Why is alcoholism important

Financial Cost. Aggression and Violence. Impact on the Family. Alcoholism as a Family Disease. Challenges Faced by Children of Alcoholics. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Sign Up. What are your concerns? Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles.

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Related Articles. Are You a 'Gray Area' Drinker? Types of Drinking Habits to Avoid. The Costs of Drug Use to Society. What Is a Standard Drink? Is Alcohol a Depressant? But heavy drinking overwhelms your liver, and excess alcohol circulates through every organ in your body, including your brain. This is what makes you drunk. You may be drinking more than you realize. So a single mixed cocktail, for example, may actually contain the alcohol of up to three standard drinks. To maintain a low-risk drinking level that will minimize any impact to your health and your susceptibility to addiction, men should limit alcohol intake to no more than four drinks per day, or 14 per week.

Women and those over age 65 should have no more than three drinks daily, and seven weekly. In moderation, alcohol may be good for you. Many chemicals are good for you in low doses and toxic in higher doses, says Lewis Nelson, MD , professor in the Ronald O.

Nelson says. Alcohol changes your brain. But when you consistently drink alcohol, your brain may interpret this as a new environment and change nerve cells and brain connections to help you function better with alcohol in your system. These levels can be easy to hit if you sink shots, play drinking games, drink cocktails containing multiple servings of alcohol, or otherwise lose track of your intake.

Other indication that you may have a binge-drinking problem include drinking excessively at weekends, holidays, and special occasions, frequently drinking more than you planned, and often forgetting what you said or did while drinking.

Binge drinking can have many of the same long-term effects on your health, relationships, and finances as other types of problem drinking. Binge drinking can lead to reckless behavior such as violence, having unprotected sex, and driving under the influence. Binge drinking can also lead to alcohol poisoning, a serious and sometimes deadly condition.

Consuming too much alcohol, too quickly, can slow your breathing and heart rate, lower your body temperature, and cause confusion, vomiting, seizures, unconsciousness, and even death. Denial is one of the biggest obstacles to getting help for alcohol abuse and alcoholism. The desire to drink is so strong that the mind finds many ways to rationalize drinking, even when the consequences are obvious.

By keeping you from looking honestly at your behavior and its negative effects, denial also exacerbates alcohol-related problems with work, finances, and relationships.

While work, relationship, and financial stresses happen to everyone, an overall pattern of deterioration and blaming others may be a sign of trouble. But you are deceiving yourself if you think that your drinking hurts no one else but you. Alcoholism affects everyone around you—especially the people closest to you. Your problem is their problem. Fact: Alcoholism is NOT defined by what you drink, when you drink it, or even how much you drink.

If your drinking is causing problems in your home or work life, you have a drinking problem—whether you drink daily or only on the weekends, down shots of tequila or stick to wine, drink three bottles of beers a day or three bottles of whiskey. Many alcoholics are able to hold down jobs, get through school, and provide for their families. Some are even able to excel. Over time, the effects will catch up with you.

Fact: Alcohol is a drug, and alcoholism is every bit as damaging as drug addiction. Alcohol addiction causes changes in the body and brain, and long-term alcohol abuse can have devastating effects on your health, your career, and your relationships.

Alcoholics go through physical withdrawal when they stop drinking, just like drug users experience when they quit. It takes tremendous strength and courage to face alcohol abuse and alcoholism head on. Reaching out for support is the second step. Whether you choose to go to rehab, rely on self-help programs, get therapy, or take a self-directed treatment approach , support is essential. Recovering from alcohol addiction is much easier when you have people you can lean on for encouragement, comfort, and guidance.

Those problems could include depression , an inability to manage stress , an unresolved trauma from your childhood, or any number of mental health issues. But you will be in a healthier position to finally address them and seek the help you need.

Admitting a loved one has a problem with alcohol can be painful for the whole family, not just the person drinking. There is help and support available for both you and your loved one. The choice is up to them. You may also benefit from joining a group such as Al-Anon, a free peer support group for families coping with alcoholism. Listening to others with the same challenges can serve as a tremendous source of comfort and support. Discovering your child is drinking can generate fear, confusion, and anger in parents.

Explain your concerns and make it clear that your concern comes from a place of love. Lay down rules and consequences: Your teen should understand that drinking alcohol comes with specific consequences. Encourage other interests and social activities. Expose your teen to healthy hobbies and activities, such as team sports, Scouts, and after-school clubs. Talk to your child about underlying issues.

Alcohol use disorder develops when you drink so much that chemical changes in the brain occur. These changes increase the pleasurable feelings you get when you drink alcohol. This makes you want to drink more often, even if it causes harm. Eventually, the pleasurable feelings associated with alcohol use go away and the person with alcohol use disorder will engage in drinking to prevent withdrawal symptoms.

These withdrawal symptoms can be quite unpleasant and even dangerous. Although the exact cause of alcohol use disorder is unknown, there are certain factors that may increase your risk for developing this disease. Symptoms of alcohol use disorder are based on the behaviors and physical outcomes that occur as a result of alcohol addiction.

Sometimes it can be hard to draw the line between safe alcohol use and the misuse of alcohol. These tests can help you assess whether you misuse alcohol. Your doctor or healthcare provider can diagnose alcohol use disorder. Your doctor may also use a questionnaire that assesses alcohol use disorder to help diagnose your condition. Alcohol use disorder can cause serious and lasting damage to your liver. Your liver is responsible for removing toxins from your blood.