Alcohol Addiction

Alcohol is a drink that has been in existence for a very long time, many communities in the world have for centuries had their own unique drink. Taking an example from some communities in Africa, alcohol was not taken for no particular reason, in the traditional society alcohol was taken on special occasions. Alcohol was not also taken by all people in the community, it was a preserves drink for the elders and not the young people. This was a trend among most of the communities in the world and as such cases of alcohol addiction especially among the youth was unheard of. In the contemporary world things have changed most countries in the world have lowered the minimum age of persons allowed to take alcohol. In doing that most young people are slowly but surely becoming alcohol addicts.

Alcohol addiction which at times is also referred to as alcoholism is extreme and prolonged use of alcohol which ultimately leads to health problems that lack of alcohol can have adverse effects such as withdrawal symptoms. In the whole world alcohol is the most abused this is because in most of the countries it is readily available in various brand names, forms, quantity and price. Unfortunately alcohol is one of the most dangerous drug that can cause harmful effects to any human both mentally and physically. In the whole world the number of people suffering from the effects of overconsumption of alcohol is alarming and the numbers keep rising with each passing day. Alcohol addiction has become a very serious issue in most of the countries in the world of which no concrete solution has been found to help address the problem. This paper will look at the negative effects of excessive consumption of alcohol with emphasis on the long term of alcohol for younger adults in the world, some of the effects are social while some are health related (http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=alcohol%20addiction).

First, it should be noted that alcohol is the leading drug in the whole world, the naked truth is that it bears very many disadvantages. Many young adults take alcohol without trying to look at the other side, which is the effects of taking alcohol, there are some who even take alcohol for weird reasons. There are some young adults who take alcohol to get the courage to do some of the weirdest things a person can think of. There are some who take alcohol to help them face the problems in the world as most of them say but they don’t stop and ask themselves about the aftermath of taking alcohol. After taking alcohol most people feel effects such as nausea, hangovers, stomach poisoning, dizziness, and severe headaches. Effects of alcohol abuse are divided into two long term and short term (http://health.uml.edu/thc/HealthIssues/alcohol%20web/alcoholandthebodyII.html).

Short term effects

There are some effects of alcohol that are regarded as short term effects as they don’t last for a long time some of the short term effects include; blood poisoning which lead to confusion, people who have taken alcohol at times get very confused that they don’t know what to do or what they are doing. There are some people who are unable to respond after taking alcohol this is because they have temporarily lost their senses. There have been cases of people who have been unable to breathe properly after taking alcohol there have been extreme cases where people have gone into coma after taking alcohol. Even though most young adults consider the short term effects as being “normal” after taking alcohol, they don’t stop and ask themselves what causes these effects (http://health.uml.edu/thc/HealthIssues/alcohol%20web/alcoholandthebodyII.html).

Most traditional brews in most communities were made of materials that were locally available such as grapes; there are some communities in Africa that used fermented corn or maize to make their alcoholic drinks. All that changed, most alcoholic drinks in the contemporary world are made of toxic chemicals such as ethanol, and ironically ethanol is used to make things such as Sanitizers and nail polish. Most alcoholic making companies have introduced alcoholic drinks with different flavors, in order to achieve that most companies use chemicals to make the different flavors. These are facts that are even known to almost all people taking alcohol but have chosen to ignore the effects (Gifford, 2010).

Second, addiction to alcohol can make a person to act uncontrollably. This may be due to the deprivation of alcohol for a certain period of time or the craving for an alcoholic drink. When a person gets such an extent then if something is not done any of the long term effects of excessive consumption may start to settle in (Gifford, 2010).

Another effect of alcohol is that it reduces the life expectancy of people who consume alcohol. Some of the long term effects of excessive and prolonged consumption of alcohol include; bipolar disorders, this is a condition in which a person develops uncontainable temper swings that can last for many months (Karr, 2008).

Long term effects

Alcohol causes damage to the brain cells that one cannot be able to remember some things. Consumption of alcohol also responsible for some diseases such as bulimia; this is a condition which the stomach is not able to hold any food or drink thus a person has to eat every time. There are cases of where people have become blind as a result of taking alcohol. Other long term effects of alcohol include cancer, and liver failure. People who take alcohol are prone to causing accidents which sometimes are fatal while driving; this is because alcohol causes blurred vision (Karr, 2008).

The appeal of alcohol might overwhelm an addict, but without knowing such a person is being affected internally. The liver is one of the internal organs that are mostly affected by consumption of alcohol; this is because alcohol causes the liver not to function as it should. The stomach is another of the digestive organs that if affected by consumption of alcohol. Alcohol causes inflammation of the stomach lining especially spirits which have high alcoholic content. Taking of alcohol is responsible for some physical effects. Weight gain is one of the physical effects taking of alcohol, as some alcoholic drinks contain about 100 to about 200 calories a can. Some women have also been unable to have children as a result of taking alcohol (http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=alcohol%20addiction).

People already addicted to alcohol often have rough of determining the time to stop taking alcohol; the addict personally can decide the time to call it quits unfortunately it is not very easy. Alcohol is made up toxins that make a person to want to take more, most alcoholics feel uneasy without taking alcohol. With time the bodies of such persons get used to alcohol that even the body adjust to having a certain amount of alcohol in the system. Such a situation drives the person to consume a greater amount than the last every time they consume alcohol. There are some addicts that consume alcohol every time such a person’s alcohol can be taken as long as it is available regardless of the time (Gifford, 2010).

Finally, some alcoholics end up depending on alcohol in order to be able to do anything, such as person cannot be able to socialize with other people without being intoxicated. Some alcoholics feel that when drunk is when people pay attention to them so in order to get the “attention” they want they ensure they are drunk most of the time. Some alcoholics lack confidence when sober as a result they get drunk in order to get the confidence. Alcoholics tend to get very violent when they are not able to get alcohol at the time they want it to make matters worse they become even more violent once they get the alcohol (http://health.uml.edu/thc/HealthIssues/alcohol%20web/alcoholandthebodyII.html).

Conclusion

Alcohol remains one of the major issues that need to be addressed by many countries in the world. Alcohol has very many negative impacts on the life of alcoholics and even those around them some of which are life threatening. The society should take it upon themselves to help the alcoholics in their midst, the alcoholics should also play a role so as to help themselves from the situation they are in. Companies manufacturing alcoholic drink should avoid using chemicals that can cause harm to human beings such as the feeling of craving for more. If all the stakeholders play their roles perfectly then cases of problems associated with alcohol will be solved.

Reference

(http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=alcohol%20addiction)

(http://health.uml.edu/thc/HealthIssues/alcohol%20web/alcoholandthebodyII.html)

Gifford, M. (2010). Alcoholism. New York: Greenwood Press/ABC-CLIO.

Karr, J. (2008). Alcoholism. New York : Greenhaven Press.