Effect of Alcohol on an Addicts Life - Research Paper Example

Effect of Alcohol on an Addict’s life Introduction Alcoholism is the term that combines all the problems that are faced by people having uncontrolled amounts of Alcohol. The term has deep down effects on all the aspects of a person. With the term now also considered as a disease, and psychiatry considering this under substance abuse, this is a major disorders amongst many drinking people. This disease has been to a major extent that even WHO discourages the use of Alcohol in medicines as it made more and more people dependant on Alcohol consumption through different means. This major problem of Alcoholism has caused more than 2.5 million deaths in a year that is more than Aids or Tuberculosis. The number of people affected by this issue is rapidly growing with numbers as high as 200 million alcoholics around the world. Individually there are certain issues one goes through, with the loss of control due to alcohol present in the body, these problems can elevate and take major negative turns, which at times has led to suicide and death instances. (Economist online, 2011) Early Stages of Drinking The social habit of drinking small amounts is the early stage of turning a sober person into realizing the hazy feeling of being relaxed. The body after a short period of time starts to demand and becomes dependant on Alcohol; hence the heavy drinking comes to play a part. This addiction is then elevated into uncontrollable desire of being drunk. There are many reasons to which people want to drink. There are certain social factors that contribute towards making a person feel better through drinking that enable a person to drink. In other instances people try to fight their emotions through drinking. While being drunk, a person usually ends up forgetting the line of being in control of a person’s thoughts and between getting abused by alcohol. Young adults seek to be more effected as this habit can cause more addiction in the early age and can have a disrupting future for many. It is then very hard to keep people from developing early age symptoms of being drunk. Certain age and regulations do control the alcohol selling but due to different societies and places, the laws vary and societies in most European countries are much more open about drinking to that of America or Asia. There are certain notions that are present within the early stages of alcoholics that can help in stopping towards the long term problems. The problems are related to neglect the responsibilities at home, work and/or school. Being under the influence of alcohol while driving or doing any physical work, and finding towards the fact that alcohol is helping in the relaxation of body and mind are the biggest notions that are required for the person to take professional advice to get in control of these habits. The problems if not addressed can cause major problems. Alcoholics don’t admit their problems openly in this case and it is through counseling that long term effects of alcohol abuse are eradicated for the protection of the individuals mental and physical health. . (Smith Robinson & Segal, 2013) Although tolerance is great habit but while being drunk, the extra potential to be tolerant without being drunk, leading up to being shaky, anxiety and headaches in the upcoming days can be the major signs of alcoholism. When this pattern is continued for a longer interval of time, this can lead to problems such as not being able to quit, spending major amount of money on drinks, not being able to have a steady life with negative social figure around. Hardships in Recovery The problem while being largely existent also has a lot of psychological and practical solutions that can be used to recover alcoholics. This recovery isn’t always easy, as it requires the human body to leave something that is a part of the body to work. Alcohol does have many affects of personal relationship. To mend these bonds counseling is required with confrontation towards the habits of the person. There are a few major steps that are required towards the recovery. The first step is accepting that a person has an alcohol abuse problem. It is very hard for a person to understand that as many of them believing that alcohol is solving problems in making them less stressed are actually wrong. Acknowledging the fact that drinking has gone over board is a crucial step. Second step required to have a look into the recovery methods that can be found either through medical facilities or psychiatric facilities. Accordingly to the level of alcohol abuse, one can determine which choice is more approachable. (Smith Robinson & Segal, 2013) While it necessary to have a clear view of which treatment is needed, to leave the addiction, one much always go through medical treatment in the third step. Having many therapy and interventional sessions, it can help in voicing out and being confident to stop the act. As drinking alcohol isn’t a crime, the fourth step is towards being completely settled in the normal phase of life. This is a tougher step as everything is present once again and going back towards heavy drinking can have much negative impacts in the future if not controlled. This brings about the last step of maintenance. To ensure that the problems don’t persist, people try to make certain changes in their life styles such a relocating etc. This is only possible with a supportive family system that belief in the person towards recovery and build confidence amongst the person to be more persistent with the cause of betterment. (Aribon, 2013) Problems due to Alcohol During the short term, the major problems that are caused are of temperament, loss of control and physically not being able to control one’s self. It is under the long term problems that can cause major disturbance. Physically cirrhosis of liver, epilepsy, heart diseases, alcohol dementia can go up to fatal levels due to heavy drinking. These great amounts in future can lead to cancer and alcohol liver deceases are major problems that can cause death.(Brown & Mellick, 1985) In the psychiatric perspective, the long term problems that relate are dementia. Alcohol is the second largest cause of dementia and can cause mental to decline increasingly due to this habit. Social skills are majorly disturbed due and depression disorders go on a massive increase. Disorders such as hyperactivity, antisocial, bipolar, narcissistic disorder are commonly found during the alcoholism. Conclusion Alcohol is a product that can only be regularized. It is upon a person to understand that too much or too less of anytime isn’t good. Especially in this case, heavy drinking can lead up to major problems within families which when seen in a large population can deeply effect the social system. Medically proven problems can shorten the life scale of the person with majority of the time spend in hospitals. It is then the need to control the effective measure towards the prevention of this widely addressed problem. By following the steps by consultation, Alcoholism can be controlled. It is necessary for a person to be socially active and practice daily habits that are required in all aspects of life. The commitment is required from an alcoholic to be fully aware in acceptance of the problem. The recovery can only be as helpful as a person wants it to be. With all solutions present for everyone of any age, the issues that are addressed vary from case to case. Overall individual’s life goes into much more crises than the normal. A person is uprooted financially, socially, psychologically and logically while being drunk. Controlling alcoholism in an early stage can prevent the numbers to grow. References Miller, B. A., & Windle, M. (1990). Alcoholism, problem drinking, and driving while impaired. Brown, S., & Mellick, J. (1985). Treating the alcoholic: A developmental model of recovery. New York: Wiley. Smith, M., Robinson, L., & Segal, J. (2013, August). Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse. : Signs, Symptoms, and Help for Alcoholism and Alcohol Use Problems. Retrieved March 18, 2014, from http://www.helpguide.org/mental/alcohol_abuse_alcoholism_signs_effects_tr Economist online. (2011, February 14). Drinking habits. The Economist. Retrieved March 18, 2014, from http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/02/global_alcohol_consumption Aribon, M. (2013, September 25). Steps Toward Recovery from Alcohol Addiction | World of Psychology. Psych Central.com. Retrieved March 18, 2014, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/09/26/steps-toward-recovery-from-alcohol-addiction/ Read More