Author: Charles Frank

Alcoholism Definition, Causes, & Associated Diseases

As with other medical diseases but unlike most bad habits, prospective studies demonstrate that willpower per se is of little predictive significance. Alcoholism is a complex, many-sided phenomenon, and its many formal definitions vary according to the point of view of the definer. A simplistic definition calls alcoholism a disease caused by chronic, compulsive drinking. A purely pharmacological-physiological definition of alcoholism classifies it as a drug addiction that requires imbibing increasing doses to produce desired effects and that causes a withdrawal syndrome when drinking is stopped.

Severity is based on the number of criteria a person meets based on their symptoms—mild (2–3 criteria), moderate (4–5 criteria), or severe (6 or more criteria). No matter how hopeless alcohol use disorder may seem, treatment can help. If you think you might have a problem with alcohol, call SAMHSA or talk to your healthcare provider. They can help you cope, make a treatment plan, prescribe medications and refer you to support programs.

Genetic, psychological, social and environmental factors can impact how drinking alcohol affects your body and behavior. Theories suggest that for certain people drinking has a different and stronger impact that can lead to alcohol use disorder. If you feel that you sometimes drink too much alcohol, or your drinking is causing problems, or if your family is concerned about your drinking, talk with your health care provider. Other ways to get help include talking with a mental health professional or seeking help from a support group such as Alcoholics Anonymous or a similar type of self-help group. Unhealthy alcohol use includes any alcohol use that puts your health or safety at risk or causes other alcohol-related problems.

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Moderate alcohol consumption does not generally cause any psychological or physical harm. However, if someone who enjoys social drinking significantly increases their consumption or regularly consumes more than the recommended quantity, AUD may eventually develop. Diagnosis is based on a conversation with your healthcare provider.

Your treatment setting will depend on your stage of recovery and the severity of your illness. You may need inpatient medical (hospital), residential rehabilitation (rehab), outpatient intensive therapy or outpatient maintenance. Heavy regular drinking can seriously affect a person’s ability to coordinate their muscles and speak properly. If a health worker suspect alcohol may be a problem, they may ask a series of questions.

Social barriers

It also includes binge drinking — a pattern of drinking where a male has five or more drinks within two hours or a female has at least four drinks within two hours. Alcohol use disorder is a pattern of alcohol use that involves problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol or continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems. This disorder also involves having to drink more to get the same effect or having withdrawal symptoms when you rapidly decrease or stop drinking. Alcohol use disorder includes a level of drinking that’s sometimes called alcoholism.

1. The WHO calls alcoholism “a term of long-standing use and variable meaning”, and use of the term was disfavored by a 1979 WHO expert committee.
2. Withdrawing from alcohol can be lethal, and therefore, individuals should seek professional help when trying to quit their drinking habit.
3. Mutual-support groups provide peer support for stopping or reducing drinking.
4. Unlike most disease symptoms, the loss of control over drinking does not hold true at all times or in all situations.

Regardless if you or a person you love has an alcohol problem or has an alcohol addiction, they should find some form of treatment before their behaviors spiral out of control. Individuals with alcohol problems do not need to practice abstinence, per se, but they can usually benefit from therapy to uncover why they are drinking so much. Many individuals with an alcohol problem use alcohol as a negative coping mechanism or as a way to cover up feelings of depression, anxiety, and low-self esteem. An alcohol problem can quickly turn into an alcohol addiction without any forewarning.

What is the Definition of Alcoholism

For such reasons, the sociological definition regards alcoholism as merely one symptom of social deviance and believes its diagnosis often lies in the eyes and value system of the beholder. For example, periodic intoxication can cause sickness necessitating days of absence from work. In a modern industrial community, this makes alcoholism similar to a disease.

Medical Professionals

These disorders are very complex, and this post does not take into account the unique circumstances for every individual. For specific questions about your health needs or that of a loved one, seek the help of a healthcare professional. However, a person who has been consuming unhealthy amounts of alcohol for a long time is likely to become sedated when they drink. Many people who consume unhealthy amounts of alcohol deny that alcohol poses a problem for them. A person who drinks excessive amounts of alcohol will often not be the first person to realize that this is so.

Alcoholism, excessive and repetitive drinking of alcoholic beverages to the extent that the drinker repeatedly is harmed or harms others. The harm may be physical or mental; it may also be social, legal, or economic. Because such use is usually considered to be compulsive and under markedly diminished voluntary control, alcoholism is considered by a majority of, but not all, clinicians as an addiction and a disease. Many people with AUD do recover, but setbacks are common among people in treatment. Behavioral therapies can help people develop skills to avoid and overcome triggers, such as stress, that might lead to drinking.

Examples of behavioral treatments are brief interventions and reinforcement approaches, treatments that build motivation and teach skills for coping and preventing a return to drinking, and mindfulness-based therapies. Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) is a blood test that helps detect heavy alcohol consumption. Some signs and symptoms of alcohol misuse may be due to another condition. Over the long- or medium-term, excessive drinking can significantly alter the levels of these brain chemicals. This causes the body to crave alcohol in order to feel good and avoid feeling bad. A person with this condition does not know when or how to stop drinking.

The diagnosis is made when drinking interferes with your life or affects your health. It’s a disease of brain function and requires medical and psychological treatments to control it. Health care professionals use criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), to assess whether a person has AUD and to determine the severity, if the disorder is present.

This definition is inadequate, however, because alcoholics, unlike other drug addicts, do not always need ever-increasing doses of alcohol. Opium addicts, on the other hand, become so adapted to the drug that they can survive more than a hundred times the normal lethal dose, but the increased amounts to which alcoholics become adapted are rarely above the normal single lethal dose. Alcoholism is defined by alcohol dependence, which is the body’s physical inability to stop drinking and the presence of alcohol cravings. In the absence of alcohol, these individuals can experience alcohol withdrawals, which are characterized by agitation, tremors, hot flashes, increased heart rate, and blood pressure, nausea and vomiting, and seizures.

By gender, heavy drinking for men is defined as more than five drinks in one sitting and more than 15 drinks per week. For women, it is four drinks in one sitting and more than eight drinks in one week. These individuals may be classified as “almost alcoholic.” They are still able to take a step back and assess their situation and make proper adjustments. An informed minority opinion, especially among sociologists, believes that the medicalization of alcoholism is an error. Unlike most disease symptoms, the loss of control over drinking does not hold true at all times or in all situations. The alcoholic is not always under internal pressure to drink and can sometimes resist the impulse to drink or can drink in a controlled way.

In a rural Andean society, however, the periodic drunkenness that occurs at appointed communal fiestas and results in sickness and suspension of work for several days is normal behaviour. It should be noted that this drunkenness at fiestas is a choice and does not produce regret. If the sociological model were entirely correct, alcoholism should often be expected to disappear with maturation as is the case with many other symptoms of social deviance. A BAC of 0.09% to 0.25% causes lethargy, sedation, balance problems and blurred vision.