Free Term Paper on Alcoholism
Alcoholism
One out of thirteen adults are considered to be an alcoholic or
suffer from a drinking problem. Today, fourteen million Americans suffer from a
disease that is caused by a combination of physiological, psychological, social,
and genetic factors. Alcoholism is a developmental disease that progresses
slowly over a number of years and is based on both the physical and emotional
dependency on alcohol. In many cases it leads to brain damage and/or early
death.
Early symptoms include putting excessive importance on the
availability of alcohol, which influences a person’s choice pastimes and
friends. Alcoholics use alcohol more as a personality changing drug rather than
a beverage served with food or as a social custom. An alcoholic usually has a
high tolerance to alcohol, which means being able to drink more and show fewer
side effects than others. The person begins to drink even though it may not be
in her/his best interest. Alcohol comes to be more important than personal
relationships, family, work, or even health. People are unable to predict how
much an alcoholic will drink at a certain occasion or if the alcoholic is
practicing abstaining from alcohol, when the drinking will resume again.
Physical addiction will lead to drinking around the clock to avoid withdrawal
symptoms.
Ethyl alcohol, the alcohol used in alcoholic beverages, consists
of C2H5OH. It is a clear liquid with a burning taste and a pleasant smell. It
has toxic and sedative effects on the body. Alcohol can have major effects on
major organ systems. For example, it can cause ulcers, inflammation or the
pancreas, and cirrohosis of the liver. It can permanently damage the central
nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. Withdrawal from alcohol, in
severe cases, can cause shaking limbs, hallucinations, and blackouts: which can
be fatal if not properly treated. Even withdrawal from hard drugs such as heroin
rarely results in death.
The liver is the largest internal organ in the
body. In a healthy adult, it weighs about 3 pounds and holds about thirteen
percent of the body’s blood supply. Blood flowing from the stomach and
intestines goes into the liver where it extracts nutrients and toxins. The blood
is then pumped back to the heart. The liver performs over 500 vital functions.
It processes all of the nutrients that the body requires, including proteins,
glucose, vitamins, cholesterol, and fats. It also makes potentially toxic
substances, including alcohol, ammonia, nicotine, drugs, and harmful by-products
of digestion non-toxic.
The liver is particularly harmed by alcohol. In the
body, alcohol breaks down into various chemicals which are very toxic in the
liver. Alcoholic cirrhosis is the most common cause of cirrhosis in the U.S. and
is estimated to be responsible for 44% of deaths from cirrhosis in North
America. However, one Canadian study found alcohol to be the major contributor
to 80% of all cirrhosis deaths. About 10% to 35% of heavy drinkers develop
alcoholic hepatitis. After years of drinking, liver damage can be very severe,
leading to cirrhosis in about 10% to 20% of cases. Not eating when drinking and
consuming a variety of alcoholic beverages are also factors that increase the
risk for liver damage. People with alcoholism are also at higher risk for
hepatitis B and C. People with alcoholism should be immunized against hepatitis
Band they may need a larger dose of the vaccine for it to be effective.
Recent evidence shows that even moderate drinking in women during pregnancy
can result in serious damage to the child. For example, it may cause physical or
mental retardation, and in some cases, fetal alcohol syndrome.
Fetal alcohol
syndrome is caused by alcohol consumption of pregnant women. The consumption of
alcohol greatly increases the risk of abnormalities for the unborn child. Some
of these abnormalities include: growth deficiencies (head, weight, length etc.),
facial abnormalities (small head, small jaw, small, narrow unusual-looking
eyes), heart disease, and limb abnormalities.
Recognizing that one has a
problem is the first step in treatment. For most alcoholics, the next step is
detoxification, which is the medical management of severe alcohol withdrawal
symptoms. Patients undergoing detox (detoxification), which usually requires
less than a week, usually stay in a specialized residential treatment facility
or a special unit of a hospital.
Alcoholics also have the option of
involving themselves in a treatment group, which may consist of individual
counseling and group therapy. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is one of these support
groups. “AA is a worldwide fellowhip of man and women who meet together to
attain and maintain sobriety (AA webpage).” There are no requirements for
joining AA, only the need to stop drinking. AA was started in 1935 when two men,
Bill W. and Dr. Bob S. met in Akron, Ohio to help each other stay sober. Today,
AA has grown to over 87,000 groups in more than 130 countries, with more than
two million members. Their motto is to stay away from “one drink at a time, one
day at a time.”
A board of trustees, seven whom are not alcoholics and
fourteen who AA members organize activities in the US and Canada and an
international conference is held every five years.
AA uses the twelve step
method in approaching sobriety:
Step 1 We admitted we were powerless
over alcohol-that our lives had became unmanageable.
Step 2 Came to believe
that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity
Step 3 Made a
decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of Gad as we understood
him.
Step 4 Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
Step 5 Admitted to God, to ourselves and to other human being the exact
nature of our wrongs.
Step 6 Were entirely ready to have God remove all
these defects of character.
Step 7 Humbly asked Him to remove our
shortcomings.
Step 8 Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and become
willing to make amends to them all.
Step 9 Made direct amends to such people
wherever possible, except when to do so we would injure them or others.
Step
10 Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted
it.
Step 11 Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious
contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge or His will
for us and the power to carry that out.
Step 12 Having had a spiritual
awakenings as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to
alcoholics and to practice these principals in all our affairs.
New comers
are not forced to follow all of these steps in they are unwilling or unable to
do so because of religious or personal beliefs. They will however be asked to
keep an open mind, to attend meetings, and to read AA literature describing the
AA program.
Other treatments involve doctor prescribed medication that may
help some alcoholics lessen their craving for alcohol. These medications, when
taken with alcoholic beverages, cause vomiting, nausea, and severe headaches.
Through classical conditioning the alcoholics begin to subconsciously relate the
side effects to the alcohol therefore, making their drinking seem extremely
unpleasant. Such drugs are antabase, naltrexone, and acamprosate.
Although
there have been many advances in the treatment of alcoholism, there are still
many deaths, more than 100,000 in the US, resulting from the excess abuse of
alcohol.
Levels of Drinking
Moderate drinking: equal to or less than two
drinks a day for men and equal to or less than one drink a day for women.
At-risk drinking: more than 14 drinks per week or 4 drinks at one sitting
for men and more than seven drinks a week or three drinks at one sitting for
women.
Alcohol abuse: one or more of the following alcohol-related problems
over a period of one year: failure to fulfill work or personal obligations;
recurrent use in potentially dangerous situations; problems with the law; and
continued use in spite of harm being done to social or personal relationships.
Alcohol dependence: The individual experiences three or more of the
following alcohol-related problems over a period of one year: increased amounts
of alcohol needed to produce an effect; withdrawal symptoms; drinking more over
a given period than intended; unsuccessful attempts to quit or cut down; giving
up significant leisure or work activities; continuing drinking in spite of the
knowledge of its physical or psychological harm to oneself or others.