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Alcoholism is defined as the dependence on alcohol. It is a disease which has the following symptoms:
- Craving : The person who is under alcohol abuse has a strong urge to drink.
- Loss of control : The person has no control over oneself.
- Physical dependence : This kind of independence leads to withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms include nausea, sweating, shakiness and a lot of anxiety.
- Tolerance : The need to drink a lot more is there. The drinking of alcohol gives them a feeling of ‘high”.
Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse
Alcohol abuse is a result of all the problems that cause a person to take alcohol. Alcohol is the main cause of ill health. Alcohol leads to crime, family violence and destructs civilization itself. Total abstinence is the best way to keep good health. Yet an occasional drink is alright, but when the drinking goes out of control that is when the person is said to be under alcohol abuse.
Alcoholism is a very difficult habit to handle. It is a kind of disease that can never be cured easily. It makes the victim totally dependent, and makes the individual entirely incapable of doing anything. A strong desire to consume alcohol is always there in him or her and it is very difficult for him to get out of this fatal habit. If the alcoholic tries to stop the habit of alcoholism, then he has to be careful. He has stomach related problems, sweating, shivering and a manifestation of fear. Cures for alcoholism are there, but the treatment has to be followed well. A person could become a victim of alcohol abuse due to many reasons.
Some of the causes of alcohol abuse are:
- Heredity : There is an assumption that alcohol abuse could be caused due to genetic factors. It could be hereditary. Studies show that the causes of alcohol abuse could be due to the presence of some genes which cause the same problem.
- ADHD : It has been seen that ADHD or attentive deficit hypersensitive disorder could result in the child getting into the habit of drinking. Thus one of the causes of alcohol abuse could be attention deficit hyperactive disorder.
- Puberty : There is a stage in the growth of a childhood when the child is growing into an adult from a child. At this point of time, the child tries to establish his own independence. At such a rebellious point of time, the child could resort to drinking just to prove his independence. So puberty also is one of the causes of alcohol abuse.
- Depression : Sometimes man gets into a depressed state of mind. At such times he feels like getting a “feel good” factor. There are many ways he could do this. Listening to music, taking a walk, are some of the ways we can evade depression. But adults, as well as children take alcoholism as a way to overcome these feelings. Thus depression is also one of the causes for alcohol abuse.
- Stress : Stress is one of the major reasons why man feels depressed and upset. Stress leads man to feel upset over an unwanted stressful situation. Thus man reacts to stress by taking alcohol. Alcohol gives a feeling of “high” and this makes the person solve his stress by resorting to alcohol.
- Increase happiness : Some people take alcohol to feel happier. The feeling of “high” gives man increased joy and he goes back to having alcohol to give him increased happiness.
- Psychiatric conditions : Sometimes mental stress and the mental state of a person could aggravate the inclination to alcoholism. The main drawback of alcoholism is its ability to make the person feel good about himself. Alcohol gives temporary gratification. This drives the people who have a psychiatric problem to resort to alcoholism. These psychiatric problems include schizophrenia, or any kind of anxiety disorder.
- Poverty : Often we see people who are in the throes of poverty resort to alcohol as a means to ease their incompetent feeling. These people do not understand how to overcome their feeling of lack of basic essentials. Thus they have the urge to escape reality. This leads the people who are poor to sometimes take recourse to alcoholism. Thus poverty is also one of the causes for alcohol abuse.
- Social isolation : Alcohol and social interaction are a chain reaction. Alcohol leads to social isolation and social interaction keeps a person away from alcoholism. So he has to take care.
