Alcohol Abuse Details

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Alcohol Abuse Help. More and more people in developed countries are engaging in excessive, abusive drinking. As a result of the millions of people throughout the world who drink in an irresponsible and abusive manner, it is asserted that those who abuse alcohol need to get professional alcohol abuse help now before they make the transition from alcohol abuse to alcohol dependence.

Getting alcohol abuse help before an individual becomes alcohol dependent is actually a "proactive" form of thinking that focuses on alcohol abuse prevention.

An even more proactive type of thinking regarding problem drinking is this: learn how to drink responsibly and in moderation before your drinking behavior becomes abusive and harmful to your health.

This too, can be called "alcohol abuse prevention" and is probably the most practical and commonsensical way to view drinking in our society.

Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse Statistics. One way to focus on the adverse consequences of alcohol abuse and alcoholism is to review some of the alcoholism and alcohol abuse statistics. This will be discussed in more detail below.

A Definition of Alcohol Abuse

Due to the vast numbers of people in the industrialized nations who exhibit abusive drinking behavior, it is important to define alcohol abuse.

Keep in mind that all instances of alcoholism include alcohol abuse but that not all instances of alcohol abuse include alcoholism. In other words, a person can drink in an abusive manner without being an alcoholic.

Alcohol abuse is a drinking pattern that typically results in one or more of the following during a twelve-month time period:

• Failure to attend to important responsibilities at work, home, or school.
  
  
• Ongoing alcohol-related relationship issues
  
  
• The experience of recurring alcohol-related legal difficulties (such as multiple DWIs)
  
  
• Alcohol-related physical injury

Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Since alcohol abuse and alcoholism are both examples of "problem drinking" and are therefore related, it is instructive to differentiate between the two concepts.

Alcoholism, unlike alcohol abuse, includes an increases in alcohol tolerance, a strong craving for alcohol, and a physical dependence on alcohol.

Alcoholism, also includes a total loss of control regarding the consumption of alcohol.

Once a person who engages in abusive drinking cannot control his or her drinking, cannot do without alcohol, and experiences withdrawal symptoms when he or she tried to quit drinking, this person has made the unfortunate transition from alcohol abuse to alcohol dependency, also known as alcoholism and alcohol addiction. Once the person reaches this point, he or she will therefore manifest classic alcoholic behavior.

Abusive Drinking Can Mean You are Gambling With Your Life

If you abuse alcohol, you could be gambling with your life. How is this possible, you ask?

Similar to what happens when individuals abuse other drugs, many people who drink irresponsibly, who engage in binge drinking, or who regularly abuse alcohol for whatever reason eventually become addicted to alcohol.

Stated a little differently, the more an individual abuses alcohol, the more probable it is that he or she will become an alcoholic and exhibit destructive alcoholic behavior.

Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse Statistics

Unfortunately, many people fail to grasp the critical nature of alcohol abuse and alcoholism without first being exposed to various alcoholism and alcohol abuse statistics. It is with this thought in mind that the following alcoholism and alcohol abuse statistics are presented.

• The 25.9% of underage drinkers in the United States who are alcohol abusers and alcohol dependent drink 47.3% of the alcohol that is consumed by all underage drinkers.
  
  
• In 1995, there were 51,737 U.S. federal prisoners and 224,900 state prisoners who were incarcerated because of alcohol or drug abuse.
  
  
• Underage drinking costs Americans nearly $53 billion annually. If this cost were shared equally by each congressional district, the amount would total more than $120 million per district.
  
  
• Up to 40% of industrial fatalities and 47% of injuries in the U.S. workplace are linked to alcohol consumption and alcoholism.
  
  
• American alcoholics spend four times the amount of time in a hospital as non-drinkers, mostly from drinking-related injuries.
  
  
• As many as 3 million Americans over the age of 60 are alcoholics or have serious drinking problems.
  
  
• 25% of all U.S. emergency room admissions, 33% of all suicides, and more than 50% of all homicides and incidents of domestic violence are alcohol-related.
  
  
• In the United States, excessive drinking contributes to illness in each of the top three causes of death: heart disease, cancer and strokes.
  
  
• As much as 50 percent of police work is spent addressing alcohol-related problems in the U.S. This would mean that the annual cost to U.S. law enforcement agencies is at least $7.5 billion dollars for alcohol-related problems. 

• According to recent studies, it has been discovered that approximately 53% of adults in the United States have reported that one or more of their close relatives has a drinking problem.
• 3.1 million Americans, approximately 1.4% of the population 12 and older, received addiction treatment for alcoholism and alcohol-related problems in 1997.
  
  
• In the U.S., more than 40% of those who start drinking at age 14 or younger become alcoholic.
  
  
• In the United States, more than 2 million people per year drive "under the influence."
  
  
• According to one U.S. study, sixty-seven percent of eighth graders and 83 percent of tenth graders believe that alcohol is readily available to them for consumption.
  
  
• One of every 130 licensed drivers in the United States has been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.
  
  
• Alcohol abuse costs U.S. businesses twice as much as illegal drug use.

These alcoholism and alcohol abuse statistics show a number of things. First, these statistics reveal that a lot of people need alcoholism and alcohol abuse help. Second, these statistics also demonstrate the fact that a lot or people could avoid a host of alcohol-related problems if they would learn more about alcohol abuse prevention. Third these alcoholism and alcohol abuse statistics reinforce the following: alcohol abuse and alcoholism are major problems in our society.

Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Videos

We have included some alcohol abuse and alcoholism videos so that you can see and hear directly from various people about their struggles with alcohol abuse and/or alcoholism.

If you, a family member, or one of your friends has a "drinking problem," seeing what others have gone through and how they attained successful recovery is much more "real" than any information you can read about.

Furthermore, watching these videos may help you understand classic alcoholic behavior, what others with a drinking problem are experiencing, and how they overcame one or more of the alcohol abuse and alcoholism symptoms. So make sure you look at these excellent videos!

Alcohol Abuse Help

Alcohol Abuse Help. There is some common sense and basic information about alcohol abuse and alcoholism that is apparently not understood by many people who drink in an excessive and abusive manner. Why not get alcohol abuse help before you are an alcoholic and lose total control over your drinking?

Why not get alcohol abuse help before you become an alcohol dependent person and become a master at lying, deceit, and manipulation? Why not get alcohol abuse help before you are addicted to alcohol and suffer from alcohol withdrawal symptoms when you try to stop drinking?

Stated differently, why not get the alcohol abuse help you need right now before your drinking problem destroys your life and the lives of others?

In short, while you still have some control over your drinking, while you still possess some logical thinking ability, and while you still have relatively good heath, why not get alcohol abuse help now rather than waiting for possible addiction to alcohol to develop?

In a word, getting alcohol abuse help before you become dependent on alcohol and start manifesting hazardous alcoholic behavior is actually a form of alcohol abuse prevention.

Alcohol Abuse Prevention

Alcohol Abuse Prevention. It has been said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. When it comes to drinking behavior, "alcohol abuse prevention" is truly a nugget of gold. Think about this for a moment.

Doesn't it make sense to avoid alcohol-related relationship difficulties, alcohol-related legal problems, alcohol-related physical injury, or avoid failed responsibilities at home, school, or work before they happen?

Doesn't it make sense to avoid classic alcoholic behaviors such as the health hazards, the loss of control, and the dependency on alcohol before they become so problematic that you need immediate alcoholism treatment? Re-read the alcoholism and alcohol abuse statistics presented above.

Doesn't it make sense to avoid the alcohol problems and issues that are described in these alcohol statistics? What we are talking about here is alcoholism and alcohol abuse prevention.

How can this be done? If you learn how to drink responsibly and in moderation, you will not have to worry about all of the negative consequences that are associated with excessive and abusive drinking.

And if you are one of the rare individuals who simply cannot drink any alcohol, then you will have to refrain from drinking any alcohol.

In a word, since alcoholism and alcohol abuse prevention is far easier and far more healthy than facing any of the damaging alcoholic behaviors and effects of abusive and excessive drinking, why not drink in moderation if this is possible or refrain from drinking if you cannot drink responsibly or in moderation? 

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