alcohol essay conclusion

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• 6. Conclusion

Alcohol is not an ordinary commodity. While it carries connotations of pleasure and sociability in the minds of many, harmful consequences of its use are diverse and widespread

From a global perspective, in order to reduce the harm caused by alcohol , policies need to take into account specific situations in different societies. Average volumes consumed and patterns of drinking are two dimensions of alcohol consumption that need to be considered in efforts to reduce the burden of alcohol-related problems. Avoiding the combination of drinking and driving is an example of measures that can reduce the health burden of alcohol.

Worlwide, alcohol takes an enormous toll on lives and communities, especially in developing countries and its contribution to the overall burden of disease is expected to increase in the future. Particularly worrying trends are the increases in the average amount of alcohol consumed per person in countries such as China and India and the more harmful and risky drinking patterns among young people.

National monitoring systems need to be developed to keep track of alcohol consumption and its consequences, and to raise awareness amongst the public and policy-makers . It is up to both governments and concerned citizens to encourage debate and formulate effective public health policies that minimize the harm caused by alcohol.

• 1. Introduction - How many people are affected by alcohol?
• 2. What are the general patterns of alcohol consumption?
• 3. What are the drinking habits in various countries?
• 4. What are the health effects of alcohol consumption?
• 5. What social and economic problems are linked to alcohol use?
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Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility (2004)

Chapter: 1. introduction: the challenge, 1 introduction: the challenge.

A lcohol use by children, adolescents, and young adults under the legal drinking age of 21 produces human tragedies with alarming regularity. Motor vehicle crashes, homicides, suicides, and other unintentional injuries are the four leading causes of death of 15- to 20-year-olds, and alcohol is a factor in many of these deaths. Indeed, so many underage drinkers die in car crashes that this problem, by itself, is a major national concern. In relation to the number of licensed drivers, young people under age 21 who have been drinking are involved in fatal crashes at twice the rate of adult drivers (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2002a).

Car crashes are the most visible and most numbing consequences of underage drinking, but they represent only a small proportion of the social toll that underage drinking takes on the present and future welfare of society. Other damaging problems include dangerous sexual practices that lead to both serious disease and unwanted pregnancies, unintentional injuries, fights, and school failures that lead to expulsions or withdrawals. Levy et al. (1999) estimated that in 1996 underage drinking led to 3,500 deaths, 2 million nonfatal injuries, 1,200 cases of fetal alcohol syndrome, and 57,000 cases of treatment for alcohol dependence. Worse yet, underage drinking reaches into the future by impeding normal development and constricting future opportunities. Conservatively estimated, the social cost of underage drinking in the United States in 1996 was $52.8 billion (Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 1999).

For many children, alcohol use begins early, during a critical developmental period: in 2002, 19.6 percent of eighth graders were current users of alcohol (use within the past 30 days), which can be compared with 10.7 percent who smoked cigarettes and 8.3 percent who used marijuana. Among each older age cohort of high school students, the prevalence, frequency, and intensity of drinking increase, contributing to increasing rates of educational failure, injury, and death as children move from grade to grade. By the time young people are seniors in high school, almost three-quarters (71.5 percent) report having drunk in the past year, almost half (48.6 percent) are current drinkers, and more than one-quarter (28.6 percent) report having had five or more drinks in a row in the past 2 weeks (Johnston et al., 2003). Among 18- to 22-year-olds, 41.4 percent of full-time college students and 35.9 percent of other young adults report heavy drinking (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2002). Heavy childhood and teenage drinking injures the developing brain and otherwise interferes with important developmental tasks. In addition, children and adolescents who begin drinking early are more likely than others to wind up with alcohol problems throughout their adult lives.

The public is certainly aware of these problems, especially drunk driving by teens. However, recent surveys demonstrate that parents underestimate the prevalence and intensity of alcohol use by their own children and by the underage population (see Chapter 6 ). Moreover, as measured by media attention and government expenditures, public concern about teenage alcohol use has not been remotely commensurate with the magnitude of the problem. A telling measure of the current societal response is the large gap in the federal government’s investment in discouraging illicit drug use among teenagers and in discouraging underage drinking, given that the social damage from underage alcohol use far exceeds the harms caused by illicit drug use. In fiscal 2000, the nation spent approximately $1.8 billion on preventing illicit drug use (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2003), which was 25 times the amount, $71.1 million, targeted at preventing underage alcohol use (U.S. General Accounting Office, 2001). The amount spent on preventing underage drinking also appears to be less than the amount spent on preventing tobacco use: in fiscal 2000, the Office of Smoking and Health, only one of many agencies in the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with smoking prevention, spent approximately $100 million. In addition, the states spent a great deal more, including funds generated by the agreement that settled the states’ Medicaid reimbursement suits against the tobacco companies.

There are signs that public attention to underage drinking is increasing and that the public recognizes the need to address the problem more aggressively than has thus far occurred. A recent study on public attitudes toward

underage drinking (Wagenaar et al., 2002) shows almost universal recognition of this problem. In fact, 98 percent of adults polled said they were concerned about teen drinking and 66 percent said they were “very concerned.” Moreover, a majority of respondents favored strong regulatory actions, such as additional controls on alcohol sales and advertising that would “make it harder for teenagers to get alcoholic beverages.” In 1999, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) added the goal of reducing underage drinking to its mission statement, and its activities and public statements increasingly reflect this focus (e.g., Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 2002). Underage drinking has also won the attention of the spouses of the nation’s governors, many of whom have come together to form the Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free, in collaboration with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA, part of the National Institutes of Health). In collaboration with the American Medical Association (AMA), the RWJF has also provided long-term support to 12 community and 10 university-based coalitions with the specific mission of reducing and preventing underage drinking. The AMA has itself also become increasingly active on the issue of underage drinking, calling for tighter regulation of alcohol availability, higher excise taxes, and restrictions on alcohol advertising. Members of the alcohol industry also have continued their efforts to discourage underage drinking through responsible drinking campaigns and approaches such as server, parent, and youth-oriented education and involvement in prevention efforts on college campuses.

Underage drinking has also begun to attract increased government attention in Washington. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), at the request of Congress, recently reviewed the alcohol industry’s advertising and marketing practices. Its report (U.S. Federal Trade Commission, 1999) called on alcohol companies to move toward the “best practices” in the industry “to reduce underage alcohol ad exposure.” In 2003 Congress called on the FTC to revisit its inquiry into alcohol advertising and youth and to investigate if and how the recommendations issued in its 1999 report have been implemented by the alcohol industry. Advocacy groups have also urged Congress to include underage alcohol use in the major media campaign being waged against illegal drug use under the auspices of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

THE COMMITTEE STUDY

In 2001 Congress responded to the increasing level of public concern about underage alcohol consumption by appropriating funds for a study by The National Academies. Acting through the NIAAA and the Substance

Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Congress requested 1 The National Academies to undertake an examination of the pertinent literature, to “review existing federal, state, and nongovernmental programs, including media-based programs, designed to change the attitudes and health behaviors of youth,” and to “develop a cost effective strategy for reducing and preventing underage drinking.” Based on consultations with several of the Academies’ standing advisory boards, members of the Academies, and the Academies’ governing bodies, the final statement of task directs the committee to examine programs ranging from environmental interventions (e.g., taxation, access restrictions) to programs focusing directly on the attitudes and behavior of young people (see Appendix A for the full statement of task).

In response, the Board on Children, Youth, and Families (BCYF) of the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies established a committee of 12 members with special expertise in key domains relating to underage drinking. To supplement the expertise of its members, the committee commissioned a set of papers to provide systematic reviews of the scientific literature on determinants of underage drinking and effective ways of reducing it. Topics explored in these papers include the demographics of underage drinking; its economic and social costs; adolescent decision making and risk and protective factors; and the effectiveness of various prevention programs and approaches, including media campaigns, school-based education, pricing, and access. Draft papers were presented at public meetings in October and November 2002 (see Appendixes B and C ) and subsequently reviewed and revised. 2

Numerous programs with the common goal of reducing underage drinking have been implemented at the national, state, and local levels, by governments and nonprofit and grassroots organizations. At the federal level, the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Justice, and Transportation operate several programs that specifically target underage drinking. Seven other federal agencies fund efforts that include underage alcohol use within a broader mandate (U.S. General Accounting Office, 2001). Similarly, numerous state-level agencies administer programs to reduce underage drinking. In most states, the health, human service, transportation, criminal justice, and education departments play some role. State alcohol beverage control bodies also play a role. Many communities, colleges and universities, and grassroots organizations across the country have initiated

efforts to reduce underage drinking and its associated problems in their communities. The alcohol industry also has implemented a range of efforts with the goal of reducing underage drinking.

The committee reviewed the 2001 report of the General Accounting Office on federal programs. This report focused on federal funding that targets underage drinking or includes underage drinking within a broader mandate. It does not include evidence on the effectiveness of specific programs. For the programs operated by the Departments of Transportation and Justice, the report provides general information on the types of activities funded—traffic safety and enforcement of underage drinking laws, respectively. No information is provided on the HHS-funded programs or activities, the largest overall funder of targeted underage drinking activities (see Chapter 12 ), probably because the funds generally do not represent a national program but, rather, funding for select state or local programs or research aimed at specific aspects of the problem. Although HHS has funded evaluations of specific state and community-level programs, the committee is not aware of any national-level HHS evaluations, or national evaluations of the Department of Transportation program. Each of the federal agencies have initiatives to highlight promising practices, based on varying levels of evidence. Evaluations of state or local programs that receive federal funding that are available in the literature, are reflected in the papers prepared for the committee’s study.

The largest single federal program that targets underage drinking is the Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) Program, operated by the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). A national evaluation of this program is in its fourth year, with only very preliminary outcomes information now available (see Chapter 9 ). The training and technical assistance center funded by the EUDL program produces a variety of materials that highlight best practices, many of which were reviewed by the committee.

The committee also reviewed written materials submitted by numerous organizations and individuals and considered both written and oral information presented at a public meeting held on November 21, 2002, by a wide range of organizations and people (see Appendix C ). This input highlighted programs or approaches considered effective by diverse communities and provided insights into their attitudes and experiences. The judgments provided through this process regarding effectiveness of particular programs or interventions were primarily subjective or based on informal evaluations.

Industry representatives provided extensive materials that were reviewed by the committee on the multiple activities they fund to reduce underage drinking. Included were descriptive materials such as summaries, brochures, pamphlets, videos, and guidebooks; testimonials from commu-

nity representatives on the utility of specific activities, and an evaluation of Alcohol 101, an industry-funded college-based intervention (see Chapter 7 for further discussion of these activities).

The committee’s basic charge is to provide science-based recommendations about how best to prevent and reduce underage drinking. Based on its expertise, consideration of public input, and review of the available scientific literature, including the papers written for the committee, the committee identified eight categories of programs or interventions and presents the evidence for each in the relevant chapter:

media campaigns designed to discourage underage drinking directly, to affect the behavior of adults, and to build a broader public awareness of the nature and magnitude of the problem ( Chapter 6 for adult-oriented campaigns and Chapter 10 for youth-oriented campaigns);

measures to curtail or counteract activities by individuals or businesses, including alcohol marketing practices, that tend to encourage or facilitate underage drinking (Chapters 7 and 8 );

measures restricting youth access to alcohol in both commercial and noncommercial settings, together with programs enforcing these laws ( Chapter 9 );

measures to reduce alcohol-related social harms by enforcing compliance with underage drinking restrictions, such as zero tolerance laws and other programs to reduce alcohol-related traffic injuries and criminal behavior ( Chapter 9 );

educational activities undertaken by schools, colleges and universities, faith-based institutions, healthcare organizations, alcohol companies, parent associations, and other entities designed to discourage underage drinking ( Chapter 10 );

community-based initiatives designed to tailor comprehensive approaches to the specific underage drinking problems of local communities ( Chapter 11 );

screening, counseling, and treatment programs to assist underage drinkers who have developed alcohol problems ( Chapter 11 ); and

methods of increasing the price of alcohol to underage purchasers, including increases in excise taxes ( Chapter 12 ).

It is important to recognize that implementation of any national “strategy” will depend on the cooperative actions of thousands of organizations and millions of individuals who have their own ideas about what is likely to be effective and valuable. These organizations include agencies at all levels of government (federal, state, and local) with an interest in underage drinking (e.g., alcoholic beverage control commissions, schools, and agencies responsible for law enforcement, substance abuse prevention, social ser-

vices, and public health). It also includes all the companies and establishments involved in producing, distributing, and selling alcohol—including distillers, vintners, breweries, package stores, and bars—as well as the advertising agencies that advise companies about how to position their products in different segments of the markets they seek to reach. It includes entertainment companies and other organizations that shape popular culture and affect young people’s attitudes about alcohol. A key role in any national response to the problem is played by parents who set models of drinking behavior for their children and who can affect the conditions under which their children have access to alcohol products. Of course, youths themselves make important decisions—not only about their own drinking, but also about how they view the drinking of their friends and peers.

The scope of the current efforts of many national, state, local, and nongovernmental group initiatives to prevent underage drinking or the consequences of drinking, particularly drinking and driving, is impressive. These programs include educational interventions, media campaigns, and activities to support enforcement of minimum drinking age laws. Young people themselves have organized efforts to discourage drinking among their peers. While few of these activities have been evaluated in any formal way, a successful national strategy will require the continued involvement, wisdom, and experience of the range of people and organizations that have been committed to preventing and controlling underage drinking.

A CHALLENGING TASK

The committee was charged with “developing a cost-effective strategy for preventing and reducing underage drinking.” As we set about this important task, it soon became evident that preventing and reducing underage alcohol use poses unusual challenges. Four of those challenges are the pervasiveness of drinking in the United States, the need for a broad consensus for a national strategy, ambivalence about goals and means, and commercial factors.

Pervasiveness of Drinking

Alcohol is readily available to adults (those over 21) through a large number of outlets for on-premise or off-premise consumption. About half of U.S. adults currently drink alcohol; among drinkers , the mean number of drinking days per month in 1999 was approximately eight. 3

Notwithstanding the legal ban, alcohol is also readily available to underage drinkers. In recent surveys of high school students, 94.7 percent of twelfth graders and 67.9 percent of eighth graders reported that alcohol is “fairly” or “very” easy to get (Johnston et al., 2003). Purchase surveys reveal that from 30 to 70 percent of outlets may sell to underage buyers, depending in part on their geographic location (Forster et al., 1994, 1995; Preusser and Williams, 1992; Grube, 1997). Focus groups have also indicated that underage youths typically procure alcohol from commercial sources and adults or at parties where parents and other adults have left the youths unchaperoned (Jones-Webb et al., 1997; Wagenaar et al., 1993). Wagenaar et al. (1996) reported that 46 percent of ninth graders, 60 percent of twelfth graders, and 68 percent of 18- to 20-year-olds obtained alcohol from an adult on their last drinking occasion. Commercial outlets were the second most prevalent alcohol source for youths 18 to 20. For younger adolescents, the primary sources of alcohol are older siblings, friends and acquaintances, adults (through third-party transactions), and at parties (Harrison et al., 2000; Jones-Webb et al., 1997; Schwartz et al., 1998; Wagenaar et al., 1993). National surveys of college student drinking find that a large percentage of college youth report they do not have to pay anything for alcohol, presumably because they are at a party where someone else is supplying the alcohol (Wechsler et al., 2000).

American culture is also replete with messages touting the attractions of alcohol use, which often imply that drinking is acceptable even for people under 21. Recent content analyses of television showed that alcohol use was depicted, typically in a positive light, in more than 70 percent of episodes sampled from prime-time programs shown in 1999 (Christensen et al., 2000), and in more than 90 percent of the 200 most popular movie rentals for 1996-1997 (Roberts et al., 1999b). Roberts et al. (1999b) also found that 17 percent of 1,000 of the most popular songs in 1996-1997 across five genres of music that are popular with youth contained alcohol references, including almost one-half of the rap music recordings. Positive images are also disseminated by the alcohol industry, which spent $1.6 billion on advertising in 2001 and at least twice that amount in other promotional activity. Thus, overall, young people are exposed to a steady stream of images and lyrics presenting alcohol use in an attractive light.

Need for Consensus

An effective strategy to reduce a behavior as pervasive and widely facilitated as underage drinking will depend on a public consensus about both goals and means, which will require an unequivocal commitment from a broad array of public and private institutions. If the nation is to succeed in promoting abstention or reduced consumption by minors in a country

that has more than 120 million drinkers, the need to do so has to be understood and embraced by many people in a position to reduce drinking opportunities for minors. An effective strategy will depend on adoption of public policies by authoritative decision makers about how to use tax money and public authority—for example, whether to use federal dollars to fund a national media campaign, how to enforce existing state laws banning sales to underage drinkers, or how local school boards should discipline students who drink. The process of enacting such policies will require some degree of public consensus, but this is only the start.

Ultimately, the effectiveness of government policies will depend on how enthusiastically a great many public and private agencies join in the effort to implement them. If parents, animated by a national media campaign, join local police and school boards in concerted efforts to discourage underage drinking and if alcohol distributors join with regulatory agencies to find means to deny underage drinkers easy access to alcohol, then the impact of government policies will be increased. In short, a public consensus to deal determinedly and effectively with underage drinking is needed not only to generate support for adopting strong policies, but also to make them effective. Conversely, both enactment and implementation will be seriously impeded if the public is divided or ambivalent about the importance of reducing underage drinking.

It is here that the greatest challenge lies. In the nation’s diverse society, communities have differing beliefs and sensibilities about the consumption and social meaning of alcohol use in general, as well as about what should be expected and demanded of young people during the transition between childhood and adulthood. These differences contribute to varying beliefs, varying public policies, and varying individual practices regarding underage access to alcohol. Although the vast majority of families would agree that the nation as a whole has a powerful interest in reducing the negative consequences of underage drinking on society and on the youths themselves, individuals, families, groups, and communities all have different views on the wisdom and propriety of various approaches to the problem.

In this respect, surveys that show that certain steps by governments (e.g., increasing alcohol excise taxes or restricting advertising) are widely supported obscures disagreements about whether young people should be severely punished for using alcohol, whether parents should be punished for allowing parties with alcohol for youth in their homes, or whether the legal drinking age should be 21.

Ambivalence About Goals and Means

The problem of mustering a societal consensus to achieve an objective as subtle, complex, and contested as reducing underage drinking can be

seen most sharply when one compares underage drinking with illegal drug use and underage smoking. The goal of the nation’s policy toward illegal drugs and tobacco—abstention by everyone—is both unambiguous and widely, if not universally, embraced. Thus, the nation aims to discourage and suppress nonmedical use of marijuana, cocaine, and other controlled substances by everyone (whatever their age) through a comprehensive legal regime prohibiting the manufacture, distribution, and possession of these drugs for nonmedical purposes. Even though tobacco products, by contrast, are lawfully available to adults, the nation’s clearly expressed goal is to discourage tobacco use by everyone, by preventing initiation and promoting cessation. The messages to young people and adults in these two contexts are identical: indeed, because few people take up smoking as adults, the overall success of the nation’s anti-tobacco policy depends substantially on the success of its efforts to prevent initiation among young people.

The task of developing a strategy for preventing and reducing alcohol use among young people, in contrast, faces an uncertain policy goal. A strong cultural, political, economic, and institutional base supports certain forms of drinking in the society. Unlike the goals for illegal drugs and tobacco, the nation does not aim to discourage or eliminate alcohol consumption by adults. It is probably a fair characterization to say that the implicit aims of the nation’s current alcohol policy are to discourage excessive or irresponsible consumption that puts others at risk, while being tolerant of moderate consumption (at appropriate places and times) by adults (especially in light of the possible health benefits of moderate use for some populations over 40). For example, as long as others are not endangered or offended, attitudes toward intoxication (per se) vary according to religious beliefs and personal moral standards. In short, current alcohol policy rests on a collective judgment, rooted in the Prohibition experience, that the wisdom and propriety of alcohol use among adults should be left to the diverse moral judgments of the American people. This is not to say that everyone supports this stance of government neutrality. Many public health experts would like to take steps (short of prohibition) to suppress alcohol consumption as a way of reducing alcohol problems, and some conservative religious groups would take a more aggressive public stance against intoxication itself. However, the current stance of tempered neutrality seems to be widely accepted and therefore fairly stable.

In this policy context, the message to young people as well as adults about alcohol use is both subtle and confusing. The message to young people is “wait” or “abstain now,” rather than “abstain always,” as it is with tobacco and illegal drugs. Unlike the policies for those other products, the ban on underage alcohol use explicitly represents a youth-only rule, and its violation is often viewed as a rite of passage to adulthood. The problem

is exacerbated because the age of majority is higher for alcohol than it is for any other right or privilege defined by adulthood (e.g., voting, executing binding contracts). Explaining convincingly—to young people as well as adults—why alcohol use is permissible for 21-year-olds but not for anyone younger is a difficult but essential task for reducing or preventing underage drinking.

There is also confusion about whether messages to young people should emphasize abstention, perhaps drawing together alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs, or whether messages should focus on the dangers of intoxication and heavy drinking. Many people believe that abstention messages are more appropriate (and more likely to be effective) for younger teens than for older teens and college students.

This overall debate raises the same question posed by all wait rules: What is the age of demarcation between childhood and adulthood (see, generally, Zimring, 1982; Kett, 1977). The argument has been given a raw edge by the trend, in recent years, to curtail the jurisdiction of juvenile courts and to prescribe severe punishments, including the death penalty, for teenagers who commit crimes (Fagan and Zimring, 2000).

Commercial Factors

Alcohol is a $116 billion-per-year industry in the United States, catering to the tastes and needs of the more than 120 million Americans who drink. All states generate revenue from the sale of alcohol, either through excise taxes or product mark-ups, and 18 states participate in the alcohol market through retail and/or wholesale monopolies over distribution of certain alcoholic beverages. A strategy to suppress underage alcohol use must somehow be implemented in the very midst of a society replete with practices and messages promoting its use, and with a strong sector of deeply vested economic interests and the accompanying political and economic power. A significant level of underage use is inevitable under these circumstances—as an inevitable spillover effect, even if unintended by the industry—no matter what strategy is implemented. Foster et al. (2003) recently estimated that underage drinkers account for 19.7 percent of all drinks consumed and 19.4 percent of the revenues of the alcohol industry (about $22.5 billion). On the basis of the committee’s independent calculations, we conclude that youth consumption falls somewhere between 10 and 20 percent of all drinks and accounts for a somewhat lower, although still significant, percentage of total expenditures (see Chapter 2 ).

Although a similar challenge confronts tobacco control policy makers in the effort to prevent youthful use of tobacco products, the potency and impact of tobacco industry activity are gradually being lessened by the growing consensus that tobacco is a deadly and disapproved product, that

the industry has misled its customers for decades, and that aggressive regulation is needed to prevent young people from using tobacco and otherwise to protect the public health. It is generally believed that the tobacco industry has targeted young people to maintain demand for tobacco products as older consumers quit or die, notwithstanding the industry’s professed efforts, in the wake of the Master Settlement Agreement, to discourage underage use of their products. In short, public health officials and the major tobacco companies are not on the same side, and “big tobacco” is regarded as the enemy of the public’s health.

In contrast, the alcohol industry is diverse and uniformly acknowledges the dangers of underage drinking. Alcohol experts generally assume that the level of adult demand for alcohol products will not be substantially affected, over the long term, by reducing underage consumption—although getting young people to wait will obviously reduce the overall level of consumption. Thus, while the commercial interests of the alcohol industry are not perfectly aligned with the public health, they are not as antagonistic to the public health as the interests of the tobacco industry. In any case, a strategy for preventing and reducing underage drinking will have a much better chance for success if it attracts the active cooperation, and at least the acquiescence, of various segments of the alcohol industry.

The effectiveness of any policy focused explicitly on reducing underage drinking will be limited by the existence of a large legitimate practice of drinking and by the power of a large industry responding to legitimate consumer demand. When alcohol is available in many home liquor cabinets, the success of strategies to discourage young people from buying at package stores will be much different than in a world where relatively few parents have stocks of alcohol. The widespread legal use of alcohol in the society affects not only cultural and individual attitudes toward drinking, but also the extent to which any youth-oriented control regime can be effective in reducing opportunities for youths’ access to alcohol and drinking opportunities. One can establish a clear-cut boundary between acceptable drinking and unacceptable drinking at conceptual, policy, and legal levels, but it must be understood not only that different communities will construct that boundary differently as a matter of policy but also that the scope created for legal drinking has a profound, practical effect on the effectiveness of other policy instruments in discouraging unwanted, underage drinking.

In sum, the committee set about its task of developing a strategy for preventing and reducing underage drinking while being fully aware of the complexity of defining the public interest in this area and mindful of the severe constraints within which the strategy must be framed and implemented.

UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS

In conducting its work, the committee did not begin with a blank slate. Instead, we were asked to develop a national strategy given the basic framework of the nation’s current policy toward underage drinking. That policy aims to delay drinking by young people as long as possible and forbids lawful access to alcohol for people under 21.

Some people argue that the delay strategy is misguided and that the legal drinking age should be lower than 21 (typically 18). According to this view, allowing drinking at younger ages would mitigate youthful desire for alcohol as a “forbidden fruit”; would provide opportunities to “learn” to drink, thereby reducing harms; and would bring the age at which youth are allowed to drink into alignment with the age at which they can join the military, vote, and participate in other aspects of adult life. Whatever the merits of this view, the committee believes that Congress intended us to work within the framework of current law, anchored in the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, and that reconsideration of the 21-year-old drinking age, and of the premises on which it is predicated, is beyond our mandate. Moreover, as a practical matter, the current policy framework, though disputed by some, rests on a strong scientific foundation, is widely accepted, and is certain to be preserved for the foreseeable future.

Because the current policy framework provides the foundation for the committee’s work, and for the strategy recommended in this report, it is useful to summarize it here and to highlight its basic rationale.

Evolution of Current Policy

Until the last decades of the 19th century, society relied largely on nonlegal mechanisms of social control to constrain youthful drinking. However, in the wake of urbanization, immigration, and industrialization, alcohol came under tighter control, including bans against selling it to people under the legal age (Mosher et al., 2002). After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, it became settled that decisions about alcohol control rested with the states, and the structure of modern alcohol regulation took shape.

Until 1970, the minimum drinking age in most states was 21. Between 1970 and 1976, 21 states reduced the minimum drinking age to 18, and another 8 states reduced it to 19 or 20 (usually as part of a more general statutory reform reducing the age of majority to 18) (Wagenaar, 1981). Proposals to restore a higher age were soon introduced, however, largely because alcohol-related automobile crashes had significantly increased among teenagers and young adults. Of the 29 states that lowered their drinking age, 24 raised the age again between 1976 and 1984. By that time, only three states allowed 18-year-olds to drink all types of alcoholic bever-

ages, while five others (including the District of Columbia) allowed 18-year-olds to drink beer and light wine while setting the age limit for distilled spirits and wine with high alcohol content at 21. Thirteen states set a uniform age of 19, and four others allowed 19-year-olds to drink beer and set the limit at 21 for other alcoholic beverages. Four states set the age at 20 for all alcohol, and the remaining 22 states set a uniform age of 21 (Bonnie, 1985).

In 1984 Congress enacted the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, as recommended by the Presidential Commission on Drunk Driving, using the threat of withholding 10 percent of federal highway funds to induce states to set the minimum drinking age at 21 for all alcoholic beverages. All states eventually complied and have a variety of mechanisms in place to enforce this restriction

The Goal of Delay

The explicit aim of existing policy is to delay underage alcohol use as long as possible and, even if use begins, to reduce its frequency and quantity as much as possible. Most people recognize that drinking itself is not the issue. Rather, the underlying challenge is protecting young people while they are growing up. Children and adolescents need to be protected in the first instance from the immediate harms that can occur when they are drinking. But they also need to be protected from the possibility that they will mortgage their own future prospects by initiating practices that could cause them permanent harm during a critical developmental period and that could lead to patterns of drinking that will worsen as they grow older.

The question is how best to go about that protective task. As indicated, some people argue that the most sensible approach is to permit drinking by young people (at least older teens) rather than trying to suppress it. In their view, a “wait” rule is not the best way to reduce the problems associated with underage drinking—at least in a society in which it is bound to occur with considerable frequency anyway. They would allow youthful drinking and focus on supervision rather than drinking per se (at least for older adolescents). In their view, a “learner’s permit” for drinking is preferable to a prohibition that drives underage drinking into the shadows and sacrifices the opportunity for supervision. A learner’s permit approach could be implemented in a variety of ways, such as by permitting youth access to only certain kinds of alcohol during the learning period (analogous to a graduated driving license) and by prescribing particular requirements for adult supervision.

If the drinking age were lowered, the critical question is whether the intensity of youthful drinking, and the accompanying problems, would decrease, as contended by proponents of the learner’s permit approach.

Admittedly, the current approach may create incentives for heavy unsupervised drinking on the occasions where alcohol is available. However, as discussed in Chapter 9 , young people who drink tend to do so heavily even in societies with a learner’s permit approach.

In addition, a substantial body of scientific evidence shows that raising the minimum drinking age reduced alcohol-related crashes and fatalities among young people (Cook and Tauchen, 1984; U.S. General Accounting Office, 1987; Wagenaar and Toomey, 2002) as well as deaths from suicide, homicide, and nonvehicle unintentional injuries (Jones et al., 1992; Parker and Rebhun, 1995). Increasing the minimum drinking age to 21 is credited with having saved 18,220 lives on the nation’s highways between 1975 and 1998 (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1998). Voas, Tippetts, and Fell (1999), using data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia for 1982 through 1997, concluded that the enactment of the uniform 21-year-old minimum drinking age law was responsible for a 19 percent net decrease in fatal crashes involving young drivers who had been drinking, after controlling for driving exposure, beer consumption, enactment of zero tolerance laws, and other relevant changes in the laws during that time.

These findings reinforce the decision by Congress to act in 1984. In short, current national policy rests on the view, supported by substantial evidence, that delaying drinking reduces problem drinking and its consequences. The nation’s legislators and public health leaders have reached the nearly uniform judgment that the benefits of setting it at 21 far exceed the costs of doing so.

The Instrumental Role of the Law

Our earlier comparison among alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs raises another important preliminary question—about the role of the law in the prevention of underage drinking. It is possible to imagine an official policy aiming to delay and discourage underage drinking that does not rely in any way on the coercive authority of the state to implement this policy: instead of banning underage access to alcohol by law, society might rely entirely on parenting, education, community expectations, and other mechanisms of social control to suppress youthful drinking and, for older teens, to transmit the desired drinking-related norms and to encourage adults to refrain from supplying youths with alcohol or otherwise facilitating their drinking. Various forms of social disapproval, including social and economic sanctions (e.g., not patronizing stores or bars that serve minors) can be imagined.

In contrast, the United States has decided that there must be laws against supplying alcohol to young people and that it should also be illegal for young people to possess or use alcohol, at least in public. Thus, because

the law plays such a central role in the nation’s policy toward underage drinking, it is essential to clarify the functions that these laws should reasonably be expected to serve.

At the outset, it should be emphasized that a secular society seeks to delay underage drinking because it is dangerous to youths and others, not because it is inherently evil or wrong. The ban on underage drinking is an age-specific prohibition, implying that the aim is to delay alcohol use, not to condemn it or inoculate against it. For this reason, the prohibition is distinctly instrumental in nature and is not grounded in the moral disapproval that characterizes many legal prohibitions. To use a traditional legal classification, underage drinking is an example of a prohibition that is malum prohibitum (wrong because it is prohibited) rather than malum in se (wrong in itself). Punishment for an underage drinker, or even for an adult facilitator, is not an expression of public moral condemnation as is, for example, punishment for child sexual abuse or robbery.

Enforcement of prohibitions against immoral behavior serves the twin goals of reducing the harmful behavior and condemning and punishing the perpetrator for the transgression. The prohibition of underage drinking does not aim to serve this second (retributive) objective in any strong sense. Its aim is exclusively instrumental. Consequently, the measure of the prohibition’s effectiveness, and of the social policy it implements, has to be whether it reduces or avoids the dangerous consequences associated with youthful drinking.

Law is a blunt instrument. It is not self-executing, and it requires the affirmative support of a substantial proportion of the population and of those who are expected to enforce it. These characteristics of a law are particularly important for instrumental prohibitions, such as the ban against underage drinking, because the level of compliance will depend heavily on the willingness of a large number of individuals to adhere to the law simply because they accept its moral authority to command their obedience. That is, a legal norm of this kind, which affects so many people in so many everyday social and economic contexts, cannot be successfully implemented based on deterrence (the threat of punishment) alone. It must rely heavily on the “declarative” or “expressive” function of the law: by forbidding the conduct, it aims to shape people’s beliefs and attitudes about what is acceptable social behavior and thereby to draw on their disposition to obey.

Since the ultimate goal is to protect youths (and others within the zone of danger) from harmful consequences, one might wonder whether it is possible to implement an underage alcohol policy by focusing exclusively on the dangerous behavior rather than the drinking itself. In theory, it might be possible to define the prohibited conduct exclusively in relation to the magnitude of the risk: for example, “don’t drive a car after having had alcohol” or “don’t give alcohol to a youth who intends to drive a car or is

otherwise likely to behave dangerously.” However, any such dangerous drinking prohibitions are extremely difficult to implement successfully and would not exert a sufficient deterrent by themselves to prevent the risky behaviors associated with underage alcohol use. As the nation’s lawmakers have concluded, only a categorical prohibition of underage access to alcohol has any realistic chance of doing that, especially in a large industrial society in which the risks are pervasive (and magnified by developmental vulnerability) and where young people have large periods of time outside parental supervision and outside the reach of formal social controls. It is also relevant to note that at least one of the risks associated with underage drinking is intrinsic to the drinking itself—the permanent damage of alcohol consumption on the adolescent brain (see Chapter 3 ).

Given an age-based categorical prohibition aiming to serve exclusively instrumental aims, other policy judgments are needed regarding the scope of the restrictions, the severity of the prescribed sanctions, and the resources and tools that should be used to enforce the law. Banning commercial distribution of alcohol to underage persons is an essential element of the prohibition, but what about noncommercial distribution? Even if noncommercial distribution is banned, what about parental distribution to their own children in their own home? (Many states do not prohibit this distribution.) Is it also necessary to penalize young people who purchase or consume alcohol? Even in their own homes? What enforcement strategies should be used? And how severe should the sanctions be? These issues are addressed in Chapter 9 . The answers require careful assessment of the possible benefits (in reducing harms associated with underage drinking) and the costs of any particular strategy. The degree of public support and the difficulty of enforcement bear on both the potential effectiveness and on the possible costs.

A POPULATION PERSPECTIVE

In requesting the National Academies to develop a strategy for reducing and preventing underage drinking, Congress clearly anticipated that we would do so from a public health perspective, reviewing the etiology and consequences of alcohol use by the underage population and assessing the effectiveness of interventions that might be deployed to reduce the prevalence of drinking in this population, particularly the patterns of consumption most clearly associated with alcohol problems. (The outcomes of interest in assessing the effectiveness of interventions are discussed in Chapter 5 .) Recognizing that underage drinking substantially increases the short-term risks of death, injury, and other harms, as well as long-term risks of alcoholism and other dysfunction, a population-oriented strategy aims to lower the mean level of risk in the underage population in order “to shift

the whole distribution of exposure in a favorable direction,” typically by “altering some of society’s norms of behavior” (Rose, 1985, p. 371). Accordingly, we emphasize the population-oriented tools of primary prevention, rather than the individually oriented methods of secondary or tertiary prevention. Thus, identification and treatment of youths with drinking problems, or at high risk for developing such problems, and the challenge of instilling habits of responsible drinking as young people mature are addressed only incidentally in this report. These issues are important for improved policy and practice, but they are peripheral to our basic charge—delaying underage drinking and reducing its prevalence.

In developing a strategy to delay and reduce underage drinking, the committee has tried to understand the problem from two angles. First, we looked at the problem from the viewpoint of a young person deciding whether and under what circumstances to use alcohol. Our framework draws on the developing literature regarding adolescent decision making, especially in relation to health and risk behaviors. We pay particular attention to youthful decision-making abilities at various ages in the context of the changing social realities of teenage alcohol use. Some components of a comprehensive strategy must aim to help young people make the right decisions, depending on their age and developmental stage, taking account of the dangers of alcohol use at varying points in development.

It is not enough, however, to try to persuade young people to make the right choices. If the strategy relied exclusively on tools directed at changing the attitudes and behavior of underage youths, it would not have much chance of succeeding. To complement a youth-centered decision-making perspective, the committee also drew on the multidisciplinary perspective used by public policy analysts. This framework combines the disciplines of epidemiology, economics, health communications, law, and other social sciences to envision the array of policy instruments that can be brought to bear on the problem and to assess their probable effectiveness and costs, used alone or in combination.

OVERVIEW OF THE REPORT

Although the committee’s recommended strategy responds to a congressional request, the report is intended for a broad audience, including parents, businesses, alcohol companies, educators, state and local policy makers and legislators, healthcare producers and retailers, practitioners, and community organizers. Our work is presented in two parts.

Part I , Chapters 2 through 4 , provides important contextual information about underage drinking and its consequences and determinants. Chapter 2 discusses key definitions and presents pertinent demographic and epidemiological data regarding the scope of underage drinking and the

characteristics of underage drinkers. It includes data on the prevalence of alcohol use and drinking behavior by gender, race, and ethnicity as well as comparisons of youth and adult drinking patterns. Chapter 3 provides an account of the social consequences and costs of underage drinking.

Chapter 4 offers a context for the underlying reasons, motivations, social influences, and risk factors that influence young people’s decisions about drinking. The chapter explores the specific motivations and influences relevant to young people’s drinking behavior and attempts to answer why some young people choose to drink and do so intensively while others choose to drink moderately or not at all. The chapter also discusses the social environment in which young people are immersed and the ways that community and social factors affect underage drinking.

Part II , Chapters 5 through 12 , presents the committee’s recommended strategy to prevent and reduce underage drinking. In each of these chapters, the committee summarizes what is known about the effectiveness of existing programs or interventions in the pertinent domain and presents its conclusions and recommendations. The committee has tried to be realistic in assessing the potential effectiveness of efforts to prevent and reduce underage drinking. The committee assumes that most adults in the United States will continue to use alcohol and that most drinkers will begin their alcohol use sometime before they are 21, despite laws and policies to the contrary. Within that constraint, however, there is substantial room for preventing and reducing underage drinking in the United States, and this part of the report explores various tools that can be used in this effort.

At the heart of the committee’s proposed strategy is the effort to foster a collective societal acceptance of responsibility for reducing underage drinking. Although continued efforts to speak directly to young people about the dangers of alcohol use are an important component of the committee’s proposed strategy, the committee believes that the highest priority should be given to changing the attitudes and behaviors of adults. Adults often facilitate or enable underage drinking directly by supplying alcohol to young people, by failing to take effective precautions to prevent it, or by sending the message that alcohol use is to be expected. Few programs currently seek to influence parents to alter their behaviors and attitudes toward youth drinking as a way of reducing youth access to alcohol, changing permissive social norms about underage drinking, and galvanizing community action.

In Chapter 5 we explain our interpretation of the committee’s charge and some of the key assumptions underlying the strategy, including the criteria for assessing effectiveness and cost. This chapter is the foundation for the rest of the report. In Chapter 6 we discuss development of a national media effort as a major component of a campaign aimed at educating parents and other adults about underage drinking and ways adults can help

reduce opportunities for youth drinking. In Chapter 7 we discuss how the alcoholic beverage industry can become a partner in the overall effort by helping to establish and fund an independent nonprofit organization charged with reducing underage drinking and by exercising greater self-restraint in advertising and promotional activity. Our messages to the alcohol industry (and other industries that benefit from a large alcohol market) are clear: Your efforts to satisfy and expand the legitimate adult market for alcohol inevitably spill over to a large underage market. Even if you do not intend to stimulate or satisfy underage demand, you derive financial benefits from it. As a society, we cannot have a substantial impact on underage drinking without your active engagement in this effort. Chapter 8 issues a similar challenge to the entertainment media, urging more attentive self-regulation to reduce exposure of children and adolescents to lyrics and images that portray drinking in an attractive way. The committee believes that market incentives can be used to reward companies, including entertainment media, who take meaningful steps to help reduce underage drinking, and to punish companies that do not. Chapter 9 explores ways to reduce youth access to alcohol through both commercial and noncommercial channels.

Chapter 10 explains why the committee does not recommend a youth-oriented national media campaign at this time, preferring instead a cautious program of research and development. It also addresses educational efforts in schools, colleges, and other settings designed to persuade young people to choose not to drink and to reduce alcohol problems. The chapter also briefly discusses programs for assisting youths with alcohol problems. Chapter 11 reviews the potential advantages of mobilizing communities to implement locally specific efforts to reduce underage drinking.

Chapter 12 identifies several ways in which the federal and state governments can help implement the proposed strategy, including through increases in excise taxes. Regulatory action by the government is not at the center of the committee’s proposed strategy. The major priority, in the committee’s view, is to galvanize the necessary societal commitment to prevent and reduce underage drinking. Thus, the committee focuses its attention on community action, business responsibility, public-private partnerships, and all the other institutional expressions of a genuine social movement. In this context, government has a supportive, but nonetheless indispensable, role—to provide funding (possibly through increased excise taxes on alcohol) and technical support to strengthen and enforce access restrictions, to keep regulatory pressure on the alcohol industry to act responsibly, and to monitor the effectiveness of the overall strategy.

Alcohol use by young people is extremely dangerous - both to themselves and society at large. Underage alcohol use is associated with traffic fatalities, violence, unsafe sex, suicide, educational failure, and other problem behaviors that diminish the prospects of future success, as well as health risks – and the earlier teens start drinking, the greater the danger. Despite these serious concerns, the media continues to make drinking look attractive to youth, and it remains possible and even easy for teenagers to get access to alcohol.

Why is this dangerous behavior so pervasive? What can be done to prevent it? What will work and who is responsible for making sure it happens? Reducing Underage Drinking addresses these questions and proposes a new way to combat underage alcohol use. It explores the ways in which may different individuals and groups contribute to the problem and how they can be enlisted to prevent it. Reducing Underage Drinking will serve as both a game plan and a call to arms for anyone with an investment in youth health and safety.

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Essay on Alcoholism

Students are often asked to write an essay on Alcoholism in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Alcoholism

Understanding alcoholism.

Alcoholism is a serious issue. It is a disease where a person cannot control their desire to drink alcohol. They keep drinking even when it causes harm.

Alcoholism can be caused by genetics, environment, and mental health. Some people are more prone to it because of their family history. Others might start drinking due to stress or depression.

The Effects

Alcoholism can lead to health problems like liver disease. It can also cause problems at work, school, or with relationships. It’s important to seek help if you or someone you know is struggling.

250 Words Essay on Alcoholism

Introduction.

Alcoholism, also known as alcohol use disorder (AUD), is a chronic disease characterized by an inability to control or abstain from alcohol use despite its negative consequences. It is a pervasive global issue with significant health, social, and economic implications.

Causes and Risk Factors

The etiology of alcoholism is multifaceted, involving a complex interplay of genetic, environmental, and psychological factors. Genetic predisposition accounts for about 50% of the risk for AUD, with certain genes influencing how alcohol affects the body and brain. Environmental factors such as cultural norms, peer pressure, and stress can also contribute to the onset of alcoholism.

Impacts and Consequences

The impacts of alcoholism are far-reaching. Physiologically, it can lead to liver disease, cardiovascular problems, and neurological damage. Psychologically, it can result in depression, anxiety, and increased risk of suicide. Socially, it can disrupt relationships, lead to job loss, and contribute to social isolation.

Treatment and Prevention

Treatment for alcoholism typically involves a combination of medication, therapy, and support groups. Prevention strategies include education about the risks of excessive alcohol consumption, early intervention for at-risk individuals, and policies to limit alcohol availability.

Alcoholism is a complex disease with a multitude of contributing factors and consequences. Understanding its causes, impacts, and treatment options is key to addressing this pervasive issue. As future leaders, we must advocate for effective prevention strategies and accessible treatment services to combat alcoholism.

500 Words Essay on Alcoholism

Alcoholism, also known as Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), is a chronic disease characterized by an inability to control or abstain from alcohol use despite its negative repercussions. It is a multifaceted disease, with complex interactions between genetic, environmental, and psychological factors.

Genetic Underpinnings of Alcoholism

Scientific research has established a strong genetic component to alcoholism. Certain genes can make individuals more susceptible to alcohol addiction, demonstrating that alcoholism is not merely a result of personal weakness or lack of willpower. It is estimated that genetics accounts for about 50% of the risk for AUD. However, having a genetic predisposition does not guarantee the development of alcoholism, indicating the significant role of environmental factors.

Environmental Factors and Alcoholism

Environmental influences play a critical role in shaping an individual’s risk for alcoholism. These include cultural attitudes towards drinking, peer pressure, stress, early exposure to alcohol, and a history of physical or emotional abuse. Socio-economic status and mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, also contribute to the risk. Understanding the interplay between genetic predisposition and environmental factors can help in developing effective prevention strategies.

The Psychological Impact of Alcoholism

Alcoholism inflicts significant psychological damage. It can lead to a range of mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, and increased risk of suicide. Furthermore, alcoholism can negatively impact cognitive functions, impair judgment, and lead to behavioral changes. It is also closely linked to social problems, such as domestic violence, child abuse, and other forms of crime.

Treatment and Recovery

Alcoholism is a treatable disease, with various therapeutic strategies available. These include behavioral treatments, medications, and mutual-support groups. Behavioral treatments aim to change drinking behavior through counseling, while medications can help to manage withdrawal symptoms and prevent relapse. Mutual-support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous provide a supportive community for individuals recovering from alcoholism.

Prevention is Better than Cure

Prevention strategies are crucial in combating alcoholism. These include enforcing age restrictions on alcohol sales, regulating alcohol advertising, providing education about the risks of excessive alcohol consumption, and implementing screening programs to identify individuals at risk.

Alcoholism is a complex, multifaceted disease that requires a comprehensive approach for its prevention and treatment. Understanding its genetic, environmental, and psychological dimensions can inform effective strategies to combat this pervasive public health issue. While alcoholism is a serious disease, recovery is possible with the right support and treatment. Therefore, it is essential to foster a supportive environment for those struggling with this disorder, free from stigma and judgment.

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How To Write Your Best Alcoholism Essay?

Table of Contents

To start off, alcoholism is a physical and psychological disease characterized by regular consumption of high qualities of alcohol and troubles with giving up drinking.

It is a well-known fact that alcoholism is quite an issue nowadays. It breaks the lives of people, their families, and the whole society. According to WHO (World Health Organization), excessive use of alcohol causes 5.3% of deaths yearly, which makes a total of 3 million deaths.

The topic is quite vast, so it won’t be hard to find a thrilling aspect to cover in your essay.

6 facts for your alcoholism essay

The main goal of writing an essay on alcoholism is to highlight the problem, it’s causes, reasons, and outcomes.

Keep things simple, precise and informative. Use only credible sources in references. Try visiting official websites of WHO, Medical News Today (website specialized on medical information), ASAM (American Society of Addiction Medicine, on different addictions), etc.

Also, here are several facts for you to start off somewhere.

• Alcoholism is not only a disease but also an addiction. This may seem obvious. Therapists state that it can be as dangerous as drug addiction since a person gets used to it not only on a mental level but also on a physical. As a result, there are loads of difficulties when giving up.
• Alcoholism shouldn’t be regarded as a personal choice. Like any other addiction, it differs from person to person. Usually, people can’t notice that something is wrong before they actually try to stop drinking.
• Except for being a disease itself, alcoholism leads to health and social issues. Doctors claim that alcoholism results in liver disease, pancreatitis, cancers, brain damages, and others. Moreover, it leads to socialization problems as alcoholics can be depressed, aggressive and struggle from a negative attitude of society.
• Alcoholism has a genetic complex. It is stated that children of alcoholics are 4 times more predisposed to alcoholism. Scientists claim that alcohol and drug addiction usually starts with families.
• There are more men alcoholics than women. The research shows that men are more likely to become alcoholics than women. Investigation can’t actually explain this fact, but the main reason is considered to be the fact that men drink more alcohol overall.
• Alcohol makes people feel worse. Some may say that they drink to “drown sorrows,” but it doesn’t work in a long-term perspective. Actually, alcohol is a depressant.

How to structure the essay on alcoholism?

A good structure is essential for any writing. As a rule, the essay is divided into three parts: introduction, main body, and conclusion.

You might also want to write an outline for your work. Here are some easy instructions to follow:

Outline. Basically, it is a table of contents. You briefly plan your essay and organize your thoughts. Write down the statement you are about to use in the introduction, note several arguments supporting your statement and think of how to summarize these thoughts in conclusion .

Introduction. Here you need to provide the reader with some basic information on the topic. It may include the definition of alcoholism, statistics, and rates of how many alcoholics are out there, the yearly amount of deaths, age statistics, and so on. Include a thesis explaining the main idea of your essay and your standpoint. It shouldn’t be longer than 1 sentence.

The Main Body. Explain your standpoint step by step. Add arguments gradually. Each supporting statement takes 1 paragraph and is accompanied by a brief explanation . Put them in a logical order.

Conclusion. Sum up everything you said before and confirm the thesis. Do not add new ideas , statements, or facts. Here, in the alcoholism essay conclusion, you may express your own vision of the problem.

Causes and effects of alcoholism essay: what to cover?

Each case of alcoholism is unique and has its own set of reasons and consequences. Thus, you may need to know some general statistics and information on the causes and effects of alcoholism. Here are several prompts.

Causes of alcoholism essay:

• A stressful environment that enforces the person to seek consolation.
• Drinking at an early age.
• Mental issues (like depression, apathy, etc.).
• Genetics and family history.
• Mixing alcohol with medicine: possible outcomes.
• The experience of trauma.
• Bad influence of the company.
• Lack of family care.
• Power of the mass media.
• No awareness of the possible psychological problems.

Effects of alcoholism essay:

• Health problems, like heart and liver diseases, brain damage, low immunity, cancer, etc.
• Depression, apathy, suicidal thoughts.
• Slurred speech, confusion, trouble remembering things.
• Concentration issues.
• Bad academic performance.
• Increased chance of committing a crime.
• Domestic violence.
• Adverse effect on children.
• Loss of job and financial troubles.
• Mood swings.

Alcoholism is quite an issue in modern society. Essays, exploring this topic, are needed to spread the awareness of the risks we all encounter.

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248 Alcohol Essay Topics & Research Titles for Students

Alcohol is controversial: on the one hand, it harms people, but on the other hand, it generates much profit and is challenging to ban entirely. If you’re looking for alcohol topics for discussion, you’re at the right place! Here is a list of research questions about alcoholism, the effects of alcohol consumption and addiction, and other drug and alcohol essay topics.

🍷 TOP 7 Alcohol Topics for Discussion

🏆 best alcohol topics for essay, 🎓 most interesting topics about alcohol, 👍 good alcohol research topics & essay examples, 💡 simple topics & research questions about alcohol, 🌶️ hot alcohol topics for discussion, 📌 easy alcohol essay topics, ✍️ alcohol essay topics for college, ❓ alcohol research questions.

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• Fair Trade: Japan – Taxes on Alcoholic Beverages The WTO indicted Japan for what it described as a violation of the internal taxation and regulations as stipulated in the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade 1994.
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• The Alcohol Consumption Rate in Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire is among the counties in the UK with the highest rates of alcohol consumption. This prevalence is caused by its culture and lack of effective social support.
• The Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is a severe disease that has dangerous affects on the fetus and on a born child.
• History of Alcohol in Europe Europe and the United States recorded diverse historical developments regarding the distribution, quality, and consumption of alcohol.
• Tobacco and Alcohol Should Not Be Allowed to Be Advertised Although tobacco and alcohol are legal substances, their advertisement should be regulated because it is associated with teenage smoking and drinking.
• Drug Abuse and Alcohol-Related Crimes in Adolescents The current paper focuses on the topic of drug abuse and alcohol-related crimes among teenagers, showing that substances remain the most notable factor in juvenile crime.
• Canadians’ Reaction to Alcohol as a Newly-Invented Illicit Drug The possible reaction of Canadians to alcohol, if it was a newly-invented illicit drug, will differ depending on their personal characteristics and external circumstances.
• Alcoholism: Causes, Symptoms and Negative Effects Alcohol abuse and alcoholism are associated with a broad range of medical, psychiatric, social, legal, occupational, economic, and family problems.
• Alcohol Difference in the United States and Europe The types of alcohol and the patterns of its consumption vary across the countries. The attitude towards depends on the socio-political and the economic situation.
• Tone and Voice in Paisley’s “Alcohol” and Lockward’s “My Husband Discovers Poetry” In the poem, “My Husband Discovers Poetry,” and the song “Alcohol,” there are numerous poetic stylistic devices that are used.
• Genetic and Environmental Factors Causing Alcoholism and Effects of Alcohol Abuse The term alcoholism may be used to refer to a wide range of issues associated with alcohol. Simply put, it is a situation whereby an individual cannot stay without alcohol.
• Overconsumption of Alcohol by a Customer The paper discusses who should be held accountable for the accidents resulting from overconsumption of alcohol by a customer served at a club, bar, or restaurant.
• Alcoholic Yeast Fermentation and Optimal Conditions This laboratory report examines the dependence of bioethanol production on temperature, pH, stirring, and gas composition.
• Effects of Alcohol on Pregnant Women This paper is set out to shed light on the effects of alcohol on expectant women since they are the ones who are at great risk compared to their male counterparts.
• Causes and Consequences of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Drug addiction is a psychological and physical disorder that affects the brain of an individual. It is caused by dependence on drugs, alcohol, and specific behaviors.
• Developments in Global Tobacco and Alcohol Policy WHO reports that about 8 million people die from smoking every year. Tobacco is a major cause of the emergence and development of multiple complications such as cancer, heart disease.
• Alcoholic Parents’ Effect on Adult Children While effects of being raised by alcoholics in adult children may vary, fear of failure, desire to control, and developing compulsive behaviors are prevalent characteristics.
• Alcohol Drinking and Ethical Decision-Making People should be prepared to make sacrifices and account for their actions if they expect good results since all good things cost heavily.
• Sociology: “Alcoholics Anonymous” by Bill Wilson The book “Alcoholics Anonymous” gives a detailed analysis of the health challenges and decisions made by Bill Wilson. The narrator struggled with alcoholism for many years.
• Fetal Alcohol Syndrome The research study conducted by Mcgee indicated that the tendency towards being passive was more pronounced in children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome than their peers.
• National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors This paper will consider the fourth principle of the organization’s ethical code, which reads: “Working in a culturally diverse world.”
• The Importance of Religion in Understanding the History of Alcohol Although it emerged in specific ancient civilizations, the alcoholic drink gained a unique religious significance from the Ancient Period to the Middle Ages.
• Personality Versus Alcohol This dissertation examines the influences of alcohol on personality through a multidimensional study of numerous studies and experiments performed by scientists around the world.
• Alcohol and Wellness: How Alcohol Affects Human Wellness Wellness refers to deliberate actions to live healthy life by eating recommended foods and drinks respectively. This essay describes how alcohol affects human wellness.
• Arguments of “No Alcohol Safe To Drink…” by Ives The main idea of “No Alcohol Safe to Drink, Global Study Confirms” by Ives is that there can not be a healthy glass of wine and a moderate level of alcohol consumption.
• Yeast Alcohol Dehydrogenase Structure Yeast alcohol dehydrogenase refers to a group of enzymes that are found in yeast and have a widespread application in the beer and wine industry where they facilitate the process of fermentation.
• Alcohol and Its Effects on Domestic Violence Alcohol was invented as a beverage drink just like the others, such as soda and juice. Of late, alcohol has been abused because people are consuming it excessively.
• 12-Step Mutual Support Groups and Alcoholics Anonymous 12-Step mutual support groups are an effective treatment method for alcohol dependence that should only be used as a secondary or adjunctive treatment.
• How Alcohol Affects Nursing Babies?
• Alcohol Death and Its Effect on Family Life
• How Alcohol Depresses the Central Nervous System
• Alcohol Treatments and Rehabilitation Programs
• How Drinking Alcohol Affects the Brain
• Factors Affect University Students Alcohol Consumption
• How Does Alcohol Affect Our Society and Our Health?
• Alcohol Problems Among Young People in Britain
• Alcohol Around Kids From Childhood
• Alcohol Dependency Among Native Americans
• Alcohol and Its Effects on the Brain
• Alcohol-Related Car Accidents Examples
• Long-Term Effects and Societal Impacts of Alcohol Consumption
• Alcohol Consumption and Metabolic Syndrome
• Alcohol and Its Effects on the Body
• Alcohol Consumption During the European Union
• Australia and Alcohol Prohibition
• Alcohol and the Causes of Student Binge Drinking
• How Alcohol May Affect Human Behaviour
• Drug and Alcohol Use by Student-Athletes
• Alcohol Negative Effects on Vital Parts of Human Body The paper discusses alcohol abuse. Although alcohol seems harmless to many people, it has a significant negative effect on various vital parts of the human body.
• Problem Drinking Treatments: A Comparison of Alcoholics Anonymous and Moderation Management This paper will contrast and compare Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Moderation Management (MM) and the programs that they offer.
• Alcoholics’ Rights for Organ Transplantation This essay seeks to answer the question as to whether it makes medical and ethical sense to accept organ transplantation within a family.
• Applied Ethics: Moral Standards of Alcoholic Parents The work aims to discuss the topic of ethics, the moral values which people are supposed to follow, considering the case of Mary, whose parents are alcoholics.
• Alcohol Addiction Group Manual The present manual offers key information about the formation of a psychotherapeutic group that is focused on addressing the problem of alcohol addiction.
• Alcohol and Drug Foundation’s Public Relations The campaign conducted by Alcohol and Drug Foundation is a vivid example of how the theories and practices of PR can help alter people’s behavior.
• Responsibility and Brand Advertising in the Alcoholic Beverage Market The article indicates that the brand advertisements highlight alcohol consumption as socially acceptable, while media advocacy campaigns focus on the role of manufacturers.
• Qualitative Research of Alcoholism in the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 11% of alcohol consumed in the USA is drunk by adolescents, and 90% of it is consumed in the form of binge drinking.
• Interpersonal Psychotherapy and Alcohol Addiction Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) is a highly adaptable approach to treating an array of disorders, and it has been used to address the needs of various patient groups.
• The Problem of Teenage Alcoholism The problem of drinking alcohol among teens is an epidemic towards which they spend nearly 5.5 billion dollars a year.
• Alcohol Advertisement and Its Impact on Consumption There is a need for restrictions in alcohol advertisements so that the vulnerable youth can be salvaged from underage drinking that risk interfering with their health and career life.
• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and Alcohol Consumption The paper states that fetal alcohol spectrum disorders have severe implications for the well-being and health of individuals in all stages of their lives.
• Effects of Parent-Based Teaching of Alcohol Use The approach significantly impacts the struggle to prevent alcohol abuse but requires being informed on the appropriate mechanisms to employ.
• Alcohol in the Drugs and Behavior Context It is no secret that alcohol and human health are incompatible things. The most significant influence of alcohol falls on the cerebral cortex.
• Drugs and Behavior: History of Alcohol in America The ordinary colonial American drank roughly twice as much alcohol in 1770 as it does today—about three and a half gallons annually.
• ”US Wooed Alcohol Industry…” Rabin’s Article The article discusses the issue of conducting scientific research aimed at justifying moderate drinking and its benefits for health.
• Alcohol: The Legal Drinking Age There is no significant harm in making the legal drinking age 18. The punishment that those under 21 individuals face when caught taking alcohol affects their daily lives.
• Socialization and Causes of Alcohol Consumption The process of socialization is indispensable for integrating into society, realizing and understanding self-identity, and finding one’s place in modernity.
• Alcoholism: Medical & Philosophical Dimensions The news article considered in the paper is devoted to the changes on the way to which modern medicine is ethical in its aspirations.
• Parental Alcohol Abuse as a Family Issue Parental alcohol abuse is a serious problem in the community that impacts not only one individual but spreads to different social units.
• Alcohol Use Amongst Hispanic College Apprentices The results showed that less assimilated Hispanic percent of boys in the buffer zone could be at greater risk of alcohol addiction than Hispanic masculine apprentices.
• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and Care Planning Tyler has had Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder since he was born while his mum was an alcoholic addict while pregnant.
• Statistical Study of Alcoholism Among Students This research paper investigates the relationship between workday alcohol consumption and several characteristics of students’ social, economic, and academic status.
• Alcohol Addiction and Its Effects on the Body and Specific Organs The more an individual use alcohol to cope with pain and adversity, the more the body adapts to it and becomes dependent on its effects.
• Teen Alcohol Consumption Reduction Plan in Long Island Alcohol consumption in adolescence is associated with a high risk of developing suicidal tendencies, unwanted pregnancy, and drug use.
• The Influence of Drugs and Alcohol on Date Rape While drugs can affect mental health and make the victim forget everything, the perpetrators indulge in alcohol abuse to escape the blame and deny non-consensual sex.
• The Alcoholics Anonymous Group Meeting Open and closed psychological support groups have at all times been an essential mechanism of maintaining a mentally healthy society.
• The 12-Step Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting’s Purpose and Stories Meetings consist of the opportunity to be heard without condemnation, and to learn from the experience of people who abstain from drinking alcohol for a while.
• COVID-19 Epidemic and Alcohol and Drug Addiction The sudden life changes during the COVID-19 epidemic make it difficult for people who suffer from alcohol and drug dependence to fight their addictions.
• Adolescent Addiction and Behavioral-Based Alcoholism Addiction to substances can be difficult to comprehend because, despite the progressively unfavorable consequences, addicted people take drugs and alcohol obsessively.
• Pandemic’s Impact on Mental Health & Substance and Alcohol Abuse While substance use disorder can impose mental health challenges on those who consume drugs, COVID-19 affects the psychology of all humankind.
• Planned Change Process in Alcohol Addiction A social worker at a high school in a midwestern state should work with four teenagers who were suspended for two weeks for drinking alcoholic beverages at school.
• Alcohol Abuse and Self-Management Program The main self-management program for a high school student with alcohol addiction is to set long-term and intermediate goals, and the development of a reward system.
• Meaning of Alcoholics Anonymous The paper discusses Alcoholics Anonymous. It can be referred to as a fellowship of individuals who have decided to solve their drinking problem.
• Impaired Control, Impulsivity, and Alcohol Self-Administration Impaired control is a significant factor in the association between impulsiveness and alcohol consumption in both non-dependent and dependent drinkers.
• Alcohol Abuse: Causes and Solutions Alcohol abuse remains one of the key healthcare concerns around the globe, not least because addicts do not purely injure their own health.
• Health Professionals’ Perceptions of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Infants with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) symptoms tend to have psychological or physiological deviations.
• Evaluation Using GAS: Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome Quitting alcoholism is not easy, but it can happen with a well-designed strategy and commitment from both the patient and the interventionist.
• Interaction of the Pharmaceuticals with Alcohol Intake It is important to establish the key value of healthy living based on the interaction with the pharmaceuticals and alcohol intake to avoid developing a dependency on the elements
• The Negative Effects of Drinking Alcohol While Pregnant The paper outlines the domains of child development and the negative effects of alcohol on the fetus, discusses the physical and mental impact of fetal alcohol on an individual.
• Alcohol Consumption and the Effects
• Drinking Motives and Alcohol Consumption
• How Does Alcohol Consumption Affect Social Attention
• Drug and Alcohol Use Among Adolescents
• Drinking Culture and Alcohol Consumption
• Alcohol Dependency and Its Effects on the Community
• Alcohol Advertisements and College Student Binge Drinking
• Alcohol and Native American Experience
• Alcohol Consumption and Maturity
• College Students and Alcohol Abuse
• Alcohol and the Central Nervous System
• How Alcohol Abuse Affects Aging People
• Alcohol Availability and Violence
• Alcohol Beverage Advertising Should Be Restricted
• How Alcohol Abuse Has Become Part of the Culture in Many Societies
• How Alcohol Causes Mental and Moral Changes
• Alcohol Consumption and Risky Sexual Behaviors
• Alcohol and the Destruction of Families
• Drugs and Alcohol Mask the Pain
• Alcohol Consumption During Pregnancy and Low Birth Weight
• Alcoholics Anonymous Organization’s Role and Functions Alcoholics Anonymous unites millions of people. These individuals are alcohol addicts, and they cannot remove this substance from their lives.
• Alcohol Oxidation to Aldehydes and Ketones Alcohol oxidation is vital during the synthesis of organic compounds, only bleach can directly oxidize some alcohols to carboxylic acids, ketones, or aldehydes.
• Drug and Alcohol Addiction Treatment Program Successful addiction treatment is comprised of three aspects, constructing the addiction treatment: body, mind, and soul.
• Alcohol Addiction in a 59-Year-Old Man: Case Study The case study concerns Juan, a 59-year-old commercial pilot who has come to visit a clinician at the urging of his son.
• Alcohol Use Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder: The Case Study Thomas demonstrates at least four symptoms of alcohol use disorder and probably has borderline personality disorder, which prevents him from building long-term relationships.
• Reflections on Alcoholic Anonymous Meeting Alcoholics Anonymous is a nonprofessional and apolitical community that gathers members having problems with alcohol consumption worldwide and supplies them with mutual aid.
• Education Level and HIV Transmission Among Alcoholics in California This research highlights the objective elements and statistical information regarding the relationship between education level and HIV transmission among alcoholics in California.
• Alcohol and Other Drug Use Among the Aboriginal and Torres Islander People The paper evaluates the patterns of alcohol and other drug usage among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and drug-related harms.
• The Effect of Prohibition Alcohol and Drug Use Although Prohibition reduced consumption in the initial period, it does not imply that it realized success; neither did it make the community better.
• Drugs and Alcohol Influence on Drivers Excessive amounts of alcohol and drugs deprive the driver of conscious control over the vehicle, leading to catastrophic consequences.
• Researching of Pregnancy and Alcohol Abuse In order to address the issue of alcohol abuse during pregnancy, the interprofessional team should consider the current trends and recommendations on maternal alcohol consumption
• Alcohol Dependence as a Physical Dependence The paper aims at displaying an aspect of physical alcohol dependence, where alcohol dependence is shown in hardship-related issues in life.
• Substance and Alcohol Misuse among Adolescents Substance and alcohol misuse among adolescents is a considerable bother for the US healthcare system since adolescence is commonly known as a time for experimentation.
• Substance Abuse: Alcohol and Drugs in the Movie “Ray” The movie “Ray” by Taylor Hackford. In “Ray,” the issue of substance abuse helps understand the problems that a person faces when dealing with addiction.
• Alcoholism in Older Adults in America Based on the social, economic, and health problems of alcoholism, it is pertinent to adopt effective ways of minimizing its incidence in society.
• The American Alcohol Problem Studies have shown that, alcohol abuse leads to health complications whereby; the abusers develop digestive, psychological, mental and physical problems.
• Alcoholism: Analysis of Drinking-Related Disorders Drinking-related disorders refer to temperament peculiarities as well as social characteristics and require some proficient nursing elaboration.
• Alcohol Addiction: Assessing and Diagnosing the Client This paper considers the case of a 38-year-old welder, who has an alcohol addiction problem: the problem is assessed, diagnosed, and ways in which he can be helped are identified.
• The Problem of Alcohol Addiction in Russia Russia now acknowledges alcohol addiction as a problem. The health impact of alcohol in Russia is most notable in its contribution to mortality through cardiovascular diseases.
• Impact of Alcohol Abuse on Breast Cancer Risk in Women This paper will examine the effects of alcohol abuse on the development of breast cancer in women to uncover its devastating consequences.
• Defining The Harm of Alcoholism Disease The paper aims to provide a report on the disease of alcoholism based on Čuček Trifkovič’s paper, followed by a comparison with three other studies.
• Alcohol Consumption: Negative Impacts This essay cross-examines the outcomes of alcohol consumption. The paper achieves its objective through carrying out research with specific methodology.
• Alcohol Abuse: External and Internal Perspectives This paper will examine the social costs of alcohol abuse problems, in particular, the external rise of violence and the private stigma surrounding addiction.
• Alcohol Abuse as It Pertains to High Risk Families The main objections of the promotion and prevention program are to ensure reduced substance abuse among young people to protect their health.
• Biopsychologic Model of Alcohol Consumption This work is devoted to alcohol dependence: the possible causes of occurrence, health risks, as well as the most effective methods of treatment are considered.
• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) are the spectrum of conditions caused by parental alcohol use during pregnancy that affects the world population’s health
• The Effects of Alcohol on Human Body and Mental State “Drinking: A Love Story” is the story about the relationship between a human and alcohol, the transformation of a person as an addict, and their way to sobriety.
• Dealing With Alcohol Abuse in Adolescents This research evaluates how the public can be incorporated in developing effective interventions aimed at dealing with alcohol abuse and binge drinking among youth.
• Alcohol Dependence in Modern Women Alcohol dependence has become a serious problem in modern women. It is explained by changing social roles, numerous responsibilities, and dissatisfaction with life.
• Exposure to Low Levels of Alcohol During Pregnancy There are no solid reasons for the mother to drink alcohol during pregnancy, and, as the safe dose is hard to establish.
• Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) Among Pregnant Women Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a severe disease that has dangerous affects on the fetus and on a born child. The abnormal features of this syndrome accompany a man throughout the life span.
• Alcohol Dehydrogenase Protein: Histrical Background and Analysis The alcohol dehydrogenase acts as an alcohol breaker to enable proper digestion of alcohol by the body organs. There is a theory of evolution on this type of protein.
• Paternal Exposure: Alcohol and Offspring Development The experiments related to the influence of fathers’ alcoholism on the development of their children allowed to conclude on the presence of several developmental disorders.
• Alcohol Addiction: Alcoholics Anonymous Program This article focuses on a twelve-step program that allows people with alcohol dependence to return to their normal lives.
• Hispanic Community: Alcohol & Substance Abuse Among the Female Gender Population This study will focus on alcohol and substance abuse among the female gender population proportion (12-20 years and 25-45 years) in the Hispanic community in California.
• Overcoming Chronic Alcoholism by Patients This work describes the problem of alcoholism, its stages and main symptoms, problems of diagnosis, psychological and physical treatment.
• Article Critique about Alcohol & Society The research efforts of recent years aimed to shed light on the interconnection between alcohol outcomes and socioeconomic factors.
• Alcohol and Depression Article by Churchill and Farrell The selected article for this discussion is “Alcohol and Depression: Evidence From the 2014 Health Survey for England” by Sefa Awaworyi Churchill and Lisa Farrell.
• Drug and Alcohol Abuse in Organizations The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of drugs and alcohol on the behavior of the employees and the relationships between business owners and their subordinates.
• Support Services and the Case Review: Drug and Alcohol Addiction The article presents a plan to help a 39-year-old patient living in Palm Beach treat his alcohol and drug addiction.
• Banning Alcohol From Mainstream Consumption
• Alcohol-Related Crimes, How Do We Tackle It
• Alcohol Disadvantages Examples
• Alcohol Use for Disease Control and Prevention
• Alcohol and Its Effects on Social Behavior
• Alcohol Benefits and Demerits
• Alcohol Consumption Among First Time Mothers
• Illegal Alcohol Sale and Consumption
• Alcohol and Its Effect on Society
• Alcohol: The World’s Favorite Drug
• Alcohol Abuse Among College Students at University of South Carolina
• How Alcohol Affects the Brain’s Size
• Alcohol Treatment Save Your Life
• Alcohol and Its Effects on Psychological and Physical Levels
• How Alcohol Affects the Internal Organs
• Alcohol Consumption and the Risk of Dementia
• Alcohol and Its Physiological Effects
• Alcohol and Teenagers Alcoholic Beverage
• Why Should Not Reduce Alcohol Not A Concern For Authorities?
• Alcohol Consumption Among College Students
• College Experience and Alcohol Consumption Alcohol use is related to a high number of health problems in the United States. Current statistics show that more than 80% of college students drank on one or more occasions.
• The Money Factor in Drug and Alcohol Treatment A vast number of individuals fail to take up drug treatment because they are unable to raise the money that is required to enroll in such a program.
• Formation of the Alcoholics Anonymous Association Alcoholics Anonymous is an association of different people recuperating from alcoholism who come together to contribute their experiences about alcoholism and its effects.
• Global Trends Affecting a Local Drug and Alcohol Rehab Centers Drug abuse is one of the greatest problems affecting the world today. Rehabilitation centers have been the best institutions in transforming the lives of drug addicts.
• Comparing a Behavioral and Chemical Addiction on the Example of Alcohol and Pornography This research examines two alcoholic treatments therapies of both inpatient and out patient addicts with an intention to assess the abuse consequences and monitor their effectiveness.
• Alcohol Abuse Among Students: Reforming College Drinking A large number of works are devoted to the problem of alcohol abuse among students. One of them is Drinking in College: Rethinking a Social Problem by George Dowdall.
• Alcohol Addiction and Its Adverse Effects on the Victim and Family Alcoholism is known to have numerous adverse effects. Alcoholics have wives, husbands, children and other close relatives who are mindful of their welfare.
• Personal Issues: Marriage, Obesity, and Alcohol Abuse The actions of every person have a particular impact on society and its development, and this impact is sometimes underestimated.
• Anti-Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco Education Programs Many teachers understand that drugs and alcohol use among students is the major reason why many students do not accomplish their educational goals.
• Human Brain. Alcohol Effects on Frontal Lobe Impairment In this paper, various ways of influence of alcohol abuse on frontal lobe impairments are considered with special emphasis on direct frontal lobe impairments.
• Alcoholism and Its Effects: Beyond the Influence In the book “Beyond the Influence”, Ketcham et al. present their proof that the disease of alcoholism is a physiological disease rather than a psychological disorder.
• Alcohol Cessation in Pregnancy The problem of alcohol use during pregnancy attracts the attention of different researchers. The paper offers evidence-based concepts for promoting alcohol cessation.
• The Café Bar’s Employee Relations: Illegal Substance and Alcohol Use The Café Bar is committed to offering and preserving a secure and prolific work atmosphere, liberated from the unfavorable consequences of drugs and alcohol.
• Personal Relationship With Alcohol Abuse Given that alcohol abuse affects myriad families, ruining people’s health and harming social life, it is still a sensitive and critical issue to consider.
• Genetic Predisposition to Alcohol Dependence and Alcohol-Related Diseases The subject of genetics in alcohol dependence deserves additional research in order to provide accurate results.
• Temperament of Children in Alcoholic Families There are many factors that destabilize family relationships, and one of the most devastating problems is the alcohol addiction of one or both parents.
• Alcohol Consumption and Sale Laws in the US Alcohol consumption and sale in the United States are regulated by several laws, each of which may vary depending on the state.
• Alcohol and Its Major Behavioral Effects Alcohol is most widely known for its effects on behavior, for which reason it is currently used as a legal recreational drug.
• Alcohol Abuse: the Economist Approach To an economist, the problem of alcohol abuse is viewed as an externality in both consumption and production. The value to consumers is greater than the value to society.
• The Alcohol Abuse Treatment Among the Elderly This paper delves into the issue of alcohol abuse among the elderly, its potential implications, the origin of the problem, and methods to resolve the issue.
• Alcohol Abuse’ Treatment Among the Elderly This research focuses on finding the best treatment for the problem of alcohol abuse among the elderly as it may pose serious health problems.
• Drug and Alcohol Abuse Treatment Effectiveness The production and consumption of drugs is a core challenge in the modern world. It is the reason why there is an increased need for treatment of people affected by drug addiction.
• The Treatment of Alcohol Abuse of the Elderly This paper delves into the issue of alcohol abuse among the elderly, its potential implications, and examines what the current methods utilize to resolve the issue.
• The Treatment of Alcohol Abuse among the Elderly Alcohol abuse among the elderly is an issue that has raised concern among medical practitioners and society in general.
• “Adolescent Alcoholism and Drug Addiction” by Choate The article “Adolescent alcoholism and drug addiction: The experience of parents” revolves around the issue of drug addiction among teenagers and its effects on their families.
• Alcohol Marketing Failures and Successes On the surface, alcohol might seem to be the easiest product to market since its audience develops an acquired taste, and customers’ purchasing ability is restricted mostly by age.
• Alcohol Consumption in Children and Public Health Alcohol has long been a big concern for public health, especially its use by children. It negatively influences many aspects of life: health, education, and social relationships.
• Twelve-Step Programs: Alcoholics Anonymous This paper provides an overview of the most effective Twelve-Step Programs in the USA and a more detailed description of an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.
• Teratogenic Effects of Alcohol and Smoking The teratogen is an umbrella term for substances that can have adverse effects on an embryo. In the situation, a girl continues drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes despite being pregnant.
• Alcohol Intervention in the Primary Care Setting The paper will discuss and analyze scholarly research on the topic of alcohol intervention to analyze patient outcomes in the primary care setting.
• Miami-Dade Community Needs: Alcohol and Drug Addiction Miami-Dade is one of the counties in the state of Florida. The health needs of the people living in this county are supported using different initiatives and programs.
• Alcohol Culture World History Alcohol consumption is a rather widespread phenomenon, as the culture of liquor drinking exists in nearly every state of the world.
• Problem of the Alcohol Addiction in Modern Families The increasing cases of alcoholism, also known as addiction, have led to a rising concern and a research on its challenges and remedies.
• Manitoba Mothers and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Singal et al. focuse on a rather important problem of maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy resulted in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder in children.
• The Price Role in Alcohol and Cigarettes Consumption This essay is a presentation concerning the facts about price elasticity of demand and the key issues that relate to it. It determine, whether binge drinking is common among college students.
• Substance Abusers Alcoholics – Psychology Alcoholics suffer from a distinct physical yearning to take alcohol past their capability to manage it, irrespective of every law of common sense.
• Sociology: Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Problem Drug prevention program is the process that devotes its efforts towards limiting the use of psychoactive substances and the development of associated problems.
• Alcohol Misuse in Teenagers: New Means to Address the Issue Despite the efforts of healthcare specialists, over the past few years, the rates of alcohol consumption in youth have grown impressively.
• Which Drug Is More Effective in the Treatment of Alcohol Withdrawal?
• How Alcohol Affects the Human Body?
• How Does Alcohol Makes You Drunk?
• Should Alcohol and Tobacco Advertisement Be Banned?
• Should the Alcohol Drinking Age Be Decreased?
• Should the Government Attempt to Reduce Current Levels of Alcohol Consumption?
• What Are the Positive and Negative Effects of Alcohol?
• What Effect Does Alcohol Have on a Person’s Health and Life Expectancy?
• Why Shouldn’t Teenagers Drink Alcohol?
• How Does Alcohol Affect the Brain?
• How Does Drugs and Alcohol Affect Teenage Brain Development?
• Why Alcohol Should Not Be Legal?
• How Much Alcohol Is Ok per Day?
• What Happens When You Drink Alcohol Every Day?
• What Is the Healthiest Alcohol?
• What Alcohol Is Considered Heavy Drinking?
• How Long Does Alcohol Stay In Your System?
• What Are the Benefits of Drinking Alcohol?
• What Is the Least Harmful Alcohol to Drink?
• Which Alcohol Is Lowest in Sugar?
• Which Alcohol Is Healthier: Vodka or Whiskey?
• How Much Alcohol Do Alcoholics Drink?
• Does Alcohol Change Your Body Shape?
• Does Alcohol Raise Blood Pressure?
• Does Alcohol Help You Sleep?
• What Are the Steps in Alcohol Production?
• How Is Alcohol Made Industrially?
• Which Material Is Used for Production of Alcohol?
• How Alcohol Is Produced by Fermentation?
• Which Enzymes Are Necessary for Alcohol Production?

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StudyCorgi . "248 Alcohol Essay Topics & Research Titles for Students." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/alcohol-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2021. "248 Alcohol Essay Topics & Research Titles for Students." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/alcohol-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Alcohol were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on January 21, 2024 .

Psychology Discussion

Essay on alcoholism.

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After reading this essay you will learn about Alcoholism:- 1. Meaning of Alcoholism 2. Classification of Alcoholism 3. Consequence 4. Causes 5. Current Methods to Treatment Alcoholism 6. Psychosocial Measures.

• Psychosocial Measures of Alcoholism

Essay # 1. Meaning of Alcoholism:

The problem of alcoholism has posed a serious threat to modern civilization for the very fact that around the world and particularly in the west very swiftly teenagers are turning alcoholics. It is stated that out of every 20 persons in the U.S.A., at least one is an alcoholic.

In India, a study sponsored by the Dep’t of Social Welfare, Govt., of India, in 6 states, Bombay, Delhi, Hyderabad, Madras, Varanasi and Jaipur on a sample of 35,000 showed that the most commonly abused drugs were alcohol, tobacco and pain killers.

In the revised edition of DSM III-R there is no specific diagnostic category called “Alcoholism”. Alcoholism is classified under the general term of “Psychoactive substance use disorder” and the specific syndrome that relate to alcoholism.

Alcohol is the major Psychotic drug used worldwide. Only in the U.S. there are estimated more than 13 million people who are diagnosed as alcoholics. DSM III-R reports that according to the community study approximately 13 per cent of the adults had alcohol abuse or dependence at some point of their life.

Following heart disease and cancer alcoholism is the third largest health problem in the U.S. today. As estimated by DSM III-R about 35 per cent of the American adults abstain, 55 per cent drink less than three alcoholic drinks a week and only 11 per cent drink an average of one ounce or more alcohol a day.

Drinking pattern also vary with age and sex. It is thus obvious that a small percentage of the population consume 20% of the total and 30% of the drinkers consume 80 per cent and 10 per cent of the drinkers consume 50 per cent.

Alcoholism is linked with many social evils including automobile and train accidents, murder, rape, physical assault, molestation, industrial accidents and also homicide and suicide. It disrupts social and familial life.

Cancer and heart diseases occur due to heavy drinking. It is also responsible for lowered efficiency and absenteeism among industrial workers. It is considered as the third major cause of death in U.S.A. The average life span of an alcoholic is 12 years less than of a normal person.

The W.H.O. (1969) has defined alcoholics as excessive drinkers whose dependence on alcohol has attained such a degree that they show noticeable mental disturbance or an interference with their mental and bodily health, their interpersonal relations and their smooth social and economic functioning, or who show the prodromal (beginning) signs of such developments.

Alcohol is a depressant drug which affects the central nervous system immediately. It no doubt produces some stimulation and reduces tension and brings relaxation. But when larger amounts are consumed, sensory motor coordination, balance, vision, speech, thought processes and perceptions are affected.  

Essay # 2. Classification of Alcoholism:

I. the alpha alcoholics:.

It is the beginning stage. The alpha alcoholic depends upon alcohol to reduce or relieve emotional tension or physical pain. It does not lose control after the use of the drug. But when he finds that use of alcohol is more important than communicating with others, his interpersonal relationship deteriorates.

ii. The Beta Alcoholics:

In addition to interpersonal difficulties physical problems arise by the excessive use of alcohol like cirrhosis of liver and ulcers, heart troubles. But in this type there is no physical or psychological dependence.

iii. The Gamma Alcoholics:

The gamma drinkers lose control of their drinking and exhibit significant signs of physical, psychological and social deterioration. The physiological dependence in the gamma drinkers is such that when they stop drinking physiological withdrawal symptoms are found.

iv. The Delta Alcoholics:

The delta alcoholic is the most severe type among the four. The drinkers drink right from the morning continuously without any break and cannot abstain from drinking for any period of time. He neglects his food and becomes weak. He is never found to be sober. When the drinking is cleared, it leads to severe physiological withdrawal symptoms.

Essay # 3. Consequences of Alcoholism:

A Japanese proverb says “First the man takes the drink, then the drink takes the man.” The physiological, social, psychological familial and occupational disturbances arise due to the adverse consequences of alcoholism.

Physiological damages include damage of the liver, endocrine glands, heart failure and hypertension etc. The physical effects are so adverse that according to Talbolt (1974) withdrawal from alcohol may lead to death in certain cases. It is also psychologically unpleasant. Hallucinations occur.

There is physical pain. Vision and speech are affected. The nervous system may not automatically continue functioning, breathing may stop and convulsions may occur. When this stage is somehow passed, the person gets back his normal life to some extent and many of the symptoms may disappear. But alcoholic toxicity is still present and needs medical care.

Delirium tremens are the most important psychological symptoms associated with withdrawal of alcohol. These tremens occur in people who are over 30 years age and drinking consistently at-least for 4 years. It is caused by a suaden drop in the intake of alcohol. The symptoms of delirium tremens are restlessness, sleeplessness, night mares, hallucinations, and delusions of terrifying nature.

After the delirium Korsakeff’s psychoses may also occur; with the symptoms of amnesia, disorientation in time and place, distortion of memory or pseudo memory. Due to pseudo memory, the person talks about things that never happened to him and this occurs in women alcoholics more frequently.

Alcohol being a central nervous system depressant like the other anaesthetics, when 0.05 per cent alcohol is found in the blood, thought, judgment and restraints are loosened and sometimes disrupted. Voluntary motor actions by and large become visibly clumsy at a concentration of 0.10 per cent.

When the level of alcohol in blood reaches 0.20 per cent, the function of the entire motor area of the brain is significantly depressed and the parts of the brain controlling emotional behaviour is likely to be affected. At 30 per cent a person is usually confused and may become stuporaous.

At 40 to 50 per cent the alcoholic is in coma and at more higher levels, centres of the brain controlling breaching and rate of heart beat are affected leading to possibility of death. Alcohol also decreases REM sleep and causes insomnia.

Alcoholic paramecia also may occur in some who are predisposed to faulty adjustment and suspicion. Abuse of alcohol may also lead to all sorts of maladaptive characters like jealousy, hatred, fault finding and the adjustive capacity of the person becomes weak day by day.

Essay # 4. Causes of Alcoholism:

It is said that alcohol tends to induce a pleasant feeling tone, brings relaxation, reduces tension and provides physical and mental stimulation to work. Pointing out the physiological effects of wine, a Roman poet wrote, “It discloses secrets, ratifies and confirms our hopes, thrusts the coward forth the battle, ceases the anxious mind from its burden and instructs in arts.”

However, the alcoholic has strong craving for alcohol and this makes him unfit for any job in the sense that his attention is centred around alcohol only.

Why a person becomes alcoholic while others not?

It has several causes.

i. Biological Factors :

Some believe that alcoholism or the tendency for alcohol may be inherited. Findings of the studies by Erickson (1968), Rodgers (1966) and Schlesinger (1966) show certain evidences of the presence of certain genetic components in the occurrence of alcoholism.

Winokur (1970) found that alcoholism does tend to run in families. In a study of 259 hospitalized alcoholics he found that more than 40 per cent had a parent who was an alcoholic. Goodwin (1973, 1974) on the basis of their findings viewed that “it was being born to an alcoholic biologic parent rather than being raised by one that increases the risk of the son becoming an alcoholic.”

It is said that children of alcoholics become alcoholics about 4 times more often than children of non-alcoholics even when they are not brought up by their own parents. In a 30 year longitudinal Swedish study of adopted male children who subsequently become alcoholics, it was found that about 25 per cent had biological fathers who were also alcoholics.

Another Swedish study revealed that monozygotic twins had about twice the coincidence rate of alcoholism as dizygotic twins of the same sex. Studies also indicate a higher craving for alcoholism among dizygotic twins than among non-twin siblings.

Irwin (1968) reported that more than 50 per cent of the alcoholics had an alcoholic parent. On the other hand, Roe, Burks and Mittleman’s (1945)’s findings doubt the genetic hypotheses. Studies of Rose, Burks have supported the above study.

There are majority of cases where children of alcoholic parents do not become alcoholics. Thus Coleman (1981) says, “whether the familial incidence results from shared genes or a shared alcoholic environment is a matter of some controversy.”

The exact role of genetic factors in the causation of alcoholism is therefore not known. It is viewed that constitutional predisposition to alcoholism can be acquired as well as inherited. However, the genetic factors may play their role in predisposing causes.

ii. Psychological and Personality Factors :

Besides the physiological dependence alcohol also produces a strong psychological dependency as well because of the following factors:

(a) Psychological vulnerability:

It refers to a type of personality which makes one vulnerable or predisposed to alcohol under conditions of stress. Instead of using some other defence to adjust with or overcome the stress, these people turn to alcohol.

Personality studies of alcoholics show that they are emotionally immature, they need a lot of praise, appreciation and attention from others and they are very much hurt and disturbed by failures and frustrations.

They feel very in-secured and inferior and have low frustration tolerance. Winokur (1970), Pralt (1972) and Mcclelland (1972) have stated that many young men take to heavy drinking to prove their masculinity and to achieve feelings of adequacy and competency.

According to the findings of James (1968, 1971), Wood uff (1973), antisocial personality and depression may also have some links with heavy drinking.

In-spite of these findings it is not yet established which specific characters are responsible in the development of alcoholism. Nobody can deny that there are also many persons with identical personality characteristics and yet they have not become alcoholics.

However, the role of personality maladjustment in the causation of alcoholism cannot be denied. Since excessive drinking impairs the total life adjustment of an individual, the question arises as to what needs alcohol fulfils that the individual so much depends upon it?

According to the psychological theories alcohol takes the person away from the burdens, responsibilities, heart aches, sorrows and distresses, worries and anxieties of modern life. Alcohol is a vehicle to escape from conflicts, business worries and inferiority complexes.

It gives courage to the coward, confidence to the timid, pleasure to the unhappy and success to failure that is what those who take alcoholics say. In brief, alcohol permits a flight from the disappointments and frustrations of reality. These explanations nevertheless speak only a part of the story.

(b) Stress, tension reduction and reinforcement:

Innumerable observa­tions of the personal lives of alcoholics and quite a number of investigations point out that an alcoholic is dissatisfied with life and has very less frustration and stress tolerance capacity. They probably take it to be away from reality, a reality without hope and meaning for them.

This view has been particularly put forth by the American Medical Association Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency (1969). According to Schafer, alcoholism is a conditioned response to anxiety. When the person finds that each time he takes alcohol it reduces his anxiety, stress and gives him relaxation, he is further reinforced to take it more and more until he becomes alcoholic.

Other experts on the subject reject this view and opine that alcoholism is only a learned maladaptive response which is reinforced and maintained by tension reduction.

Bandura (1969) stated that delayed consequences are very harmful and destructive for the person; yet people are more influenced and controlled by the immediate effect. The immediate reinforcement encourages them to take to drinking more and more.

(c) Marital crisis and other familial problems:

Marital problems pose many crisis for the individual. It not only hurts him, but brings in self devaluation. Divorce, separation, untimely death of children or spouse add to the extra marital relationship of one of the partners, constant quarrel and conflict between husband and wife, poverty and disease may lead to habitual drinking.

Alcohol problems are also correlated with a history of school difficulty, High School dropouts and persons with records of antisocial activity and delinquency appear to be at particularly high risk for alcoholism. Cirhosis data suggest that persons in certain occupation are more likely to develop alcoholism.

Alcoholism is estimated to be associated with at-least 50 per cent of traffic accidents, 50 per cent homicides, 25 per cent of suicides and large number of deaths in a year from alcoholic related diseases.

Persons with a harsh superego turn to alcohol as a means of reducing their unconscious stress. Some alcoholics are fixated at the oral stage of development and relieve frustration by taking substances in mouth. The alcoholic personality is described as shy, isolated, impatient, irritable, anxious, hypersensitive and sexually repressed.

iii. Sociocultural Factors:

The role of sociocultural factors in alcoholism and alcohol abuse has been emphasised by many investigators, particularly in certain societies and cultures, drinking has been considered as a social act. This sociocultural trend encourages many to drink in clubs, parties and in many other social get together.

According to Pliner and Capped (1974) liquor has come to play an almost ritualistic role in prompting gaiety and pleasant social interaction. Different cultures pose different degree of stress for the person. Horton (1943) noted that greater the insecurity level and stress in a culture, greater is the need for taking alcohol to the level of becoming an alcoholic.

Bales (1946) in a quite useful study pointed out 3 cultural factors that play a part in determining the incidence of alcoholism in a given society:

(a) The degree of stress and inner tension produced by that culture.

(b) The attitude towards drinking fostered by that culture.

(c) The degree to which the culture provides the substitute means of satisfaction and other ways of copying with tension and anxiety. To add to this, the effects of rapid social change and social disintegration in a particular culture, with which people are not able to cope, lead to further stress and anxiety.

Eskimos for instance, in many places of rural Alaska, (Time, 1974) are taking to heavy drinking mainly due to the rapid social change in their traditional values and way of life.

In comparison to other countries of the world, alcoholism is said to be a major problem in the United States and Soviet Union. An overall analysis of the various explanations of alcoholism reveals that it is not caused by a single factor. It is an outcome of multiple variables influencing simultaneously. Many more factors of alcoholism are still unknown and future research can only highlight these factors.

Alcoholism is a highly complex disorder involving multifarious causes. Thus, the appropriate approach to the treatment of alcoholism seems to be multidisciplinary. Alcoholism requires flexibility and individualisation of treatment procedures. Hospitalisation and institutionalisation of alcoholics are being treated in community clinics.

When the impairment because of alcoholism becomes severe the patient needs constant care. The risk is 35 per cent of alcoholic pregnant woman having a defective child. Excessive consumption of alcohol also causes her more imbalances leading to the risk of abnormalities.

Treatment can be most successful in patients who voluntarily come to a psychiatrist for treatment because they feel that they need help to give up alcoholism. This conscious feeling that alcohol is undesirable for them is to be aroused by someone since this realisation has a tremendous impact.

Physical punishment is an old type of treatment which does not work. In many plants, however, alcoholic employees are threatened by employers with immediate discharge from job which leads to permanent cure in some cases. Vigilance during the first week of the month may also reduce alcoholism to some extent.

Essay # 5. Current Methods to Treatment Alcoholism:

I. biological measure:.

Medical measures in detoxification include, elimination of the harmful alcoholic substances from the individuals body, treatment of withdrawal symptoms. A drug called chlordiazepoxide has helped a lot in the treatment of withdrawal symptoms like motor excitement, nausea, vomiting, delirium, tremors and convulsions.

It also alleviates tension and anxiety. After detoxification psychological measures like family counselling, employment facilities including other social readjustments are provided.

ii. Aversion Therapy :

The patient is given to drink at regular intervals mixed with emetic drugs; which have extremely uncomfortable effects. Antabuse may also be administered to prevent the return of drinking immediately. It is presumed that since each such drink makes him ill, he will become sufficiently conditioned to stop taking to alcohol.

By means of electric shock aversive conditioning, technique can be applied with success. But unless his emotional problems are solved he may again take to drinking in-spite of the uncomfortable feeling it provides and he will again continue to drink.

Davidson (1974) has viewed on the basis of extensive comparison of available studies that despite a number of positive results there was insufficient data to assess the long range effectiveness of aversion therapy on alcoholism.

iii. Brain Surgery :

Fritz, Roder and his associates (1974) from Gottingen University in Germany have opined “our research have revealed that dependence on drugs or alcohol assumes that proportions of a natural urge after a certain period and the sexual drive or urge to eat, is controlled by a certain brain centre. Neutralizing this centre which is more than 50 cubic millimetre in volume, will cure the patient for all time.”

However, to use brain surgery for the treatment of alcoholism is a controversial matter in view of its dangerous procedure.

Essay # 6. Psychosocial Measures of Alcoholism:

It involves:

(a) Group therapy,

(b) Socio-therapy,

(c) Alcoholics Anonymous.

i. Group Therapy :

The alcoholic must realise that he has a problem which needs his cooperation for its solution. This very recognition of the problem and its undesirable devastating consequences will have the way to therapy. After this through group discussion in the midst of family members and through family therapy treatment may proceed. Here each family member is given a responsibility for cooperating in treatment.

Behaviour therapy:

Through behaviour therapy the alcoholic is taught other ways and methods to reduce anxiety. By the help of relaxation training, assertiveness training, self controlled skills and new strategies to master the environment, efforts are made to reduce anxiety and tension of the alcoholic.

A number of operant conditioning techniques are also used which condition alcoholics to modify their drinking behaviour or abstain from drinking completely. The reinforces in these techniques used are monitory reward, an opportunity to live in an enriched, in-patient environment and access to pleasurable social interaction.

ii. Socio Therapy:

The therapist helps the patient to work out a solution that will give him the satisfaction he is lacking. His aversive life situations are to be alleviated. The therapist must help the patient to reopen the happy chapter of his family life once more having a congenial and cordial relationship with family members, relations and friends.

He should be helped to develop effective methods of adjustment. He should not be allowed in any way to live in high risk environments.

Thus, the aim of socio-therapy is to deal adequately with the hostility, negative attitude of the family, friends and society towards the alcoholic. Keeping this in mind currently community reinforcement approach has developed the main aim of which is to help the problem drinkers to achieve more satisfactory adjustment in personal, professional and social life.

iii. Alcoholics Anonymous:

It is a practical approach to the treatment of alcoholism which has been quite effective. It is mostly a psychotherapeutic programme in which person to person and group relationships are encouraged, spiritual development is the central point of its approach to treatment.

Discussions on the problem are made. It provides for its members an atmosphere of mutual understanding, acceptance and sympathetic fellow feeling. The alcoholics are encouraged to solve their problems without the feelings of isolation and shame.

The alcoholics anonymous technique lifts the burden of personal responsibility from the alcoholic by helping him to realise that “alcoholism like many other problems is bigger than he.

” Regarding the effectiveness of Alcoholic Anonymous Coleman (1981) states “By mutual help and reassurance through participation in a group composed of others, who have shared similar experiences, many an alcoholic acquires insight into his problems, new sense of purpose, greater ego strength and more effective coping techniques.”

Among patients who really want to be cured and whose drinking has been of recent origin, this approach to alcoholism has met with considerable success. Not only treatment, prevention of alcoholism is particularly important in India, keeping in view the widespread misery, wastage, illness and loss of life it causes.

Social consciousness through propaganda campaigns, posters, audio visual aids and education is aroused among people regarding the adverse effects of alcohol. The rural illiterate masses and the weaker sections of the society who have particularly become victims to alcohol should be given special attention.

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National Research Council (US) and Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Drug Use in the Workplace; Normand J, Lempert RO, O'Brien CP, editors. Under the Influence? Drugs and the American Work Force. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 1994.

Under the Influence? Drugs and the American Work Force.

• Hardcopy Version at National Academies Press

Summary: Conclusions and Recommendations

This report is concerned with the implications of drug use for workplace safety and productivity. It examines the prevalence of alcohol and other drug use by the U.S. work force, the impact of such use on job-related behavior, and the effectiveness of workplace drug intervention programs. This emphasis on workplace productivity rather than social consequences affects the purpose, methods, and evaluation criteria used in this report, just as it often affects researchers investigating these issues.

• The Committee's Charge

The committee was charged with: (1) analyzing the available research knowledge on the prevalence and etiology of drug consumption by the work force; (2) studying the impact of drug behavior on work performance, productivity, safety, and health; and (3) evaluating the effectiveness, costs, and benefits of organizational drug intervention programs at the work site.

• Definition Of Terms

Three key terms in the committee's charge require clarification, because their definitions have a significant bearing on the committee's interpretation of the scope of its work.

Drug : The committee defines the term drug to include any psychotropic substance that, if consumed, will affect a person's psychological status or physiological state or behavior. We consider only substances whose use is problematic enough to represent a meaningful threat to the welfare of individual users or others and whose prevalence is high enough among the work force to have the potential to affect business productivity. The report focuses its attention on general drug class categories, includes alcohol within its scope, and briefly addresses issues surrounding tobacco.

Use, Abuse, and Dependence : Drug taking can be classified into one of three categories: (1) use, (2) abuse, and (3) dependence. Use is defined as the limited, controlled consumption of a drug (in terms of frequency and quantity) without significant toxic, adverse physical, or psychological consequences to the user (Glantz, 1992). Regular use of prescribed medications, legal drugs such as nicotine, caffeine, and alcohol, and certain illegal drugs can lead to physiological dependence. This simply means that the abrupt cessation of drug taking produces a set of symptoms called a withdrawal syndrome. The presence of physiological dependence does not necessarily imply abuse or dependence in the behavioral sense. Abuse is defined as a level of drug use that typically leads to adverse consequences (physical or psychological). Drug use at this level is not necessarily associated with any particular frequency but is associated with use in quantities sufficient to result in some toxicity to the user, and the patterns of use usually have some characteristics of psychopathological behavior. Dependence in the behavioral sense is defined as a level of drug use that has significant adverse physical and psychological consequences. This level of use is characterized by the consumption of toxic doses of the drug that impair the user's ability to function and is also characterized by a compulsive desire to use a drug repeatedly.

Work Force : Although one might confine the question of alcohol and other drug use by the work force to the use of those substances by employees while at work, the committee believes its charge requires a more encompassing definition. By work force we mean to include any active member of the labor force, including those seeking or available for employment. Work force alcohol and other drug use is the use of those substances by any work force member, whether the use occurs on or off the job, so long as the use has potential workplace effects. Consequently, issues concerning hangover or residual effects of alcohol and other drugs taken when not at work, as well as correlates of individual alcohol and other drug use and work force participation, are all relevant.

• Conclusions And Recommendations

Part I: Scope of Alcohol and Other Drug Use

Chapter 2 etiology of alcohol and other drug use: an overview of potential causes.

• The most vulnerable age and primary risk factors associated with drug use initiation typically precede an individual's entry into the work force. This fact has important implications for work-related prevention interventions designed to prevent the onset of drug use. This means that workplace interventions may have only limited effects on preventing initiation into most categories of drug use.
• Most alcohol and other drug users do not develop patterns of clinically defined abuse or dependence. The progression from use to abuse and dependence varies with drug type as well as with factors that are specific to individuals and their environments. It is not possible, however, to predict with great accuracy which alcohol and other drug users will become abusers or will eventually need treatment.
• If use and abuse have different causes, it follows that they are likely to benefit from different types of interventions, so it is important to further explore the hypothesis that any type of drug use at the work site in fact reflects abuse.
• Among illicit drug users, polydrug use, most often including the use of alcohol and tobacco, is the norm rather than the exception.

Recommendation: In evaluating the impact of alcohol and other drug use on behavior, specific attention should be paid to the actions of drugs in combination.

• Based on the sparse empirical evidence accumulated to date, alcohol and other drug use by the work force appears to be more a function of the personal qualities of individuals than of their work environments. However, most studies of why workers use alcohol and other drugs have serious methodological flaws. Hence, the work environment cannot be ruled out as a contributing or interactive factor in generating use among workers or protecting them from it.

Recommendation: Research is still needed to sort out the relative impact of the work environment and individual traits on workers' alcohol and other drug use. This research should test realistic theories involving such potential critical variables as drug availability, local norms, work stress and attending to such complexities as interaction effects and reverse causation.

Chapter 3 Epidemiological Evidence: The Dimensions of the Problem

Data sources ranging from self-report questionnaires to urinalysis testing to emergency room visits provide important insights about the use of alcohol and other drugs among members of the general population and the work force. Taken together, the data indicate that, since the late 1970s:

The prevalence of illicit drug use among members of the general population and the work force has been decreasing, but continues to affect a sizable proportion of the population, especially young adults.

Illicit drug use may be decreasing among occasional users, but it may be stable or even increasing among hard-core users who are generally not well represented in surveys.

Heavy alcohol use has been relatively stable over the past several years; rates of heavy drinking have been notably high among young adult men, especially those in the military and among workers in such industries as construction, transportation, and wholesale goods.

Cigarette smoking has been declining during the past decade for those 18 and older, but has been relatively stable for youths ages 12 to 17.

Illicit drug use is more common among unemployed than employed persons, and weekly alcohol use is highest among young employed workers.

Illicit drug use is relatively high among male workers in certain industries such as construction and relatively low among professionals.

• Given these long-term trends, we must be cautious in attributing short-term changes in alcohol and other drug use in either society or in the work force to specific national efforts to stem the use of drugs.
• Few epidemiological studies are targeted directly at the work force, leaving researchers to rely on data sources designed for other uses.

Recommendation: More focused epidemiological studies, including longitudinal studies, are needed to assess the magnitude and severity of alcohol and other drug use among the work force. As a first step, the National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse should be modified to provide specific information about job characteristics, job-related behaviors, and alcohol and other drug use at work. Ultimately a national panel survey devoted to this topic should be instituted. In addition, other studies are needed that provide better information about: (1) employment patterns among persons who use alcohol and other drugs; (2) patterns of alcohol and other drug use among workers; (3) patterns of use in heavily using populations to better understand the employment history and work experience of these individuals; and (4) the impact of illicit drug use and heavy alcohol use on work activity.

Although the workplace offers a unique opportunity to obtain leverage on the alcohol and other drug problems of some users, there are many serious alcohol and other drug abusers who are not regularly employed, if they are employed at all. In 1990, approximately 7 percent of workers reported having used an illicit drug and approximately 6 percent reported having drunk heavily in the past month, compared with 14 percent and 6 percent, respectively, for the unemployed.

• Given the relative low base rate of alcohol and other drug abusers in the employed segment of the work force compared with other selected populations, postemployment workplace alcohol and other drug interventions may help a limited number of abusers, but workplace-oriented interventions cannot solve society's problems with alcohol and other drugs.
• Alcohol and tobacco are the drugs most widely abused by members of the U.S. work force. The adverse health consequences of these drugs are well known. In terms of prevalence rates of work force use and perceived effects of use on performance, alcohol is more likely to have adverse consequences.

Recommendation: Any program that addresses drug use by the work force should include alcohol, the drug most associated with perceived detrimental job performance, as a priority.

Rates of self-reported alcohol and other drug use on the job vary according to occupation, age, gender, and ethnicity. Excluding tobacco and caffeine, most surveys find that fewer than 10 percent of workers report having used alcohol or other drugs while on the job during the prior year. Some studies, however, report significantly higher usage rates. Much of the difference in the reported rates appears attributable to differences in the samples surveyed and the questions asked.

Recommendation: It is important to investigate alcohol and other drug use in different well-specified samples and to develop benchmark measures to allow findings that are comparable across studies.

Part II: Effects of Use

Chapter 4 impact of alcohol and other drug use: laboratory studies.

• Laboratory studies of the effects of alcohol and other drugs on behavior have shown inconsistent results. These differences may be due, in part, to differences in the populations tested, the measurements used, and the range of drug doses administered.

Recommendation: Benchmark measures should be included in laboratory studies to permit generalization across studies. Funding agencies should consider holding conferences to establish such benchmarks.

Laboratory studies show small performance-enhancing effects of commonly used doses of cocaine and other stimulants. Commonly used doses of marijuana produce variable decrements in performance. Alcohol and prescribed sedatives produce decreases in performance depending on the dose, time of consumption, and the time-course of circulating concentrations of the drug's active metabolites, relative to the work schedule. All drug effects are influenced by dose and prior experience. The age of individuals and the presence of other drugs may also mediate the influence of particular drugs.

• The use of alcohol and other drugs away from the work site, including prescription drugs and over-the-counter medication, may have detrimental effects during work, especially for those in safety-sensitive positions. Thus, a long-acting drug taken the night before work or alcohol taken at lunch away from the job may have on-the-job effects like those of drugs taken at the work site. In addition, cessation of drug use may produce either withdrawal or hangover effects that affect work site performance. To date there has been little research directed toward any of these issues.

Recommendation: Researchers and funding agencies should devote more attention to the ways in which prescription and over-the-counter medications affect job performance, especially for safety-sensitive positions.

Recommendation: Studies of work site alcohol and other drug use should encompass off-site use that may have on-the-job effects. Hangover and withdrawal effects should also be considered in assessing the workplace implications of alcohol and other drug use.

Chapter 5 Impact of Alcohol and Other Drug Use: Observational/Field Studies

• Field studies have consistently linked alcohol and other drug use to higher rates of absenteeism; they also provide evidence of an association between alcohol (and perhaps other drug) use and increased rates of accidents, particularly in the transportation industry. Less consistent evidence exists linking alcohol and other drug use to other negative work behaviors, although the current research base is insufficient to support firm conclusions. When associations between alcohol and other drug use and counterproductive workplace behavior are found, relationships are most often of moderate or low strength even when they are statistically significant.
• The empirical relationships found between alcohol and other drug use and job performance are complex and need not imply causation. Relationships may exist for some job performance outcomes like absenteeism but not for others. Alcohol and other drug use may be just one among many characteristics of a more deviant lifestyle, and associations between use and degraded job performance may be due not to drug-related impairment but to general deviance or other factors.

Recommendation: To intervene more effectively in improving job performance, we must develop a better research base from which to assess how alcohol and other drug use and other factors act alone and in combination to degrade job performance.

• Widely cited cost estimates of the effects of alcohol and other drug use on U.S. productivity are based on questionable assumptions and weak measures. Moreover, these cost-of-drug-use studies do not provide estimates of potential savings associated with implementing particular public policies toward alcohol and other drugs.

Recommendation: Further research is needed to develop refined, defensible estimates of how much alcohol and other drug use costs specific organizations and society at large. Business decision makers and policy makers should be cautious in making decisions on the basis of the evidence currently available.

Part III: Effectiveness of Workplace Interventions

Chapter 6 detecting and assessing alcohol and other drug use.

• Methods approved by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) for detecting drugs and their metabolites in urine are sensitive and accurate.

Urine collections systems are a critical component of the drug-testing process, but they are the most vulnerable to interference or tampering. Positive results, at concentrations greater than or equal to NIDA-specified thresholds, reliably indicate prior drug use. There is, however, room for further improvement along the lines of the recommendations emanating from the 1989 Consensus Report on Employee Drug Testing and the 1992 On-Site Drug Testing Study. Moreover, more could be learned about laboratory strengths and problems if data already collected in the Department of Defense and NIDA blind quality control and proficiency test programs were properly evaluated.

Recommendation: To obtain accurate test results, all work-related urine tests, including applicant tests, should be conducted using procedural safeguards and quality control standards similar to those put forth by NIDA. All laboratories, including on-site workplace testing facilities, should be required to meet these standards of practice, whether or not they are certified under HHS-NIDA guidelines.

Recommendation: The extensive data on the reliability of laboratory drug-testing results that have been accumulated by the DoD and NIDA blind performance testing programs should be analyzed by independent investigators and the findings of their analyses published in the scientific literature.

• Government standards have improved the quality of laboratory practices; however, the inflexibility and the difficulty of making prompt changes to established government regulations may inhibit the development of new analytical techniques and better experimental-based procedures. Strict regulation of drug-testing procedures and the National Laboratory Certification Programs are nonetheless justified. High-volume, production-oriented drugtesting laboratory operations require the vigilant forensic quality control of routine repetitive procedures, rather than innovative experimental science. Strict regulation need not, however, mean bureaucratic inflexibility that pointlessly increases costs or retards progress, nor should it interfere with research designed to improve current urine testing procedures or efforts to develop reliable tests using specimens other than urine.

Recommendation: Within a regime of strict quality control, allowances should be made for variations in procedures so long as they do not compromise standards and they do reflect professional judgments of laboratory directors and forensic toxicologists about what is required to meet individual program needs. No laboratory should be penalized for any practice that is clearly an improvement on or beyond what is required by the HHS-NIDA guidelines. When such innovations are attempted, data on their performance should be systematically collected and shared with NIDA. NIDA should take the lead in disseminating to all laboratories information about such improvements and should provide advice promptly as problems, research results, and new data become available.

• At present, urine remains the best-understood specimen for evaluation of drug use, and it is the easiest to analyze. Thus, it must for the moment remain the specimen of choice in employee drug-testing programs. However, other specimens have potential advantages over urine in that they involve less intrusive collection procedures or have a longer detection period.

Recommendation: Researchers should be encouraged to evaluate the utility of using specimens other than urine, such as head hair and saliva, for the detection of drugs and their metabolites.

• There has been an unnecessary proliferation of drugs included in the urine test battery. Testing for LSD and sedative drugs, for example, is not always justified.

Recommendation: Additional drugs should not be added to the drug-testing panel without some justification based on epidemiological data for the industry and region. The analytical methods used to identify additional drugs should meet existing NIDA technical criteria.

• Preemployment drug testing may have serious consequences for job applicants. Applicants, unlike most employees, often do not enjoy safeguards commensurate with these consequences. A particular danger of unfairness arises because screening test data are often reported to companies despite the known possibility of false positive classification errors.

Recommendation: No positive drug test result should be reported for a job applicant until a positive screening test has been confirmed by GC/MS technology. If a positive test result is reported by the laboratory, the applicant should be properly informed and should have an opportunity to challenge such results, including access to a medical review officer or other qualified individual to assist in the interpretation of positive results, before the information is given to those who will make the hiring decision.

• Drug-testing results may reveal drugs taken legally for medical treatment that do not seriously affect an employee's job performance. These drugs may, however, be associated with conditions that the employee for good reasons wishes to keep private.

Recommendation: In the absence of a strong detrimental link to job performance, legally prescribed or over-the-counter medications detected by drug testing should not be reported to employers. Furthermore, such results should not be made part of any employment record, except confidential health records with the employee's permission.

• Alcohol and other drug use by work force members cannot be reliably inferred from performance assessments, since performance decrements may have many antecedents. Conversely, performance decrements are often not obvious despite alcohol and other drug use. More direct measures of the likely quality of worker performance hold promise for determining workers' fitness to perform specific jobs at specific times, regardless of the potential cause of impairment. Efforts to identify such measures, however, are still in their infancy.

Recommendation: If an organization's goal is to avoid work decrement (e.g., accidents, injuries, performance level) due to impairment, then research should be conducted on the utility of performance tests prior to starting work as an alternative to alcohol and other drug tests.

• Integrity testing and personality profiles do not provide accurate measures of individual alcohol and other drug use and have not been adequately evaluated as predictors or proxy measures of use. Using these tests to aid in employment decisions involves a significant risk of falsely identifying some individuals as users and missing others who actually use drugs. The accuracy of these tests is affected not only by their validity but also by the characteristics of the population being tested. Urine tests, by contrast, can be quite accurate in detecting recent drug use.

Recommendation: If an organization treats alcohol and other drug use as a hiring criterion, it should rely on urinalysis testing that conforms with NIDA guidelines to detect use rather than on personality profiles or paper-and-pencil tests.

Chapter 7 Impact of Drug-Testing Programs on Productivity

• The empirical evidence pertaining to the efficacy of preemployment drug testing indicates that such programs may be useful to employers in choosing wisely among job applicants. However, regardless of the magnitude of the correlations between drug use and dysfunctional job behavior measures, the practical effectiveness of any drug-testing program depends on other parameters, such as the prevalence of drug use in the population tested. The presence of significant relationships between drug use and workplace performance measures does not necessarily mean that an effective drug-testing program will substantially improve work force performance, and a program that substantially improves performance with some employees or in some job settings may do little to improve performance with other employees or in other job settings.
• Despite beliefs to the contrary, the preventive effects of drug-testing programs have never been adequately demonstrated. Although, there are some suggestive data (e.g., see the military data in Chapter 3 ) that allude to the deterrent effect of employment drug-testing programs, there is as yet no conclusive scientific evidence from properly controlled studies that employment drug-testing programs widely discourage drug use or encourage rehabilitation.

Recommendation: Longitudinal research should be conducted to determine whether drug-testing programs have deterrent effects.

• Many studies of alcohol and other drug use by the work force have been flawed in their designs and implementation. Organizations that conduct their own drug studies can, by encouraging their researchers to publish in professional journals, enhance quality control and contribute to a knowledge base that will enable them to deal more effectively with future alcohol and other drug problems.
• Different objectives have been suggested for work site drug testing and diverse alcohol and other drug intervention programs. These include improving workers' performance, preventing accidents, saving on health costs, and working toward a drug-free society by deterring drug use. The effectiveness of alcohol and other drug intervention programs cannot be adequately evaluated unless the goals of such programs are clear.

Recommendation: Organizations should clearly articulate their objectives prior to initiating alcohol and other drug intervention programs and should regularly evaluate their programs in light of these objectives.

Among job applicants and workers, testing for drugs other than alcohol is already common and generally accepted. Of young men in a 1991 general population survey of high school graduates, 33 percent reported that they had been tested, 61 percent reported that they approved of preemployment testing, and 60 percent reported that they approved of postemployment testing. Approval rates were even higher among those who had been tested.

• Very little is known about what happens to job applicants who are not hired or to employees who are fired as a consequence of a positive drug test.

Recommendation: Research should be conducted on the impact of drug-testing programs with attention to those who remain within the organization as well as to those who are not hired or are dismissed. In particular, more information is needed about the impact of drug-testing programs on the health and productivity of the work force.

Recommendation: In light of the relatively low rates of alcohol and other drug abuse among the work force (see Chapter 3 ), the moderate predictive validity of testing programs (see Chapter 7 ), and the fact that many factors other than drug use may cause performance deficiencies seen in drug users (see Chapter 5 ), drug-testing programs should not be viewed as a panacea for curing workplace performance problems. Nonetheless, drug testing for safety-sensitive positions may still be justified in the interest of public safety.

Chapter 8 Employee Assistance Programs

• Recovery from alcoholism and other drug use disorders is a process that can take months or years of continuing care. The continuing abuse of alcohol or other drugs is a chronic disorder, and the evidence suggests that the ameliorative effects of brief treatments without follow-up are seldom sustained over the long run. Employee assistance programs (EAPs) are well situated to oversee that follow-up, which is essential to a long-term recovery.

Recommendation: Because of high dropout rates in substance abuse treatment programs, EAPs should monitor treatment participation and provide for long-term follow-up.

• EAPs are not generic across work sites. EAPs should and do vary across work sites and over time. Thus, it is misguided to ask whether the generic EAP is an effective program.

Recommendation: EAPs should be evaluated in terms of the amount and quality (including process evaluation) of the services they provide and not just by patient count. Researchers should seek to understand how EAPs contribute to a range of different outcomes in a range of different settings. This requires more high-quality critical case studies of EAPs, perhaps with some common criteria of programmatic effectiveness. Care must be taken to secure adequate control groups, and, rather than attempting to evaluate the overall effectiveness of supposedly static programs, attention should be paid to the effects of particular EAP services and their dynamic nature.

• Given the measurement limitations of drug test results in assessing drug abuse or dependence (see Chapter 6 ), not all individuals testing positive require or are likely to benefit from treatment, counseling, or other administrative actions that might be triggered by a positive drug test result. Blanket rules referring all positive-testing employees to treatment can be costly to employers without providing commensurate benefits to them or their employees. Care is required to determine the appropriate course of action in the event of a positive test.

Recommendation: Persons reviewing test results should be required to demonstrate expertise with respect to toxicology, pharmacology, and occupational medicine. Standards should be set and continuing education and certification should be required. Such individuals should be involved in the interpretation of the results of drug-testing programs, and in the case of positive postemployment tests, should assist other professional staff in interpreting the seriousness of revealed drug use and provide guidance in determining the best course of action for coping with any drug problems (e.g., evaluation referral to proper medical specialist if needed).

Appendix A Methodological Issues

• The most powerful methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of workplace alcohol and other drug intervention programs is the randomized field experiment. The implementation of new work site alcohol and other drug intervention programs or significant changes in existing programs provide propitious occasions for experimental assessment.

Recommendation: To enhance scientific knowledge, organizations instituting new work site alcohol and other drug intervention programs should proceed experimentally if possible. Funding agencies should make field experiments a priority and should consider providing start-up aid to private companies that are willing to institute programs experimentally and subject them to independent evaluation.

• Glantz, M.D. 1992. A developmental psychopathology model of drug abuse vulnerability . Pp. 389-418 in M. Glantz, editor; and R. Pickens, editor. , eds., Vulnerability of Drug Abuse . Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
• Cite this Page National Research Council (US) and Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Drug Use in the Workplace; Normand J, Lempert RO, O'Brien CP, editors. Under the Influence? Drugs and the American Work Force. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 1994. Summary:, Conclusions and Recommendations.
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Home — Essay Samples — Nursing & Health — Addictions — Alcoholism

Alcoholism Essay Examples

When it comes to writing an essay on alcoholism, choosing the right topic is crucial. The chosen topic will determine the direction of the essay and the depth of research required. It is important to select a topic that is not only interesting but also relevant and meaningful.

Alcoholism is a serious issue that affects millions of people worldwide. Writing an essay on this topic provides an opportunity to raise awareness and educate others about the dangers of alcoholism. It can also shed light on the various causes, effects, and treatment options available. By choosing the right topic, one can make a significant impact in addressing this issue.

When choosing a topic for an alcoholism essay, it is important to consider the target audience and the purpose of the essay. It is also crucial to select a topic that is well-researched and has sufficient information available to support the arguments. Additionally, selecting a topic that is relevant and timely can make the essay more engaging and impactful.

Below is a list of recommended alcoholism essay topics, categorized for ease of reference:

Causes of Alcoholism

• The role of genetics in predisposing individuals to alcoholism
• The impact of family and upbringing on the development of alcoholism
• The influence of peer pressure and social environment on alcoholism
• The genetic predisposition to alcoholism
• The correlation between childhood trauma and alcoholism
• The impact of mental health disorders on alcoholism

Effects of Alcoholism

• The physical health effects of long-term alcohol abuse
• The psychological and emotional impact of alcoholism on individuals and families
• The societal and economic consequences of alcoholism
• The mental health effects of alcoholism
• The impact of alcoholism on family dynamics
• The economic impact of alcoholism on society
• The correlation between alcoholism and crime

Treatment and Recovery

• The effectiveness of different treatment options for alcoholism
• The role of support groups and counseling in the recovery process
• The challenges and successes of alcoholism recovery programs

Prevention and Education

• The role of education and awareness in preventing alcoholism
• The impact of alcohol advertising and marketing on alcoholism rates
• The effectiveness of government policies and regulations in addressing alcoholism
• The importance of early intervention in preventing alcoholism
• The correlation between alcoholism and underage drinking

Special Populations

• Alcoholism among adolescents and young adults
• Alcoholism in the elderly population
• Alcoholism in specific cultural or ethnic groups

Alcoholism and Co-Occurring Disorders

• The relationship between alcoholism and mental health disorders
• The connection between alcoholism and substance abuse
• The impact of alcoholism on individuals with chronic health conditions

Social and Cultural Aspects

• The portrayal of alcoholism in the media
• The stigma associated with alcoholism
• The impact of cultural norms on alcoholism
• The role of alcohol in social gatherings and events
• The correlation between alcoholism and gender

By choosing a topic from the above categories, writers can explore different aspects of alcoholism and contribute to the ongoing conversation about this important issue.

Persuasive Speech on Alcoholism

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Not planning to discuss the poetic words of Omar Khayyam when speaking of wine and wisdom, we can say that the problem of alcoholism has always been a menacing part of civilization. It can be approached as the side of culture, yet at the same time, it is a dumb side of human life where aggression, drunk behavior, drunk driving, and grief reflect in many sides of life. When a college student plans to discuss the topic of alcoholism, it becomes an important social issue where a person tries to find the causes like poverty or access to luxury, which seems to plaque both sides of our complex equation.

Of course, the topic of drinking has always been a part of history through decades and generations. It must be noted that even if we approach this problem as the history or anthropology specialists by taking the United States or any other country, we can see that the art of drinking has been dimmed negatively. Is drinking a good practice? It is seen as a form of alcoholism even through the feasts and celebrations. Speaking of our modern times, we can see that this problem is more persistent than ever because we have greater access to alcoholic drinks even among the younger generation. One can take the drinking bans throughout history or research the present times, yet in both cases, we can see that there is no recreational drinking or any apologetics.

We can see many people who have battled drinking in the past. There are such personalities as Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame, Ben Affleck, Michael Phelps, Tim McGraw, and many others. We can also add Naomi Campbell and Jessica Simpson as famous female persons. It should be added that all these celebrities came out to talk that alcoholism is often a problem that is brought beneath the carpet to hide and ignore. Just like drug addiction, this problem should not be silenced because it requires help and guidance. It is also one of those topics that a college student should approach to find a solution and provide educational norms to make a positive change.

• As we think about why do people drink, we can see some argument that it helps to relax
• It leads to a mental breakdown.
• It is an addiction that distorts your physical image.
• It is a mind-altering substance that makes a person lost and tortured.
• It takes away the life of a person and the lives of those who are around.
• It often resorts to violence and anger.

The pains of alcoholism can only be battled with the help of a different culture, social work, and education. As many modern students grew up in alcoholic households or saw their friends grow up in one, we all have some story to tell. It is sufficient to say that the problem of alcoholism must be addressed from helping the addicts to educating young people about the dangers. For example, by choosing this topic an average student can create a social program that would help people in the local community. Likewise, you can write about the economical side of alcoholism since it also helps certain people earn by promoting alcohol in ads and the mass culture.

It will always depend on your initial subject. You can write about the causes of alcoholism and notice that both poor and rich people can become trapped in this unfortunate circumstance. Your college essay can be reflective by telling about your experience or tell about how dangerous it is to drive drunk after a college party. You can take a look at our free samples that relate to alcoholism as you think about some good subjects. The most important is to provide statistics and keep your writing argumentative to make your alcoholism paper reliable!

It can be approached with the help of special educational projects and studying the shelters for alcoholics. At the same time, your college professor may ask you to write about alcoholism in the 1970s when compared to the present times. It is important to see how American society approached alcohol in the past. An important aspect is seeing how the same methods still remain helpful, including education, talks at school, and the family culture. Uniting various techniques that take root in Psychology, Healthcare, and Education, any student can make a positive change in battling alcoholism.

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Drug and Alcohol Abuse Analytical Essay

Introduction, works cited.

For along time now, drug and alcohol abuse in the society has been a problem that affects the youth and the society at large. The youth in the society get engaged in abusing substances that they feel all help them forget their problems. This paper highlights the problems of drug abuse and alcohol drinking among the youth in the society.

Alcohol is a substance that contains some elements that are bring about physical and psychological changes to an individual. Being a depressant, alcohol affects the nervous system altering the emotions and perceptions of individuals. Many teenager abuse alcohol and other drug substances due to curiosity, the need to feel good and to fit in their different groups. Drinking alcohol should not be encouraged because it usually affects the health of the youth.

It puts their health at a risk. Drinking youth are more likely to engage in irresponsible sexual activities that may result in unexpected pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Additionally, teenagers who drink are more likely to get fat while complicating further their health conditions. Moreover, the youth drinking are at a risk of engaging in criminal activities hence being arrested (Cartwright 133).

According to the Australian Psychological Society, a drug can be a substance that brings about physical or psychological changes to an individual (2). Youngsters in the in the community take stuffs to increase enjoyment or decrease the sensational or physical pain. Some of the abused drugs by the youth in the society include marijuana, alcohol, heroine and cocaine.

The dangers of drug abuse are the chronic intoxication of the youth that is detrimental to their societies. Much intake of drugs leads to addiction that is indicated by the desire to take the drugs that cannot be resisted.

The effect of alcohol and other hard drugs are direct on the central nervous system. Alcohol and drug abuse is linked to societal practices like, partying, societal events, entertainment, and spirituality. The Australian Psychological Society argues that the choice of a substance is influenced by the particular needs of the substance user (3).

However, the effects of drug abuse differ from one individual to another. The abuse of drugs becomes a social problem whenever the users fail to meet some social responsibilities at home, work, or school. This is usually the effect when the substances are used more than they are normally taken. Additionally, when the use of substances is addictive, it leads to social problems (Cartwright 135).

Drug and alcohol abuse among the youth in the society should be discouraged and voided at all costs. The youth are affected and the society is affected. The productive young men and women cannot perform their social duties. One way in which the abuse of drugs and alcohol can be avoided in the society is through engaging the youth in various productive activities. This will reduce their idle time while keeping them busy (Cartwright 134).

They will not have enough time for drinking. Additionally, they will have fewer problems to worry about. They should also be educated and warned about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse both to their health and to the society. Since alcohol and substance abuse is related to increased crime in the society, its reduction will lead to reduced crime rates and economic growth.

The Australian Psychological Society. Alcohol, and Other Drugs . Australian Psychological society. Web.

Cartwright, William. Costs of Drug Abuse to the Society. The Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics , 1999. 2, 133-134.

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