Alcohol has been used all throughout history for various things. It has been used as a stimulant, anesthetic, and it is used in social situations as well, but when does its use become a problem? According to the MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia, alcoholism is “an illness marked by drinking alcoholic beverages at a level that interferes with physical health, mental health, and social, family, or occupational responsibilities.. It is actually divided into two categories: dependence and abuse. Alcohol dependence is usually more serious from a medical point of view, as it can cause a very long list of symptoms and even death. However, both alcohol dependency and abuse cause serious problems in our society.
Of course, alcoholism affects the individual the most. More than 30 percent of Americans have suffered from it at some point in their lives and there are approximately 75,000 deaths a year in the U.S. as a result of alcohol abuse. This makes binge drinking the third leading cause of death in the nation. Physically, prolonged alcohol abuse can cause complications such as pancreatitis, cardiac problems, nerve damage, esophageal bleeding, cirrhosis, delirium tremens (DTs), and several other conditions. Psychologically and emotionally it can lead to brain degeneration, severe depression, insomnia, and even suicide. It causes social problems for the individual and those around him because alcoholics often get in trouble with the law, end up in debt, destroy their interpersonal relationships, can’t hold down a job or finish their education, and sometimes even cause the deaths of others due to driving under the influence.
The problem is growing due to the fact it has become socially acceptable for younger people to binge drink. College students have always been known to go out partying, but the past few years it’s become cool to get completely “wasted” and post pictures of the experience on websites such as MySpace.com and FaceBook.com. Other young people see this and think they should do it as well, and so the trend continues. Employers, however, have caught on to this and now many of them search for an applicant on these sites to see what comes up. Many young people don’t realize that they are destroying their reputations and possibly putting their future in jeopardy. Even if a person was only drunk that one night, an employer might see that and get the wrong impression. In one way or another, it usually costs money to hire a new person (i.e. training costs, etc.) and it’s understandable that an employer would want to hire someone that they feel will stay with the company a while and do their job well.
The problem seems to be worse with young women. They not only get “wasted” but they often take provocative (and often nude) pictures of themselves and post them online for the world to see. Aside from the problems already mentioned, this could put them in danger of being raped or attacked.
Usually, everyone close to the alcoholic is affected in some way. Children and spouses are sometimes abused, but even when they aren’t, they still suffer emotionally because they are forced watch the person destroy their life. If the person is the head of the household, the family may also suffer financially, since buying more and more alcohol to drink is the main priority. Some alcoholics constantly try to borrow money from the people around them, and when that doesn’t work, they resort to stealing. They will also try bargaining, claiming that if they can have just one more drink, they’ll give it up for good. Sometimes younger family members assume its normal to drink all the time so they start doing it. Scientists have recently identified a gene that appears to make those that have it more likely to become addicted to alcohol. Therefore, those that start drinking because they’re copying someone else in their family are even more likely to become alcoholics themselves. But unfortunately, in an effort to please the alcoholic, a lot of friends and family members become enablers. They don’t confront the person about their problem, they bail him out of jail, or constantly give money to help support their habit. Obviously, this only makes the problem worse.
Of course, family and friends are the most obvious people to be affected by alcoholism, but most people don’t realize the effects of it reach much further than that. Many alcoholics give up on living a “normal” life and become homeless, either living on the streets or in shelters. This hurts the homeless because the public has a very poor impression of them. They assume all homeless people are “drunks” or drug addicts even though many of them are in that position simply because they lost their job, their home burned down, or sometimes its because of mental illness that the person has no control over (such as schizophrenia, etc.).
Many alcoholics become a burden on the health system. It’s very common for them to get in trouble with the law and then, because they think it will get them out of going to jail, they will claim to be sick. The police have no choice but to call for EMS (because they have no way of knowing for certain if the person is really ill or not), so not only does an ambulance become tied up for a while, emergency rooms also end up with extra patients that normally wouldn’t be there. This delays care for patients who are genuinely sick. Even when an alcoholic is ill, (and at some point they almost always have some physical complication due to their habit), they will get treated but they usually do not pay the hospital bill.
It’s very clear how negative the effects of alcoholism are on our society, but what can we do about it?
One of the main things our society needs to do is make people realize that if they are enablers they are just as much a part of the problem as the actual addicts. Enablers aren’t always just those close to the person. Many times doctors won’t bother to discuss the problem with their alcoholic patient, neighbors will over look certain things because “that’s just the town drunk”, police have been known to over look it when alcoholics (and drug addicts) break the law because they don’t feel like dealing with them. There have even been cases of students (both in high school and college) showing up to class, not hung over, but actually drunk, and the teachers didn’t even mention it. Some bar tenders let people drink as much as they want, never knowing if that person came there with someone else or if they drove on their own. Of course, I suppose they don’t want to “cut them off”. It might be bad for business. Even parents let their children (and usually their friends) drink at their home (and not always with supervision). They claim its better for them to drink in a safe environment rather than somewhere else, which is technically true. However, I think parents should teach their children to have respect for the law, and in the U.S., its illegal to drink until you’re 21. If you teach a child it’s okay to break one law, then why wouldn’t they think it’s okay to break others? People have decided to “let it slide” too many times and now society itself is “letting it slide”. If we make it harder for alcoholics to continue their behavior, by holding them accountable, then perhaps at least some of them would realize the damage they’re causing to themselves and everyone around them.
Most people also don’t realize that it is often linked to genetics, meaning that in many cases (but not all), the person already had an “addictive tendency”. A person that has never picked up a drink in their entire life may actually be an alcoholic, but no one, including the individual, would have ever known. So perhaps we should try to make drinking less appealing. Almost every popular TV show or movie shows all the “cool” characters drinking. In these shows, police officers, lawyers, doctors, etc. along with criminals are often portrayed having a drink after the end of a long day. There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with that in real life, but children and teenagers see that and think it’s a good idea. Drinking can be dangerous though. Even people that aren’t alcoholic have made horrible mistakes and even died due to it being in their system. It lowers judgment and can interact with medication. Young people don’t realize things like this and until they are old enough to understand and be responsible, they shouldn’t drink.
But alcoholism is an actual disease, so once the person realizes they need, help what can we do?
There are many treatment options. There are residential rehabilitative centers, individual and group therapy, support groups (such as Alcoholics Anonymous) and even drug therapy.
The most important factor of any of these treatments however, is the desire to recover. Some alcoholics make the mistake of trying to get better for their children or spouse, but if an addict doesn’t want to recover for himself, he will fail at some point. Someone that honestly does want to recover may fail at some point too, but the
difference is that the one that wants to recover will “get back on the wagon”. The other person won’t.
Another very important aspect of recovery is that the person has a lot of support from friends and family. Enablers often help the person stay in denial about the problem. They assume, “If I really had a problem someone would tell me.”. (But of course, if someone does tell them they become defensive, but that is better than not confronting them at all.) A support group of people that are recovering addicts is extremely important as well.
Drug therapy is an effective, but controversial, treatment. Many people think it is a bad idea and feel that alcoholics should have to learn to change their behavior. Of course, behavior modification is the most important part of recovery (which goes right along with the desire to stop). However, considering the fact that by the time most alcoholics attempt to get treatment they are already suffering from some medical problems, in these cases I think it is okay to use drugs to get the person to stop before their health deteriorates even more. But, it shouldn’t be used alone. It should be used with professional counseling and a support group.
Alcoholism causes many problems in our society. The best way of dealing with it is to make drinking less appealing (especially to younger people) and to make people realize that enabling it is not okay. If we do these two things first, perhaps alcoholics will stop being in denial about their problem and seek help. And of course, the final step is to help them recover and stay in recovery.
Bibliography
“Alcoholism”. MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia. May 8, 2006. Dec. 7, 2007 .
“Alcoholics Getting Help From New Drugs”. NewsMax Wires.
Sept. 13, 2005. Dec. 7, 2007 .
“Claim: Gene Linked to Alcoholism Found”. NewsMax Wires.
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“Facebook Photos Make Light of Heavy Drinking, but Doctors Aren’t Laughing”. FOXNews.com. Nov. 9, 2007. Dec. 7, 2007 .
Lisansky, Edith S. et al. “Drinking and Alcoholism”. International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences Vol. 4. Collier and Macmillan, Inc., 1968.
“Over 30 Percent. Report Alcohol Abuse”. NewsMax Wires. July 3, 2007. Dec. 7, 2007 .
