What is Alcoholism
Alcoholism is also known as alcohol dependence syndrome. A person who suffers from alcoholism is called alcoholic. An alcoholic is a person whose body is dependent on alcohol. He feels like he cannot live without the consumption of alcohol. He consumes alcohol without thinking about its ill-effects and this is called alcoholism. When a person starts consuming alcohol just to feel good or to avoid feeling bad, then it can cause problems. It is very important to keep an eye on the amount of the consumption of alcohol otherwise the person will become alcoholic and he will lose his control over alcohol. The average amount of alcohol that a person can consume is 2 drinks per day for men and 1 drink per day for women. But if a person will start consuming it more than this amount, then it can cause serious trouble to him. A person will be an alcoholic or not depends on many factors like:
- Racial groups like whether the person is Indian, American or related from any other racial group
- Emotional health
- Social environment etc.
There is also a term alcohol abuse which is not same as alcoholism. Alcohol abusers are the people who have some control on their limit of consuming alcohol. Unlike alcoholics, they are not completely dependent on alcohol but still their alcohol consumption is destructive and dangerous to their health. Alcoholism is a mental obsession. It has the ability to break all the rules of common sense. An alcoholic can prove to be very dangerous for himself.
Alcoholism can result into accidents, reduced thinking power, suicide attempts, several health problems like cancer, tumors, brain damage etc., reduced concentration on work and personal life, irritation etc. It can cause problems in your relationships too. An alcoholic will become very careless about his appearance and hygiene too. An alcoholic finds it very difficult to quit this habit as if they will even try to quit it, they would again start craving for it.
They need a very strong will power to stop it which can be seen in very less cases. In US, 15% of the people are problem drinkers of which 5%-10% are male drinkers and 3%-5% are female drinkers. The lifetime of alcoholics is reduced by 20% than non-alcoholics. There are number of treatments that can be given to the alcoholics so that they can stop this habit and can again live a better life. The treatments can be medications, group counseling, residential treatments etc. If you are an alcoholic then you can rebuild your life and can overcome this tendency of drinking, all you need is strong will power and an effective treatment.