Term paper on Alcoholism Symptoms Causes And Effects

Free Alcoholism Symptoms Causes And Effects papers

Anabolic Steroids
Anabolic Steroids Description: Anabolic steroids are performance enhancing drugs. They are a synthetic form of the chemical testosterone that is normally found in the body. By taking anabolic steroids, a person's testosterone level can be raised up to a hundred times more than the usual

Antibiotics
Antibiotics An antibiotic, is defined to be a drug produced by certain microbes. Most doctors use antibiotics to help fight the germs in a patient. Antibiotics are obtained from plants, fungi, air, water, soil, just about anything on earth. Antibiotics kill and attack the germ or virus in

Alcoholism: Symptoms, Causes, and Effects

Composition I April 1, 1997

Alcoholism is a disease that affects many people in the United States

today. It not only affects the alcoholic, but also their family, friends, co-

workers, and eventually total strangers. The symptoms are many, as are the

causes and the effects.

Alcoholism is defined as a pattern of drinking in which harmful

consequences result for the drinker, yet, they continue to drink. There are two

types of drinkers. The first type, the casual or social drinker, drinks because

they want to. They drink with a friend or with a group for pleasure and only on

occasion. The other type, the compulsive drinker, drinks because they have to,

despite the adverse effects that drinking has on their lives.

The symptoms of alcoholism vary from person to person, but the most

common symptoms seen are changes in emotional state or stability, behavior, and

personality. "Alcoholics may become angry and argumentive, or quiet and

withdrawn or depressed. They may also feel more anxious, sad, tense, and

confused. They then seek relief by drinking more" (Gitlow 175).

"Because time and amount of drinking are uncontrollable, the

alcoholics is likely to engage in such behaviors as [1] breaking family

commitments, both major and minor; [2] spending more money than planned; [3]

drinking while intoxicated and getting arrested; [4] making inappropriate

remarks to friends, family, and co-workers; [5] arguing, fighting and other

anti-social actions. The alcoholic would probably neither do such things, nor

approve of them in others unless he was drinking" (Johnson 203).

The cause of alcoholism is a combination of biological, psychological,

and cultural factors that may contribute to the development of alcoholism in an

individual. Alcoholism seems to run in families. "Although there is no

conclusive indication of how the alcoholism of families members is associated,

studies show that 50 to 80 percent of all alcoholics have had a close alcoholic

relative" (Caplan 266). Some researchers have suggested that in several cases,

alcoholics have an inherited, predisposition to alcohol addiction. Studies of

animals and human twins have lent support to this theory.

Alcoholism can also be related to emotional instabilities. For example,

alcoholism is often associated with a family history of manic-depressive illness.

Additionally, like many other drug abusers, alcoholics often drink hoping to

"drown' anxious or depressed feelings. Some alcoholics drink to reduce strong

inhibitions or guilt about expressing negative feelings.

Social and cultural factors play roles in to establishing drinking

patterns and the development of alcoholism. In some cultures, there is conflict

between abstaining and accepting the use of alcohol as a way to change moods or

to be social, thus making it difficult for some people to develop stable

attitudes about and moderate patterns of drinking. Society tends to aid in the

development of alcoholism by making alcohol seem glamorous, showing that by

drinking, you will become more popular, more glamorous and more worthy of

respects from others.

The physical effects of alcoholism are somewhat gruesome....

You should cite this paper as follows:

MLA Style
Alcoholism: Symptoms, Causes, and Effects. EssayMania.com. Retrieved on 16 Mar, 2010 from
    <http://essaymania.com/45393/alcoholism-symptoms-causes-and-effects>