Alcohol: Family and Society

1. Alcohol: Family and Society Differentiate between alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Describe the stages of alcoholism. Identify the warning signs of alcoholism. List 3 ways alcoholism negatively effects family life. Describe how alcoholism effects society.

2. Alcohol Abuse is drinking to much alcohol, drinking too often, or drinking at inappropriate times. Alcoholism is a disease that causes a person to lose control of their drinking behavior. The drinker is both physically and emotionally addicted to alcohol. They don’t just crave alcohol, they have painful physical symptoms when they do not have alcohol.

3. Stages of Alcoholism • Problem drinking: Cannot drink alcohol in moderation or at appropriate times. • Tolerance: needing more alcohol to produce the same effect. • Dependence: Body needs alcohol to function normally. • Alcoholism: Drinker has lost control of his or her drinking behavior.

4. Risk factors for Alcoholism • Age: Drinking before 15 increases your chances by 4 to be an alcoholic. • Social Environment: Having friends that drink increases your chances to drink. Peer pressure, persuasive advertising, and desire to fit in can influence a person to drink. • Genetics: Alcoholism tends to run in families. Male children of alcoholics are 25 % more likely to be alcoholics. 7-9% risk for non alcoholisc children to be alcoholics. • Risk Taking personality: People who are impulsive, like novelty, and enjoy taking risks are at greater risks for becoming alcoholics.

5. Warning signs of Alcoholism Denial: the inability to see sings and symptoms of alcoholism. • Drinking to deal with anger. • Changing friends, personal habits, and interests. • Being defensive about drinking. • Feeling depressed. • Drinking more for the same high. • Drinking alone. • Drinking to get drunk. • Experiencing memory lapses as a result of drinking alcohol.

6. Alcohol and Family Families of alcoholics suffer in many ways, including: • Guilty feeling: Some people feel as if a family members alcohol may be their fault…it is not. • Unpredictable behavior: families never know what to expect. An alcoholic may be depressed in the morning, happy in the afternoon, and violently angry at night. • Violence: Families of alcoholic are more likely to become victims of violence then non-alcoholics. • Neglect and Isolation: Because alcoholics are preoccupied with alcohol their children may feel that their alcoholic parent does not have time to care for them.

7. 5. Protecting the Alcoholic: Family and friends sometimes enable the alcoholic. Enabling: helping an addict aviod the negitive consequences of their behavior. 6. Ignoring one’s own Needs: family members are so wrapped in taking care of their drinkers needs that their own needs suffer.

8. Teens: In order to drink they must get their alcohol illegally. Just as alcoholic adults put stress on their children, teen alcoholic put stress on their parents. • Pregnancy: Alcoholics that become pregnant find it difficult to stop drinking. About 12% of pregnant women continue to drink. • Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: a set physical and mental defects that effect a fetus that is exposed to alcohol, physical and mental deformities result.

9. Alcoholism And Society • Many cases of murder, family violence, child abuse, rape, and assualt are attributed to alcohol related violence. Society pays a huge emotional, physical, and financial costs for the misuse of alcohol and alcoholism.

10. Alcoholism can be Treated Alcoholics Anonymous: 12 step recovery program…through regular meeting and shared experiences people bring themselves and other closer to being alcohol free. Al-Anon: To help family members talk and share about living with an Alcoholic. Alateen: Teen based program to help deal with alcoholism in their families.