Alcohol Abuse: a disease
09/09/2011
Alcohol abuse is a disease which is characterised by a pattern of drinking alcohol that results in negative emotional and societal effects on a person's life. Those who abuse alcohol tend to continue to do so despite the consequences. The effects of alcohol abuse on families can include increased domestic violence, and the effects that alcohol abuse in parents can have on children can be very damaging in other ways too. For example, the sons and daughters of alcoholics seem to be at higher risk for experiencing more negative feelings such as depression, stress, and alienation as well as aggression. There are many negative psychological effects of alcohol dependence, including depression and various antisocial behaviors.
Statistics about alcohol abuse include its affecting about 10% of women and 20% of men. Other alcohol abuse facts and statistics include the following:
- Most people who ever have an episode of drinking too much tend to have had this happen at least once by the time they are in their mid teens.
- Symptoms tend to alternate between long periods of alcohol abuse folloowed by periods of total abstinence (a relapse and remission cycle) over time.
- Most people who develop dependence on alcohol will do so aged between 18 and 25 years.
- The majority of individuals who abuse alcohol will not go on to develop alcohol dependence.
- Among European countries, Mediterranean countries have the highest rate of abstinence and wine-producing countries tend to have the highest rates of alcohol consumption.
- In many European countries, beer tends to be the alcoholic drink of choice by teenagers, then distilled spirits rather than wine.
