In fact, nothing can be more dangerous than being controlled by something that threatens your life. Addiction is of great danger to human life. Alcohol addiction is a harmful kind of addiction that can be characterized by a strong desire to drink and loss of control. Alcoholism is a type of drug-taking. The one who is drinking alcohol always has physical and psychological dependence on it so he can’t control himself and here is the problem.
Alcoholism is considered as a main, constant, progressive, and sometimes deadly disease due to the usual use of alcohol (Gitlow, Stanley, 1991) The causes of alcoholism: Many types of research done in this field show that Alcoholism is like any disease that has its causes and factors to happen and increase. The causes of it can be inherited in some cases, inherited from parents or grandparents who drunk.
In other cases, alcoholism is caused by the over abuse of drinking it until it becomes a matter of habit or addiction, not a choice. This loss of control and choice causes a change in the brain and body. So these physical causes of alcohol addiction create abnormal thinking frames and personality traits. ( Russell, Michael) Researchers and experts have proved that alcoholism is a disease, like any disease, it can be increased by environmental and cultural factors like bad or unbalanced system food. Overconsumption of sugar and the lack of exercise can lead to a usual drink of alcohol so this causes alcoholism.
Also, the surrounded environment affects the situation, in other words, if a drinker’s parent or grandparent is an alcoholic, this encourages him or her to drink more and more than his friends. The studies show that people who lack control are more likely to be alcoholics than others. Such personalities want to feel good or comfortable but have difficulty so they find it easy through alcohol. Through alcohol, they can escape from their daily pressures and pain or any problem. The inability to meet obligations and criticism over drinking causes more drinking. Certainly, these factors described above cause alcoholism.
The causes of alcoholism can be summarized in the following items: Genetics: means that alcoholism is inherited from the family. Certain genetic factors may cause a person to be weak to resist alcoholism or another kind of addiction.
Emotional state: it’s known that high levels of stress, anxiety, or emotional pain can lead some people to drink alcohol to escape from pressure and the chaos they are living in.
Psychological factors: those who are suffering from depression are more likely to abuse alcohol. Those who have a friend of alcohol habits are also becoming alcohol drinkers.
Social and cultural factors: The attractive way that drinking alcohol is portrayed in advertising and in the entertainment media sends many people messages that it’s OK to drink excessively. (Davis. Paul,2006) The subsequent features can augment the hazard of alcoholism: Gender: Alcoholism is five times more common among men than women. Male alcohol addicts are more than female addicts. Nevertheless later in life women tend to turn to be alcoholics.
Family history: Many types of research show that alcoholism affects the family. Men without alcoholic parents (11.4%) are less than others without alcoholic parents.
A history of alcoholism is also regarded within women, even though the link is rather frailer.
Genetic features: Some researchers offer that genetic features, affecting the way people’s bodies route and retort to alcohol, may also impact a person’s hazard of turning to be an alcoholic. ( Davis Paul,2006) Cultural factors: Surely the culture of the region and the religion also affect alcoholism. It is different from one to the other. This denotes that in some civilizations alcoholism is larger trouble than in other cultures.
For instance, charges of alcoholism are huge in Europe and the United States where alcohol drinking is general and communally adopted. In American culture, alcohol is often applied as a social lubricant and a tool for decreasing tension. In groups such as Mormons, Muslims, and Orthodox Jews, whose religious values prohibit drinking, Alcoholism is minimal. ( Nammack, Charles ) Psychological vulnerability or exposure: psychological studies have found that there are some psychological factors that increase the individual tendency for abusing alcohol. These factors are such as depression, frustration, and pressure.
Psychiatric confusions: some researches offers that there are high tempos of alcohol mistreatment disarrays among people who are undergoing anxiety muddles, depression, antisocial and other individual disorders, schizophrenia, and other matter abuse disarrays, such as smoking.
It’s important to know that alcoholism has many harmful sides to the individual and society as a whole. Regarding the individual, the excessive use of alcohol can lead to several harmful effects on one health. It’s very dangerous to the brain and the nervous system. It causes fatigue (a kind of tiredness), short-term memory, weakness, loss of control, and the eye muscles. It is also harmful to the whole body and health: (James, Samantha, 2008) Liver disorders: Alcohol abuse causes hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver. Over large periods of drinking, hepatitis may cause cirrhosis, the enduring and progressive obliteration of liver tissue.
Gastrointestinal troubles: Alcohol is rather damaging to the drinker’s abdomen, which can lead to slashes in the upper component of the stomach and the lower part of the throat. Alcohol can also obstruct the amalgamation of the B vitamins, chiefly folic acid and thiamin, and other nutrients. Heavy drinking can also harm the pancreas.
Birth defects: If the pregnant woman drinks alcohol a lot, her child may be born with some diseases or defects, such as small head, heart problems, or any other disabilities.
Neurological complications: Drinking heavily can affect your nervous system, causing numbness of your hands and feet, disordered thinking, and dementia. (James, Samantha, 2008).
Alcoholism harms the family: A lot of researchers who examine alcoholic families know that all relations and marital troubles often appear to die to alcoholism, but they also studied that spouses and children may supply to the drinker’s habit and turn it worse. Some of the families permit heavy drinking to go on rather than deal with solemn family matters and keep the habit going in switch for keeping the family joint.
“Exposure to Alcoholism in the Family “A Unites States federal research, reveals that 30 percent of women who did not graduate high school had originated from families with alcoholic parents. The same research reveals that only 20 percent of men from alcoholic families graduated college. Some have such behavioral troubles as lying, stealing, fighting, and absence. These children live in tremendously unstable home settings. They never suggest what to anticipate from an alcoholic parent.
But Adult children of alcoholics often do not connect their troubles to having grown up in a family with an alcohol-addicted parent. Lots of them have troubles of depression, violence, or impetuous behavior. ( Berger, 1993).
Increased risk of cancer: continuous alcohol drinking increases the one vulnerability to cancer of the esophagus, larynx, liver, and colon, or any other part of the body.
On the other hand, alcoholism is very dangerous to the whole community and the social system in general and the family in particular. It has harmful sides towards the family as it is a bad habit to be practiced at home. It has its danger on young children who observe this kind of behavior and may imitate it at an early age of their life. Also as stated above drinking during pregnancy causes children with fatal diseases and defects. Also, it is considered as a kind of money waste. Also, parents who involve in alcohol abuse forget their duties towards their home and children. I think it’s very important to give up alcohol because it is full of danger and has no benefit. (Berger, 1993)
Works citied
“Alcohol Problems And The Family Life Cycle”. Anti Essays. 2008. Web.
Davis, Paul “Alcoholism, 2008, Cause and Cure.” Alcoholism, Cause and Cure.
Berger, G. (1993), Alcoholism and the family. New York: Franklin Watts.
Gitlow, Stanley E., M.D. “Alcoholism.” New Book Of Knowledge. 1991.
James, Samantha “How Alcohol Affects Your Looks.” How Alcohol Affects Your Looks. 2008.
Nammack, Charles. “Alcoholism.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907.
Russell, Michael “Alcoholism- Causes and Risk Factors.” Alcoholism- Causes and Risk Factors. 2007.