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Alcohol Addiction: Is it a Mental Illness? It was a typical Monday morning as I drove home from work, exhausted from having to perform more than twenty four hours of duty. Windows down, Oakley sunglasses adorn my tiresome face to block the shimmer of sunlight from my sensitive eyes. Anxiously looking forward to the softness of my pillow, I pushed the accelerator to the floor propelling my car into overdrive. Zipping by the night club Area 151 was when I notice him lying on the ground, motionless. With tires screeching I quickly came to unrehearsed stop, the rush of adrenaline and flashes of my military training captivated my mind, transferring me into autopilot. As I ran over to his location yelling “hey buddy are you ok” following the ABC’s of first aid, I could not help but notice the large pool of blood from the deep laceration on his face, the twisted front wheel of his bicycle, and a strong stench of alcohol coming from his liquor stained John Sport backpack. “All my beers are broken” was all he muttered as he fell trying to get regain his footing, relieved that the fellow was alive I immediately called the police. As I spoke to the paramedics on the situation I could not help but ask myself “how could someone be so intoxicated at this time …show more content…
Furthermore the children of families that are chemically dependent are more likely to development negative psychological and physiological effects. In a recent reading by Scott Russell sanders he recalls some of the mental traumas associated with such abuse of having a family member that was chemically dependent on alcohol. “When drunk, our father was clearly in his wrong mind. He became a stranger, as fearful to us as any graveyard lunatic, not quite frothing at the mouth but fierce enough, quick-tempered, explosive; or else he grew maudlin and weepy, which frightened us nearly as much”(Norton
In the article “Children of Alcoholics” produced by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the author explains the negative effect of parental alcoholism on their children’s emotional wellbeing, when he writes, “Children with alcoholic parents are more likely to experience symptoms of anxiety and/or depression, antisocial behavior, relationship difficulties, behavioral problems, and/or alcohol abuse. One recent study finds that children of drug-abusing fathers have the worst mental health issues (Children of Alcoholics 1). Walls reflects upon her childhood experiences in which her father would become drunk and not be able to control his behavior, as she writes, “After working on the bottle for a while, Dad turned into an angry-eyed stranger who threw around furniture and threatened to beat up Mom or anyone else who got in his way. When he’d had his fill of cussing and hollering and smashing things up, he’d collapse” (Walls 23). The Walls children, who frequently encounter their father’s abusive behavior, are affected mentally in the same way that national studies have shown. Jeanette Walls describes how, after drinking, her father’s behavior becomes cruel and intolerable through his use of profanity, threats, and angry, even violent, actions. In a conventional family, a parent has the responsibility of being a role model to influence their children in a positive way as they develop. Unfortunately, in the Walls family and other families with alcoholic parents, children are often subject to abuse and violence, which places them at risk, not only physically, but mentally. Rex’s irrational behavior when he is drunk is detrimental to the children’s upbringing, causing them to lose trust in their parents, have significantly lower self-esteem and confidence, and feel insecure. Rex’s behavior contributes to Jeanette’s
One in five adults can identify with growing up with an alcoholic relative and Twenty-eight million Americans have one parent abusing or dependent on alcoholic (Walker, & Lee, 1998). There are devastating and ubiquitous effects of alcoholism, which vary from psychological, social, or biological problems for families. Counselor’s treating this problem all agree that the relationships within a family, especially between a parent and a child is one of the most influential within a system, but what are the effects on the family when a parent is an alcoholic? Contemporary research has found there is a higher prevalence of problems in the family when alcohol is the organizing principle. In addition, there is copious research on the roles of individuals within the family becoming defined into specific categories, and evidently, the roles may become reversed between the parent and the child. This topic of functional roles in alcoholic families will be analyzed and investigated further. Family therapy has had substantial results in the treatment of an alcoholic parent. These results will be discussed more along, with the literature examining the existing research related, to specific interventions and treatments in family therapy with an alcoholic parent. Before research on the treatment is illuminated on distinctive therapies, it is crucial for counselors facilitating family therapy to comprehend the literature on the presenting problems commonly, associated with alcoholic parents and the effects this population has on their families. Furthermore, the adverse outcomes an alcoholic parent has on their children and spouses has been researched and reviewed.
“Alcoholism (alcohol dependence) is a more severe pattern of drinking that includes the problems of alcohol abuse plus persistent drinking in spite of obvious physical, mental, and social problems caused by alcohol” (Ringold, M. S.). Alcoholism is a major social problem in today’s world. People can agree that alcoholism threatens the lives of the person and the people they care about. Alcohol is one of the drugs that have caused serious problems for the younger generation. Alcoholism is greatly influenced by peer pressure. To get stress out, sometimes an alcoholic will drink heavily. Alcohol consumption is associated with your health. Drinking heavily can be the cause for liver cancer. Also, you can be intoxicated and could be driving drunk
The consumption of alcohol during any gestation of pregnancy equates into alcohol fetal consumption, which can cause detrimental physical and neurological defects. Infants born with the varying degrees of detrimental effects of prenatal alcohol ingestion can have an array of disorders which are described as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders [FASD] (May & Gossage, 2011a). The most profound effects of prenatal alcohol exposure are on the fetus’s brain development, which includes cognitive and behavioral effects that follow (Riley, Infante, & Warren, 2011). The incidence of FASD is believed to range from 0.2 to 2 per 1000 live births (Douzgou et al., 2012). Alcohol yields teratogentic effects in all the gestations, with peculiar features in relationship to the trimester of pregnancy in which the alcohol is consumed (Paoletti et al., 2013). Due to the fact that there is no exact dose-response relationship between the amount of alcohol ingested during the prenatal period and the extent of damage caused by alcohol in the fetus, abstinence from alcohol at conception and during pregnancy is strongly recommended (Paoletti et al., 2013).
Researchers have found many risk factors for drinking among teens and young adults. Adolescents long to have fun, and enjoy their youth years as much as they can. They reach out for things that make them feel older and more alive. Little do they know that the result of alcohol is detrimental to a fun easy-going lifestyle. According to Deborah Morrow (2017), binge drinking is when someone abuses alcohol, and they go over the 5/4 limit in two hours or less. The 5/4 limit is just an explanation that he or she is binge drinking if a man has more than five drinks, and a woman has more than four over a two hour period. Allowing teenagers to unknowingly throw away their lives is a problem. Recently they have found that
...nding what is "normal" and what is not because of the unpredictable environment they were raised in. Often times alcoholic have a tendency to abuse their children and their spouse. Many times, alcoholics come from an abusive home and they have a history of alcoholism in the family already. In conclusion, alcohol affects every part of your life. It has irreversible affects on the body, including the liver and the brain. Alcohol also has detrimental affects on the mind, which leads to feeling inferior and unstoppable. Alcohol and alcoholism also affects family as well. There are many treatment programs and support groups that can help. However, most of the time the alcoholics refuse to admit they have a problem with their drinking, so it goes untreated. It is best to seek help, as living with an alcoholic parent is not only traumatizing, but taxing on the body and mind.
Alcoholism is a major problem in today’s society it is considered a disease. The effects of this so called disease are a lot more serious than one might think, and can effect your life in a big way. Many of alcohols consumers drink frequently that they will eventually get used to it, and it becomes an everyday thing. That right there is where the problem starts. Some of the effects I found are economical, physiological, and physical, which are some of the negative effects alcohol, can have on someone’s life.
The Federal surveys in America depict that there is a decline in the overall alcohol consumption amongst the members of a certain age group, whereas at the same time, the concentration of high numbers of alcohol abusers are associated with a certain age group. The total number of individuals aged below 65 who abuse alcoholic beverages in America has seen a drastic reduction in the last few years. However, the number of people between the age of 16 and 30 has been rising and has induced a significant short term and long-term effects especially on the health and productivity of the victims. The federal surveys indicate that there is an increased number of people who have been affected by the long-term effects associated with alcohol abuse the since 2009 (Yoshida, 2006).
Slutske, W. S., D’Onofrio, B. M., Turkheimer, E., Emery, R. E., Harden, K. P., Heath, A. C., et al. (2008). Searching for an environmental effect of parental alcoholism on offspring alcohol use disorder: A genetically informed study of children of alcoholics. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 117, 534-551.
The crippling effects of alcoholism and drug dependency are not confined to the addict alone. The family suffers, physically and emotionally, and it is the children who are the most disastrous victims. Frequently neglected and abused, they lack the maturity to combat the terrifying destructiveness of the addict’s behavior. As adults these individuals may become compulsively attracted to the same lifestyle as their parents, excessive alcohol and drug abuse, destructive relationships, antisocial behavior, and find themselves in an infinite loop of feelings of emptiness, futility, and despair. Behind the appearance of calm and success, Adult Children of Alcoholics often bear a sad, melancholy and haunted look that betrays their quietest confidence. In the chilling silence of the darkest nights of their souls, they yearn for intimacy: their greatest longing, and deepest fear. Their creeping terror lives as the child of years of emotional, and sometimes physical, family violence.
Every high school senior’s dream is college: continuing education away from parental guidance, no one to watch their every move, and of course, older, newer people to be around. To ask college freshmen their plans for a Friday or Saturday night it is shocking to hear going out (drinking in other words) as a response. The opportunity to expand their knowledge to pursue a career for the rest of their lives wasted on binge drinking is troublesome. Stated by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “binge drinking is a term meaning excessive alcohol consumption bringing blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.8 g/dL” As the drinking age is 21, which was raised due to the number of drunk driving accidents skyrocketing after teenagers would drive between the states to drink at the age 18. Many things influence drinking, not just underage drinking in college students; family perception of alcohol plays a major role in binge drinking. Peer pressure to fit in with older students, avoidance of other personal insecurities start the drive to the beginning of this addiction. The addiction to binge
Latham, P.K., & Napier, T.L. (1992). Psychosocial consequences of alcohol misuse in the family of origin. The International Journal of the Addictions, 27, 1137-1158.
Alcohol abuse is when someone starts to develop the need for alcohol, and for the people who are alcoholics, the need for alcohol turns into the same amount of need as food and water. Alcohol abuse is starting to become a bigger problem each year. Alcohol abuse has been tearing families apart more each year as well. Children see their parents or legal guardian abusing alcohol and grow up with the idea that it is okay to consume that much alcohol. According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, INC. more than 7 million children live with a parent that suffers from alcohol abuse, rendering to the 2017 statistics. Alcohol abuse is the most common addictive substance with 17.6 million people, or one in every 12 adults is categorized
Enjoying an alcoholic drink moderately is not bad on occasion, but it may have health benefits. Many people use alcohol as an escape route from personal and social pressures that lead to abuse. Abuse of alcohol can lead to alcoholism or alcohol addiction, in which that person becomes physically dependent on alcohol to where they cannot function without it. Not only is the health of that individual at risk, but alcohol causes a destructive behavior, such as driving under the influence and domestic violence. Drinking large quantities of alcohol leads to binge drinking which not only carries a serious risk of harm it is the most common factor to alcohol poisoning.
The problem of alcohol use is very relevant nowadays. Today alcohol consumption characterized by vast numbers in the world. All of society is suffering from this, but primarily jeopardized the younger generation: children, teenagers, young people, and the health of future mothers. Because alcohol is particularly active effect on the body that are not formed, gradually destroying it. The harm of alcohol abuse is evident. It is proved that when alcohol is ingested inside the body, it is carried by blood to all organs and has harmful effect on them until destruction. Systematic use of alcohol develops a dangerous disease such as alcoholism. Alcoholism is dangerous to human health, but it is curable as other diseases. The big problem is that most of the alcohol products which are made in private places contain many toxic substances, defective products often leads to poisoning and even death. All this has negative impact on society and its cultural values.