The use of alcohol has been around since pre-biblical times. Since then alcohol has been consumed at dinners, parties, in clubs, and some religious practices. The problem with our society and the way in which it consumes alcohol is that it is no longer drank for the taste, or the pleasure of the socializing time that is rarely accompanied with it anymore, but it is used more often for the effects it has on the mind and body. This is the result of the high availability that people have to it. Some cities have as many as four liquor stores, gas stations that carry alcohol as well as general stores such as Wal*Mart that carry alcoholic substances. Alcohol abuse can tear families apart emotionally, cause alcoholism to spread through the family, as well as result in the loss of a life.
Alcohol abuse is often considered to be alcoholism. Alcoholism doesn’t just affect those that have it but it affects their entire family. Alcoholism can start with somebody simply drinking too much one night and it can excel to the point where they are drunk five out of seven days of the week. When this occurs it is considered to be the “Frog in the Water” theory. The story is that if you put the frog into boiling water it will immediately jump out of the water; putting somebody in the situation of experiencing somebody alcoholism will jump right out of the situation with fear. If you put a frog into a pan of water at the same temperature of its body and slowly increase the temperature, the frog will stay in the water until the point that it boils to death; somebody in a relationship begins to experience their significant other drinking a little bit too much one night and it progressively gets worse. When the drinking progressively starts ...
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There is something in this earth that each of us hold dear. For some, it could be friends or family, an old blanket, or perhaps a stuffed animal. For others it could be cigarettes, drugs, or alcohol. The choices that we make not only affect ourselves, but also affect the people we care about. In the short stories “The Farm” by Joy Williams and “Balto” by Coraghessan Boyle, we see the effects that alcohol can have on a person. We can also deduce from these short stories the effects that alcohol can have on a family as well. There are many problems that arise from alcohol abuse. The three main focal points in these two short stories are the deterioration of the family, the breakdown of communication between spouses, and infidelity that happened between the spouses.
The strongest and most influential person who modeled alcohol use in my childhood was a male relative. I was not completely aware of many of these impacts until adolescence. As a child, I did not know what alcoholism was, I just assumed that the Beefeater Gin stench coming from my relative was his cologne. However, as I grew older and was exposed to a greater variety of people and circumstances, I slowly became aware of alcoholism. I began to incorporate the new experiences I had in relation to alcohol use with a deeper understanding of my extended family. This new awareness was unsettling and painful to me. Many of my relatives were alcoholics. There was never a family brunch, dinner, or casual gathering that was not centered around alcohol. The excessive and consistent reliance on alcohol fueled the arguments and shouting matches I witnessed between my male relatives. Their arguments were always laden with racist, sexi...
Chan, J. G. (2003). An Examination of Family-Involved Approaches to Alcoholism Treatment. Family Journal, 11(2), 129-138. doi:10.1177/1066480702250149
Nurnberger, John. "Alcoholism Is a Genetic Disorder." Alcohol Abuse. Ed. Christine Watkins. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt. from "Unraveling the Genetics or Alcohol...
For Adult Children of Alcoholics, surviving their families becomes the point of existence. The fortunate may be able to draw support from a supportive adult, and may emerge with fewer difficulties than their brothers and sisters. The majority, however, have to “make do.” Some spend lonely hours in their rooms wishing only to vanish behind the woodwork. Others attempt to rescue the foundering vi...
Alcoholism is a disease in which the drinking of alcohol becomes uncontrollable. Compulsion and craving of alcohol rules the life of the alcoholic. Many of us drink alcohol to socialize which is not alcoholism. An alcoholic is a frequent habitual user. Alcohol, a central nervous system depressant, dulls the senses especially vision and hearing. Signs of alcoholism are tremors, delirium, inability to concentrate and many others. “According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, more than 13 million Americans abuse alcohol”(Mayo Clinic Health Information 1). There are many causes leading an individual to alcoholism. Alcohol damaging effects are physically, psychologically, and socially devastating.
Alcoholism is an addiction to the consumption of alcohol or the noetic illness and compulsive demeanor resulting from alcohol dependency. Heavy drinking causes considerable damage to the body including cancer, heart problems, and liver disease. Alcoholics have deep rooted problems associated with alcohol abuse such as trying to keep families together as well as personal relationships. Alcoholics have a tendency to lie about their addiction and are mostly in denial as they cannot acknowledge or recognize that their is a problem with their alcohol consumption. In the event of people that depend on liquor to capacity or feel physically constrained to drink they are considered an alcoholic. Alcohol abuse is the most extreme manifestation of issue drinking. Substance masters make a refinement alcohol and alcohol abuse (likewise called alcohol reliance). Not at all like heavy drinkers, liquor abusers capacity as far as possible on their drinking habits. In any case their liquor utilization upset toward oneself and hazardous to themselves or others. Regularly, relatives and close companions feel committed to blanket for the individual with the drinking issue. So friends tend to tackle the load of cleaning up wreckage, heaps, lying or working more to make a decent living. Imagining that nothing isn't right and concealing without end the sum of their apprehensions and feelings of disdain can take a huge toll. Kids are particularly touchy and can endure significant trauma when a guardian is a heavy drinker or overwhelming consumer. It also makes families totally resent and hate being accompanied by the person with the alcohol problem. (www.helpguid.org 1).
Alcoholism is defined as a destructive addiction to alcohol while alcohol abuse is defined as a destructive abuse of alcohol. Alcoholism is the most severe form of alcohol abuse but there are many different factors that contribute to a person becoming an alcoholic. Alcoholism is genetic but usually influenced by someone’s environment growing up and their present environment. Having a abusive childhood or a hard life in general can trigger feelings that turn into a need to drink. An alcoholic can not control his/her intake of alcohol because he/she does not have control over it. There are many signs and symptoms to determine if someone is in fact an al...
Jellinek, E. M. (1960.) The Disease Concept of Alcoholism. New Haven, Conn.: College and University Press.
...the dangers of alcohol are emphasized, not only to the individual but to the family. However often alcoholics don’t consider the negative influence they are having on their children. Although there still contradictions about the causes of alcoholism: some argue that it is a disease while others say it’s a choice. Whatever the reasons, parental drinking affects children negatively. It is dreadful that most children of alcoholics, the younger ones at least, have no control over the negative effects that their parent’s drinking problems give them. Many of these consequences of parental drinking can persist for a great part of the children’ s lives, so it is important to make alcoholics aware of the undesired effects of alcohol. It is definitely not the children’s choice to grow up with alcoholic parent(s), yet they still are largely impacted for their parent’s choices.
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.
Families in society today encounter a number of factors that make it difficult to have the “traditional American family”. Many families have grandparents acting as parents, single mother homes, and adolescents that are struggling with addiction and behavioral issues. Families are extremely affected by addiction and alcoholism and family therapy can play a major role in assisting the affected family members. Many marriages end in divorce and children inherit the disease of addiction. Alcoholism is a silent killer of the American family dream. Some of the issues linked with alcoholism in the family arebehavioral issues with family members,mental health issues within the family, and effects of alcoholism on the children.
The consumption of alcohol during social events is prevalent in society. When a group of adults have a party or get together there is almost always alcohol present such as at the bowling alley, where they sell multiple bottles of beer in a bucket. Adults tend to invite their other adult friends to a football game party and they drink too much, and due to the adverse effect of alcohol consumption, drunk driving takes a life in the United States every twenty-two minutes. In Christian’s to Recovery, : “The damage caused by alcohol impaired drivers is the same as if a Boeing 747 with over 500 passengers crashed every eight days killing everyone,” (CR, “Impacts”) Children know just how much their parents or parent drinks, and for that very reason alcohol shoul...
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.
...> Groh R.David, Jason A. Leonard, Davis I. Margret, Olson D. Bradley, Ferrari R. Joseph. 2007. Friends, Family and Alcohol Abuse: An Examination of General and Alcohol Specific Social Support. The American Journal on Addictions, 16: 49-55