lower. Essentially, they do not differ in being distressed by the pressures of college life.
Statistical Analysis
At this point, it is well worth mentioning that since most of the items were scaled or ordinal and derived from one large sample (n>30), hypotheses about the significance of differences were amenable to t or Z tests. As well, the presence of four dependent variables opened up the possibility of carrying out a regression analysis.
Table 2: Correlations of major study variables by gender
Variable
1
2
3
4
5
6
1. Alcohol-use frequency — 30 days
.41***
.54***
.34**
.33**
0.02
2. Alcohol-related problems a
.30**
.43***
.29.
.36***
0.17
3. Binge drinking a
.72***
.36***
.39***
.42***
-0.04
4. Substance-use coping a
.54***
.27**
.49***
0.22
.22.
5. Drinking to feel high
.42***
.29**
.37***
.27.
0.2
6. Depressive symptoms
0.06
.29**
-0.02
0.18
0.18
*p <.05, **p <.01, ***p<.001.
Men above the diagonal; women below the diagonal.
The derived correlations in Table 2, above, show that for male college students, the “feel high” motivation for alcohol consumption is strongly linked with the frequency of drinking, binge-drinking frequency, and running into various problems owing to heavy drinking. On the other hand, the only significant correlation for women was that between depressive symptoms stumbling onto alcohol-induced consequences.
Conclusion
The findings bear out the hypothesis that college-age males who have just come of legal drinking age freely admit to more alcohol consumption, a greater propensity for coping by resorting to substance abuse and wanting to experience that “alcoholic buzz” more than college coeds do. In turn, female college students were more prone to experience problems after drinking when they did so to shake off depression symptoms; males who sought an alcoholic “high” were also more vulnerable to alcohol-related problems.
One warrants that this finding for men is related to the fact that it is socially acceptable for men to drink to “feel high”, aside from the purely social and celebratory motivations for drinking. Emotions are, on the other hand, a more acceptable springboard for female drinking. This difference helps explain why young females do not drink as often as their male counterparts and are less likely to go on drinking binges when they do.
Since young men and women both experience problems after drinking, the more pragmatic implication of this set of data is that social marketing campaigns should employ responsible drinking as an advertising platform and use it as support claim the negative reinforcement or adverse consequences in point of disapproval by elders, school and legal authorities, and even death and injury. Certainly, this makes more sense than trying to resolve depression among females (college students are easily stressed out) or trying to neutralize generations of socialization that it is perfectly alright for men to use alcohol as a social lubricant and, if they get tipsy in the process, why that is to be expected, too.
If asking any person who is suffering from alcoholism whether it is a disease or not, mostly, the immediate answer that will follow is going to be no. The same question asked to a person who is receiving treatment from alcoholism will result in a positive answer. Considering alcoholism a disease has been a hot issue for debates in America since the 18th century (Hobbs) and continues up to the present time.
The discussion is still going on due to the fact that, alcoholism does not fit under the conventional “standards” of a disease, where the general opinion is deeming it as an addictive behavior. In that sense, alcoholism is denied the status of the disease despite being accepted by scientists and medical commissions as a chronic, progressing, and even fatal illness, which as in any disease has a particular course and symptoms. In that regard, this paper analyzes the different opinions regarding this issue, being a subject that draws continuous debates.
How Does the Second Party Try to Tell the Public That Alcoholism Isn’t A Disease?
Hector Colchado doesn’t consider Alcoholism a disease. In his argument, he starts by mentioning the definition of a disease, where according to him, a disease is “a medical condition, a specific disorder and a considered problem in society, which is based on the general view from a political and medical consensus” (Colchado). After that, he builds some comments in order to defend his claim.
In his first comment, Colchado says that alcoholism is not a problem in society; if it is a problem (and eventually a disease), many other behaviors like homosexuality will be considered diseases too. Hector Colchado says that “there is no such thing as a cure for homosexuality or alcoholism it is just a state of mind, a decision, an option and a habit” (Colchado). In a second comment, he says that usually someone with a medical condition needs to go to the hospital, but with alcoholism it is not necessary. The third comment, in the case of considering alcoholism a problem in society, the term ‘disease’ will not be accurate to describe it (Colchado).
Colchado says that alcoholism can’t be a disease because drinking is an optional activity. A person who has a disease can’t “stop having” it because it needs a cure. But an alcoholic can end his/her addiction by stopping drinking. Also, the sick person needs money for treatment to get well; without money there is no chance to get well. But an addict will stop drinking alcohol if he doesn’t have money (Colchado).
Colchado makes his conclusion depending on his own opinions; his argument is not totally consistent with the definition of the disease. According to the definition, the disease is a problem in society, but Colchado argues that if alcoholism is a problem, it cannot be considered a disease. Colchado also ignores that it is not easy for an alcoholic to stop drinking (Colchado). According to Dr. Thomas R. Hobbs, the proper description of alcoholism is the following:
Alcoholism is a primary chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and
environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations.
The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by impaired
control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol
despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, mostly denial.
Each of these symptoms may be continuous or periodic. (Hobbs)
Alcoholism is a Medical Condition and a Specific Disorder
Dr. Steven D. Ehrlich from the University of Maryland says that addiction is caused by the changes in the levels of brain chemicals. He says that the 2 main chemicals in this process are:
“Gamma-aminobutyric Acid”: It’s also known as “GABA”. This acid prevents the individual from being “impulsive” (Ehrlich).
“Dopamine”: This chemical “is linked with pleasurable feelings” (Ehrlich).
The changes of the levels of these 2 chemicals cause the addict to become impulsive and have uncomfortable feelings. The only way to keep the levels of these 2 chemicals normal is drinking alcohol (Ehrlich).
In regard of the mental effect, according to the Committee on Nomenclature and Statistics (1968) of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, “both alcoholism and drug dependence are classified as subdivisions under the heading of ‘personality disorders and certain other non psychotic mental disorders.’” (Carroll, 2005)
Accordingly, researches proved that mental illnesses and alcoholism can co-occur, where the treatment of alcoholism should be accompanied by the treatment of mental illnesses, such as depression.( Schwartz, 2008)
The provided information proves that alcoholism is a “medical condition” and a “specific disorder” (Colchado). These are 2 main characteristics of any disease according to the definition.
Alcoholism Is a Problem in the Society
According to the “American Medical Association”, about 18 million people in the United States suffer from alcoholism. Researches also prove that more the 70 million people in the United States have suffered from having at least one alcoholic in the family. Unfortunately, alcoholism is responsible for more than 50% deadly car accidents in the United States (Ehrlich). The several negative effects of alcoholism cost the U.S. economy more than 115 billion dollars every year (Hobbs).
These numbers prove that alcoholism is a “considered problem in society” (Colchado). This is a main characteristic of any disease according to the definition.
Alcoholism Has Symptoms Just Like Any Disease
Physical Symptoms: The alcoholic regularly feels pain inside his/her body. Also, the addict suffers from numbness in different parts of his/her body especially the legs and the arms. The eyes of an alcoholic turn red as a result of drinking. An addict cannot remember what happens during the time of drinking; this case is known as the “blackout” (“Symptoms”). Drinking alcohol can cause “liver diseases”. There are some “withdrawal symptoms” such as “nausea”, “sweating”, and “shakiness” (Ehrlich). The withdrawal symptoms occur when the addict doesn’t receive the alcohol dose at the usual time (Ehrlich).
Psychological Symptoms: Drinking Alcohol causes “anxiety, depression, irritability and sleep disorders” (Ehrlich). It is painful for an alcoholic to have these symptoms. Thus, he/she will try to have larger doses of alcohol to defeat his/her painful feelings. Symptoms become more serious if alcohol doses become larger (“Symptoms”).
This essay has shown that it is more reasonable to believe that alcoholism is a disease. It’s true that the supporters of the statement that alcoholism is not a disease, but a behavior, supports their claims with strong arguments, but it is mostly dependable on personal opinions. At the same time the supporters of the idea that alcoholism is a disease, backup their arguments with facts and statistics, and thus their arguments are more acceptable.
Fighting alcoholism must be started by the addict; the addict must admit that there is a problem and must seek “medical treatment and rehabilitation” (“Alcoholism”). The addict’s family must try to seek help quickly because delays can negatively affect the addict and the family (“Family Disease”). Dr. Thomas R. Hobbs is an expert in alcoholism issues; he suggests that medical schools must focus more on educating students about alcoholism. He says that “education must begin at the undergraduate level and continue throughout the training of most if not all specialties” (Hobbs).
Works Cited
“Alcoholism.” All About Alcohol. 2007. National Rehab. Web.
“Alcoholism As A Disease.” About. 2009. Th e New York Times Company. Web.
“Alcoholism Is A Family Disease.” About. 2009. The New York Times Company. Web.
“Alcoholism Symptoms.” National Treatment Referral. 2005. Web.
Carroll, Jerome F. X. “Outmoded Concepts in Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation.” Community Mental Health Journal 11.4 (2005): 418-29.
Colchado, Hector. “Alcoholism Is A Choice, Not A Disease.” AddictionInfo. Talon Marks. 2008. Cerritos College Newspaper. Web.
Ehrlich, Steven. “Alcoholism.” University of Maryland Medical Center. 2007. Web.
Hobbs, Thomas. “Managing Alcoholism As A Disease.” Physician’s News Digest. 1998. Physician’s News Digest, Inc. Web.
Schwartz, Allan. “Alcoholism, Drug Addiction and Mental Illness”. 2008. Mental Help. Web.
The contention that alcoholism is a disease is slowly getting popularity globally but the question remains whether it is really a disease. The universal definition of a disease is anything that is capable of causing an imbalance in the body’s nervous system thus, going by this definition then it is a disease, but in this century whereby there are many sorts of addictions hence, it is difficult to conclude which of them are diseases.If it is really a disease alcoholics require medical treatment and not moral sanctions as it is now in many societies.
There is a model that has been created to handle alcoholism as a medical condition; it is known as the dispositional disease model also known as “disease concept of alcoholism.” It is based on the psychological disposition affect which is the personal ability of an individual to react to issues in a steady manner which may be positive or negative. The model therefore helps alcoholics to perceive the condition in a positive way. It does so by enabling them to accept some recovery prerequisites which are: accepting that one is suffering from alcoholism, one should also aspire to transform, admit that there is no personal ability to change by themselves, and finally one should be ready to accept recovery help offered.
The model proposes that alcoholism can be considered as a unitary disorder; that one can either be an alcoholic or not and that the condition is qualitative not quantitative hence it does not matter how much you drink. Secondly the model suggests that alcoholism is physical and not biological. Its proponents argue that the causes are physiological and they originate from the genetics of a person and this are; abnormal metabolism and brain chemistry. They argue that it is the reason as to why some races suffer from alcoholism than others. Psychological and social problems are considered as the outcome of alcoholism not the cause.
“In reality, an abnormal physiological reaction is causing the alcoholic’s increasing psychological and emotional problems” (Miller, 33-34). Loss of control is a highly considered symptom in the model and it is very common in all cases of alcoholism. Alcoholics’ lose control of their ability to stop since it is influenced by physiological factors that cannot be changed by morals or punishment. The fourth component of the model is that alcoholism cannot be reversed, once it has happened that’s it; the condition is incurable. Any treatment that does not advocate for complete abstinence is not allowed in this model because one drop of alcohol will return the former alcoholics to where they started.
Perceiving alcoholism as a disease is a beneficial step in stopping alcoholism because people will realize the seriousness of the matter; and considering that no one likes getting exposed to diseases people might stop irresponsible intake of alcohol. The model also can be used to motivate alcoholics since it is mainly concerned with the stage, (not having it or not) therefore being an alcoholic is not the end, people can manage it depending on the stage of illness just like HIV/AIDS.
The model has various weaknesses that have made it difficult for it to be adopted universally. To begin with, it does not consider the moral side of the issue; alcoholics are considered as moral delinquents by the society and that they are liars who cannot be trusted. The model should have a way of helping them deal with this perception. Assuming that alcoholics will accept their condition and embrace change is also a huge mistake because that is the most difficult thing that an alcoholic will do. It involves very intense confrontations for them to accept it, although morally it is their responsibility to do so.
They are regarded as uncooperative and unmotivated by the society giving them a negative moral view. The model itself is also an abuse of morality since it proposes that alcoholics are incurable hence it is considered to be encouraging them to continue with their habits. The model also seems to force people to undergo treatment against their will. This is because the model assumes that alcoholics are sick and do not have the ability to think rationally, hence someone has to make the decision for them. This approach has been criticized whether it is ethical to coerce treatment on alcoholics an act that is not executed for other physical diseases.
Scientifically the model also has some disputable hypotheses; People suffering from alcoholism sometimes tend to modulate their habit in some social conditions while others have ceased drinking without undergoing any treatment or recovery groups. Research on alcoholics has not shown any presence of physiological abnormalities in addicts. Psychological and social rehabilitation methods have also been proved to be effective in solving this problem despite the fact that the model says they cannot. If the model was to be used to control alcoholism, then that will be a very difficult task because warnings against alcohol should then be directed only to those that are genetically sick and not everyone.
This would be a very unfruitful method since indentifying those that have the abnormalities is quite difficult. The method is ineffective since it was not derived from science but from moral, political, and economic forces of the American society. It is therefore impossible for it to adequately understand and address alcohol problems. It fails to incorporate scientific data leading to treatment and prevention programs that are extremely limited in focus.
There is need to for a descriptive model created by bearing in mind the general public health model, which comprises of three components of treatment, prevention and research of diseases. These components are known as etiological factors and are: the host, agent and the environment. The host in this case will be the person and the agent is the chemical which is ethanol. The control of disease is not achieved by treatment only but also by exclusively focusing on the agent and the host. Environmentally, prevention of alcohol consumption would be the best action to take.This involves decreasing supply and demand, increase taxation on alcohol, restrict advertisements of alcohol, licensing and ensure warning labels on liquor are in place.
In solving peoples problems we need to understand their needs because they are the cause of the problems. Most people will indulge in certain activities for a reason; therefore it is their need to achieve what they want that will guide each and every move they take.Human beings have four types of needs that are fundamental for survival. These needs are: Psychological issues such as hunger, sexual and emotional needs, they also require to be loved and be affiliated with others, need to feel safe, and finally they need to have self-esteem and feel appreciated.
Lack of the above needs creates an intense deficiency in an individual which often leads to depression and people end up looking for these needs in other things such as alcohol. If one requires rehabilitating people with problems in their lives; then one has to find out what needs a particular person is lacking and how to provide it. This calls for intense research about them because most of them will not tell directly what their problem is but instead one will have to find out. Problem solving therefore involves understanding people and their various diverse needs.