...Alcoholism: Choice or Disease Mitzy Morgan Drug Abuse Soc2133 J.Kirk September 28,2011 Imagine yourself being 11 years old. You and your next-door neighbor just finished eating dinner, and now playing cards in front of the television. A few hours pass and your mother tells you that its bedtime. After being asleep for a couple of hours, you hear your father come inside your house. This was not unusual; he always comes home late at night. You hear your parents yell at each other and then you hear an awful sound. Did your father just hit your mother only because his dinner was cold, and he was late? You ask yourself why, why is he like this? He is like this because he is an alcoholic and cannot control his temper when he has been drinking. The next day you promise your mom and yourself that when you grow up you were never going to become an alcoholic. You see what your father’s alcoholism has done to your family and yourself and would never want that to happen to your family when you become an adult. Twenty years later, you too become an alcoholic. Children of alcoholics are four times more likely to grow up to be an alcoholic than any other children, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. One in five adult Americans lived with an alcoholic while growing up. (AACAP) Studies have shown that even twins separated at birth and living in two very different environments still...
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...research on alcoholisms as a disease in this last paper. I have to say I totally disagree with the American Medical Association that in 1956 decided that alcoholism is a disease. I feel alcoholism is not a disease with invasive pathology, nor do I believe that it is a disease of genetics gone awry. Alcoholism has nothing to do with irresistible impulses or uncontrollable urges. Alcoholism is a disease of volition in my opinion. In this paper I will discuss why some people feel this is a disease, and why some people feel this is not a disease, but the choice of the individual. Since the American Medical Association decided that alcoholism is a disease more than 30 years ago, and this issue is still debated. I have to ask the question what does support the concept of alcoholism as a disease. There is an abundance of information out there on this subject. The research I have done says that it is important to know that alcoholism is a illness, and no one asked to become chemically dependent, it is not your fault if you or your loved one is involved in alcoholism. And you should not feel guilty. You would not blame someone for having caner, or diabetes. Dorland’s Medical Dictionary defines disease as. “A definite morbid process having a characteristic train of symptoms; it may be the whole body or any of its parts, and its etiology, pathology, an prognosis may be known or unknown.” Alcoholism has strong genetic link...
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...Alcoholism Hereditary Gene or Social Disease Pamela L. Guerino COM/156 June 30, 2013 Sharron Blezard Alcoholism Hereditary Gene or Social Disease Introduction This question is not complicated whether alcoholism is inherited. A recognized component in alcoholism is the heredity component, but for sure this does not confirm the fact that if there is an alcoholic in the family then it is bound to affect the whole family to be alcoholics. Neither does it mean that the habit will come in another member as well. The full influence genetics stays not yet known, but scientists have sufficient knowledge to suggest that grandchildren, children as well as siblings of alcoholics need to be conscious. They are known to be at a greater risk of developing the habit themselves. A few researches have recognized that family members of an alcoholic are about three-to-four fold have more of chance to develop the addiction in comparison with the people who are not alcoholics. One aspect behind the link between hereditary and alcoholism might be the tendency to take pleasure in alcohol more than the rest of the people. People who are closely linked to an alcoholic, inclusive of brothers, sisters as well as children, do not have a negative reaction to drinking alcohol. This is possible because of them carrying the gene that makes alcohol utilize more agreeable, which could make the habit more possible (Moore, Smith & Catford, 1994). Dopamine and Alcoholism The dopamine system...
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...Alcoholism is a very difficult and burdening disease that affects many different people all over the world. Alcoholism is a disease that not only affects the person suffering but the immediate family of the alcoholic. “Alcoholism and drug addiction affects the whole family- young, teenage, or grown-up children; wives or husbands; brothers or sister; parents or other relatives and friends.” ("Family Disease"). In the memoir, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, her siblings and mother’s daily lives, health, and personalities were greatly affected by Jeanette's father, Rex Walls alcoholism. Some specific effects of alcoholism on families are conflict between spouses, infidelity, domestic violence, economic hardships, isolation or divorce, jealousy...
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...A number of theories in the medical feild are used to explain alcohol abuse. These are the biologic-genetic model, learning/social model, the psychodynamic model, and the multidimensional model .Each different model, for alcoholism have varied explanations as to how and why people use and abuse alcohol. The biologic-genetic model states that there is a specific genetic vulnerability for alcoholism. There has been extensive studies on factors in the genes that could determine or influence the use of alcohol from generation to generation. However, these studies have shown no hard evidence for an association between alcoholism and inherited factors. The learning and social model proposes that alcoholism is a process that is slowly developed within a social situation or atmosphere. This model of alcoholism has also been researched by using both human and animal subjects. A conditioning model of alcohol tolerance has demonstrated that specific cues from the environment such as odor, sight, and taste, produce a stimulus that results in alcohol consumption. If ethanol, the addictive ingredient in alcohol , is not supplied, a psychological compensatory response called a craving is produced. The psychodynamic model of alcoholism proposes that problematic child rearing practices produce psychosexual maldevelopment and dependence/independece conflicts. It is believed that while habitual alcohol use is in process, the habitual drinker may use behavior such as exaggeration, denial...
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...Socioeconomic Effects of Alcoholism Philip Malavenda Socioeconomic Effects of Alcoholism There are no shortage of well documented physical and mental related studies and research done on alcoholism. The physical and mental effects, both short and long-term, can render someone with debilitating health issues ending in death. While there has been significant research and investment into identifying symptoms and factors of alcoholism, it is equally important to understand how the dynamics of socioeconomics impacts the awareness and education of alcoholism prevention. Introduction According to the National Council on Alcoholism, “Alcohol is the most commonly used addictive substance in the United States- 17.6 million people, or one in every 12 adults, suffer from alcohol abuse or dependence along with several million more who engage in risky, binge drinking patterns that could lead to alcohol problems” (NCADD, 2013). Alcoholism has been defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary as “continued excessive or compulsive use of alcoholic drinks”. More than half of all adults have a family history of alcoholism or problem drinking, and more than 7 million children live in a household where at least one parent is dependent on or has abused alcohol. There is growing sediment that alcoholism is hereditary. Studies, including the one done by George Washington University Assistant Professor of Statistics, Taityana Apanasovich, notes that “40 to 60% of alcohol dependence is believed...
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...use as a learned behavior * People using drugs because drug use is modeled by others * Peer pressure * Environmental effects leading to drug use MORAL MODEL * Addicts are usually weak and can overcome a compulsion to use with willpower * Drug abusers are anti-social and should be punished for that * Drug are generally evil BIO-PSYCHO-SOCIAL MODEL * All the above are true, to greater or lesser degrees * Each person’s drug use is a result of some aspects of some or all the other models * Treatment and recovery require addressing the body, mind, social, nutrition, employment, family issues, psychological issues. On a broad inference, addiction is generally concerned with alcoholism so therefore we shall talk extensively on alcoholism. ALCOHOLISM Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled...
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...ABSTRACT Alcoholism is a serious disease that affects many people. About 76 million Americans are in someway affected by alcoholism. Current prescribed medications can only do so much. The solution lies in finding the roots of the problem. It has been believed that alcoholism runs down family lines, generation after generation. Is there scientific truth to this? Could the addiction be embedded in the human genome? John Crabbe and Justin Rhodes invite you to study their 10 years of research. Taking mice and making them alcohol-dependent, studying their human-like tendencies; alcohol tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, and voluntarily drinking alcohol and in some instances doing extra work for the tipple intoxicant. Using methods of genetic engineering, gene expression profiling and quantitative locus mapping, the two colleagues are equipped to haunt down the chromosome and location where alcoholism lay. With the genome being so outstandingly large, can a gene for alcoholism be merely pinpointed? After years of trying the scientists come closer then anyone before them, but it is Dr. Tamara J. Philips who furthers the journey and exploration. New strategies are needed to stop and treat this disease; a location in the genome is imminent upon us. For centuries, alcoholism has been destroying many lives. The act of an addiction to something as harmful has alcoholism demolished families, relationships, and one’s own body. Alcohol on average is responsible for 100...
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...Alcoholism; A Biological and Psychological Look Inside PSY350 Prof. Marion Burke March 30, 2014 Abstract The following article is a detailed look at alcohol use disorders and alcoholism. The pages that follow give an inside look at the biological and neurological effects these disorders have on a person. There is also some explanation of treatments and some new research that is being worked on in order to help predict who may be at risk. Alcoholism; A Biological and Psychological Look Inside Alcoholism is a growing problem in today’s society. Every day there are more and more people who are having problems with controlling their drinking or who are admitted to hospitals because of extreme illness caused by alcoholism. There is approximately 15 % of male drinkers and 6% of female drinkers in the United States who will have an alcoholism problem (Sullivan, 2009). Each of these groups has family and friends who are affected by their alcoholism. The link between biology and psychology in relation to alcoholism is a vastly growing interest of study. Neurological research is being done to try and explain the connection and to help create effective treatments. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.;DSM–5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) gives clinical descriptions of different types of alcohol related disorders. One such description is that of Alcohol use disorder. This is described in the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association...
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...Alcoholism in Adult Magoha Mayagila Research Paper, Psych 2301 Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is a non-curable mental disorder that’s affects millions of people worldwide. According to national institute on alcohol and alcoholism, 1 in 12 adults in U.S is suffering from AUD. If not diagnosed early, AUD can effects a person life psychologically, socially and economically. Despite affecting the general population, studies have shown men are two to three times more likely to develop AUD than women due to generic differences (Mettmann D 2014). The androgen receptor (AR) gene, located on X chromosome contains a common polymorphism involving cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) repeats, which impacts disease and could contribute the unequal sex ratio in alcoholism (Mettman D 2014). Even though men are more susceptible to AUD, the effects of AUD on women health is enormous compared to men. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is a psychological tool that have been used to collect mental disorder statistics since 1840. By 1952 American Psychiatric Association developed DMS-I to diagnose mental disorders. Prior to 2013, DMS-IV was the tool of choice for clinical diagnosis for alcoholism. DMS-IV categorized alcoholism into two distinct disorders, alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency; and two distinct criteria, abuse and dependency based on 11 symptoms. Alcohol abuse is defined as a behavior at which a person drinking pattern leads to undesirable acts and behavior...
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...PSY 240 Genes and Addiction Assignment In the study ‘Associations and Interactions between SNPs in the Alcohol Metabolizing Genes and Alcoholism Phenotypes in European Americans’, Sherva, Rice, Neuman, Rochberg, Saccone, and Bierut search for a correlation (a statistical measurement of the relationship between two or more variables) between two alcohol-related phenotypes and SNPs (single-nucleotide polymorphism) in 17 genes involved with alcohol metabolism. Alcohol metabolism is a process through oxidation where alcohol is detoxified and removed from the blood, preventing the alcohol from accumulating and destroying cells and organs. A minute amount of alcohol escapes metabolism and is excreted unchanged in the breath and in urine. Until all the alcohol consumed has been metabolized, it is distributed throughout the body, affecting the brain and other tissues (Byrne, 2014). The two alcohol-related phenotypes were compared to SNPs, or single-nucleotide polymorphisms, where a nucleotide is different from the rest of the chromosome (Byrne, 2014). There have been several studies done previously showcasing chromosomal regions and genes that affect alcohol dependence (alcoholism), most of which play a role in the metabolism of alcohol. Alcoholism is a chronic and often progressive disease that includes problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol, continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems, having to drink more to get the same effect (physical dependence)...
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...Alcoholism Paper Research Paper Merriam-Webster defines alcoholism as “a chronic disorder marked by excessive and usually compulsive drinking of alcohol leading to psychological and physical dependence or addiction.” a person who suffers from alcoholism is addicted to the effects of alcohol (Webster 1). He or she has a physical or mental desire to consume alcohol past their physical ability to control themselves. Alcohol is the second most commonly abused substance according to the NID (Pdf 1). This paper will present facts on, biological effects of alcohol on the body, the addiction to alcohol, genetic loading, and the deaths that are caused in some way by alcohol. Alcohol affects people differently. According to the CDC, the reasons are: Age, gender, race/ethnicity, physical condition, amount of food consumed before drinking, how quickly the alcohol was consumed, the use of other drugs or prescription medications, and family history (CDC 1). When alcohol is consumed, it bypasses the digestive system and goes directly to the blood stream; about twenty percent of the alcohol is absorbed into the blood stream via the stomach, and the other eighty percent by the small intestine (Dunlap 1). Alcohol acts as a sedative, but is perceived as a stimulant. The reason for this is that alcohol causes people to speak more freely; it impairs judgment and physical ability. Alcohol dilutes itself in water found in the body, this is one of the ways alcohol effects people differently, because...
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...Alcoholism-Nature Or Nurture? Alcoholism can affect anyone. It has enormous costs as it pertains to societies, families, and individuals. It is not prejudicial towards any race, color, sex, religion, or economic level. Although we do have ideas as to what alcoholism is, what we do not know is the exact cause(s) of this problem. Researchers are continually seeking answers to the long-standing nature versus nurture debate. Different views are split between a biological paradigm and a psychological paradigm. No one explanation seems to be better than another is. I will present views of the effects alcoholism has on society and an insight to the factors that serve to fuel the nature or nurture debate concerning alcohol abuse and alcoholism. STATISTICS: The abuse of alcohol alone is estimated at $144.1 billion dollars annually. Every man, woman and child in America pays nearly $1,000 a year to cover the costs of unnecessary health care, auto accidents, crime and loss of productivity resulting from alcohol abuse. Alcohol deaths account for approximately five percent of all deaths occurring in the United States. Alcohol is considered to be one of the most widely used drugs as it attacks the central nervous system. Two-thirds of all adults drink alcohol; one-third of those are under the age of eighteen. The term alcoholic is commonly used to refer to a person who is severely dependent on alcohol as a result of their drinking pattern. Not everyone with an alcohol problem becomes an...
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...Analyzing Psychological Disorders Lynn Bible PSY/240 December 2, 2012 Pam Stoelzel Analyzing Psychological Disorders Schizophrenia, drug abuse, and anxiety are all complex psychological disorders. When helping someone that suffers from these disorders, you must understand how and why they work the way that they do. All three disorders come with symptoms that can cause people not blend in with society and live a normal life. The right kinds of treatment can help people to overcome the symptoms of these disorders and live a normal life, but they are not curable. Schizophrenia Schizophrenia affects the most crucial parts of the brain: the forebrain, the hindbrain, and the limbic system. The forebrain includes the cerebral hemispheres (hypothalamus, thalamus, corpus callosum, and the limbic system). It controls cognition, sensory and motor functions, temperature regulation, hunger, sleep cycles, and emotional expressions. The frontal lobe of the forebrain causes positive symptoms of schizophrenia like delusions. The temporal lobe of the forebrain distorts sounds and visions causing hallucinations. The hindbrain includes the pons, medulla, and the cerebellum. Schizophrenia affects this part of the brain causing the negative symptoms as in distorted motor functions, body language, and catatonic behaviors. The limbic system includes the hippocampus and the amygdala. The functions of this area of the brain are regulated emotions, memories, learning, and...
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...discussing several point in this paper from various studies to what exactly alcoholism is and the different dangers of this disease. This is a very personal topic to me so I hope you enjoy my research paper. The first point being addressed is what exactly alcoholism is. According to The Reader’s Digest Great Encyclopedic Dictionary, alcoholism “is a diseased condition resulting from the excessive use or persistent use of alcoholic beverages.” Alcoholism has divided into two major forms--alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence (Goodwin 1998). Alcohol abuse is the excessive consumption of alcohol which has detrimental effects on the people and situations surrounding an individual; whereas, alcohol dependence is a physical attachment to the alcohol. Alcohol abuse leads to hazardous behavior, such as drunken driving and continued drinking despite negative consequences on family, work, or social functioning. Alcohol dependence involves withdrawal symptoms when alcohol is not used, and lack of control over drinking despite serious social and medical problems (Goodwin 1998). Various studies have been performed to show the relationship between alcoholism and genetics. New research on male twins show that genes play a critical role in the development of milder forms of alcoholism, such as, occasional abuse that can land the drinker in dangerous circumstances, particularly while driving (Goodwin 1998). The genetic similarity between twins makes them the perfect subjects on which to perform...
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