Health Network News

The social problems arising from alcoholism can be significant. Being drunk or hung over during work hours can result in loss of employment, which can lead to financial problems including the loss of living quarters. Drinking at inappropriate times, and behavior caused by reduced judgment, can lead to legal consequences, such as criminal charges for drunk driving or public disorder, or civil penalties for tortuous behavior.

In addition, although the biological mechanisms underpinning alcoholism are uncertain, some risk factors, including social environment, stress,mental health, genetic predisposition, age, ethnicity and gender have been identified. While the ingestion of alcohol is, by definition, necessary to develop alcoholism, the use of alcohol does not predict the development of alcoholism. The quantity, frequency and regularity of alcohol consumption required to develop alcoholism varies greatly from person to person.

Alcoholism (alcohol addiction/abuse) is the consumption of or preoccupation with alcoholic beverages to the extent that this behavior interferes with the alcoholic’s normal personal, family, social, or work life. The chronic alcohol consumption caused by alcoholism can result in psychological and physiological disorders.

Drinking too much harms your relationships, cause you to miss work, and lead to legal problems such as driving while drunk (intoxicated). Alcohol abuse means having unhealthy or dangerous drinking habits, such as drinking every day or drinking too much at a time. When you abuse alcohol, you continue to drink even though you know your drinking is causing problems.

There are many drugs in the market including barbiturates. Detox is another way of dealing with alcoholism.

Millions of others suffer from alcoholism and alcohol abuse, making even an occasional drink dangerous. But there are many people who drink regularly without experiencing any harmful effects, other than perhaps a slight hangover on rare occasions.

Rationing and moderation programs do not mandate complete abstinence. Since one of the effects of alcohol is to reduce a person’s judgment, each drink makes it more difficult to decide that the next drink is a bad idea. Additionally, for those who are predisposed towards alcoholism, drinking in moderation can result in the strengthening of the endorphin-based addiction.

Remember, though, the bottom line is how alcohol affects you. Since drinking is so common in our culture and the effects vary so widely from person to person, it’s not always easy to figure out where the line is between social drinking and problem drinking. If your drinking is causing problems in your life, you have a drinking problem. Taking an honest look at why you drink may help you figure out which side of the line you fall on.