Psychological effects of Alcohol
The unique history of alcohol use in the United States has led to the ascendance of the disease theory as the dominant conception of alcoholism. Social-scientific research has consistently conflicted with the disease theory, but psychological and other non-disease conceptions of alcoholism are not well represented in the public consciousness, in treatment programs, or in policies for affecting nationwide drinking practices (Peele, n.d.). Conflict in the field has intensified in the last decade, most notably surrounding the issue of controlled drinking in alcoholism treatment. Our current cultural attitude toward alcoholism, one strongly influenced by disease notions, has not led to an improvement in our society's drinking problem. This has led to the belief that there continues to be a need for psychologists to present alternative views in the treatment of alcoholism (Peele, n.d.).Psychological effects resulting from the use of alcohol In today's world, alcohol is readily available to almost anyone who would like to have a few drinks. Because of easy access to alcohol, it should not be surprised anyone that alcoholism is as big a problem as it is. Alcohol not only has many negative effec
He "did not find the distinct differences in alcoholism that Goodwin (1979) have traced to genetically relatives, compared to adoptive relatives and to inheritance over environment" (Peele, 1981). "Vaillant found that the return to moderate drinking versus abstinence was not a function of having alcoholic relatives but was related to the cultural group of the alcohol abuser" (Peele, 1981). "It is consistent with Irish culture to see the use of alcohol in terms of black and white, good or evil, drunkenness or complete abstinence" (Peele, 1981). "The Rand study found that single men under forty-even when highly dependent on alcohol-were more likely to relapse if they adopted an abstinence strategy than a controlled-drinking one" (Polich, Armor and Braiker, 1981). "The emphasis today in treatment is in confronting alcoholics' denial-their unwillingness to see clearly the nature of their drinking problems" (Peele, 1981). Most likely, a combination of biological, psychological, and cultural factors contribute to the development of alcoholism in any individual. Alcoholism often runs in families (Milam, 1983). Although there is no conclusive indication of how the alcoholism of family members is associated, studies show that 50 to 80 percent of all alcoholics have had a close relative who is an alcoholic. Some researchers therefore suggest that some alcoholics have an inherited physical predisposition to alcoholic addiction (Milam, 1983). Rodents can be selectively bred to become "heavy" drinkers. Humans' twin studies almost always show that identical twins are both more likely to be alcoholic than are fraternal twins. Perhaps the most persuasive evidence for a genetic factor in alcoholism is the finding in several studies that children of alcoholics have a high rate of alcoholism whether they are raised by their alcoholic biological parents or by adoptive parents who are not excessive drinkers (Milam, 1983). The presence or absence of certain genes has been reported to be associated with alcoholism, but late studies have failed to confirm this association. Another important theory for alcohol abuse is that alcohol drinking is reinforced because alcohol reduces tension. (Conger, 1951) proposed the Tension Reduction Hypothesis as a model for alcohol drinking. The model assumes that alcohol can reduce tension and people learn to drink alcohol to avoid or reduce unpleasant stress. The tension reducing properties of alcohol may be specific to certain situations (Conger, 1951). Alcohol may reduce tension only for social stress but not for other sorts of stresses. Also, alcohol may reduce tension only in particular doses (low doses but not high doses) and under certain condition (in naturalistic but not experimental situations). In addition, alcohol may reduce tension only for some individuals who carry a gene for alcoholism. Finally, alcohol may not reduce tension but may dampen the impact of a stressful situation (Levenson, 1980). There are a number of therapies developed by psychologists including cognitive-behavioral coping skill treatment and motivational enhancement therapy (APA, 2001). Another therapy and perhaps the most widely used is the 12 - step facilitation approaches assisting individuals with drinking problems in using self-help programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous (APA, 2001). Bales (1946) provided an early effort to synthesize cultural and individual attitudes about alcohol. "He proposed that the incidence of alcoholism in a society depended upon the degree of cultural arousal of inner tensions, attitudes in the culture about the effectiveness of drinking for relieving such tensions, and the presence or absence of alternate societal means of satisfaction" (Peele, 1981). Society's ambivalence about power was also associated with alcoholism. There are several reasons' why people drink. Some of these reason's are the need to have personal control, sexual potency, and to relief stress." Thes
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Pages = 20 (250 words per page double spaced)
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