Public Health Paper Example: What Is Alcohol Health?

Throughout the beginning of humanity, human beings have been drinking fermented beverages for various purposes. Alcohol is among the majorly consumed beverages across the world. There has been debate regarding the merits and demerits of alcohol consumption have been a major one in majority of the nations. Due to this, many nations have either legalised or illegalised the consumption of alcohol. It is safe to assert that alcohol is both a tonic and a poison. This difference and the implications of its consumption greatly lies on the dose that an individual consumes. Research has found that moderate drinking seems to be good for the heart and circulatory system and has the capacity to protect the body against certain types of diabetes and gallstones. Heavy drinking has been reported to be a major cause of the preventable deaths in most countries including the United States. In the U.S., the alcohol is implicated in about a half of the traffic accidents. The heavy drinking damages the liver and heart, and further raises the chances of developing the breast and some other cancers that later contribute to depression, violence and interfere with relationships.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

The drinking for the effect considerably constitutes to the alcohol health, which leads to the alcohol dependence. The motor for alcohol dependence is usually drinking for the effects. In most occasions, the drinker wants to transform his mood to get rid of tensions, anxiety, or grimness. Majority of people have been reported to consume alcohol to change mood. However, the real drinker to be will always strive tremendously for more extreme change mood. The body is often used to alcohol after a long consumption period. This is termed as the development of tolerance.

Normal Development of Alcohol Abuse

Moderate drinking is not a cause of concern for majority of adults. However, when alcohol consumption gets out of control, an individual may find himself on a dangerous path towards addiction. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, about 12 to 17 years old have use disorders. It is important to recognise that the alcohol abuse does not occur in an overnight, but emerges as a long-term alcohol abuse. The normal development of the alcohol abuse is contributed by several factors which consist of various stages. The first stage of this development consists of the occasional abuse and binge drinking. This stage involves the general experimentation with alcohol. The drinkers at this stage are still inexperienced to the diverse forms of alcohol and likely to test their limits. In most occasions, the experimental drinkers will engage in binge drinking and while they do not drink on a regular basis, they will attempt to consume exceptionally large amounts of the alcohol at a particular time.

The studies have also reported that majority of the binge drinkers will exceed the accepted optimal amount of alcohol and is true particularly for the young people who attend parties where drinking is the major activities. The users may be deceived to think that the binge drinking is safe when done occasionally, but it not the case. The consumption of the large amount of alcohol at time is tremendously dangerous because it can lead to coma and death. The users may also become reliant on the feelings they derive as a result of drinking and consequently find that these particular episodes raise the frequency of consumption.

Stage two of the normal development of alcoholism consists of the increased drinking, whereby the drinkers leave the experimental stage the moment their alcohol consumption becomes rampant. Rather than consuming the alcohol at the parties, the users may find themselves consuming alcohol everywhere and every time. Increased alcohol consumption can stimulate drinking based on several reasons that include excuses to hang out with friends, intention to reduce stress, intention to get out of boredom and finally to counter sadness and loneliness. It is important to recognise that the regular alcohol consumption is tremendously different from the moderate consumption. There is often a huge emotional attachment to heavy and regular drinking. Ideally, a moderate user might pair a glass of wine with a meal. On the other hand, the regular drinker utilizes the alcohol to enjoy in public. A continued drinking renders one more reliant on the alcohol and therefore an individual becomes more and easily susceptible to alcoholism.

The third stage of normal development of alcohol abuse entails problem drinking. The frequent and uncontrolled alcohol abuse ultimately leads to the problem drinking. While it is evident that any form of alcohol abuse or drinking may be accompanied by devastating effects, the problem drinker refers to an individual who begins to encounter the effects of their heavy drinking. Various changes that may be observed in the users life in this stage include relationship issues, reduction in the social activity based on the rise of the erratic behavior, sudden changes and friends, difficulty in conversing with strange people. Alcohol dependence is the fourth stage in the normal alcohol abuse development. This form of dependence means that the user has developed a tremendous tolerance to drinking. In this way, the drinker may find it difficult to control the amount consumed and end up drinking large quantities to get buzzed. In its actuality, increased alcohol consumption poses a greater threat to the life of the drinker. Other than this feature, withdrawal is another major characteristic of the dependence. One feels various characteristics such as the nausea related to the hangover, body tremors, sweating, racing heart and the considerable trouble in sleeping.

The addiction and alcoholism are therefore the last stage in the normal development of the alcohol abuse. People at this stage will no longer want to drink not just for the pleasure purposes but because they feel that their bodies cannot function properly without it. It is important to recognise that individuals with alcohol addiction crave the substance and often inconsolable until they begin to consume the alcohol again. The compulsive behavior have been reported to dominate an individual during the state of addiction and they will therefore drink whenever and wherever they wish.

Causes of Alcohol Problems