Alcoholism And Teens
Alcoholism refers to the drinking of
alcoholic beverages to such a degree that
important things of an individual's
life - such as work, school, family
relationships, or personal safety and
health; are seriously and repeatedly
interfered with. Alcoholism is
considered a disease, meaning that it follows a
characteristic course with
known physical, and social symptoms. The alcoholic
continues to consume
alcohol even though the destructive consequences he/she may
face. Alcoholism
is serious, and a very difficult habbit to break. If not
treated, it may be a
habit that cannot be broken, or maybe even a fatal problem.
It is
generally thought that once the disease has developed, the alcoholic will
not
drink normally again. It is important to note that the particular
symptoms
and pattern of drinking problems may vary with the individual.
Alcoholism is,
therefore, a very complex disorder, and this complexity has
led some researchers
to question the accuracy of the disease of alcoholism.
There are generally four
basic types of alcoholism. The first type is called
Alpha Alcoholism. It is
being purely psychological dependent on alcohol
(Haskins, 84). With Alpha
Alcoholism the person depends on alcohol to
relieve bodily and emotional pain.
This stage and all stages are serious
in teens drinking, because any alcohol
intake is dangerous for teens still
developing mentally and physically. Another
term for this alcoholic behavior
is often called "problem drinking".
The second type of the alcoholic
behaviors is called Beta Alcoholism. It does
not involve either psycological
or physical dependence on alcohol. But yet worse
on your body than Alpha
Alcoholism because the heavy drinking may lead to
ulcers, cirrhosis of the
liver, damage to the nerves, and kidney
problems(Haskins, 85). Beta
alcoholics have a shortened life expectancy and
suffer from financial and
emotional demands due to excessive over drinking. Just
like smoking, it costs
money like everything else, the demand for alcohol will
get to the
circumstance of pinching every penny to just get one more drink. The
third
drinking behavior is Gamma Alcoholism, the alcoholic becomes
physically
dependent on liquor. So this means that the bodies tissues, become
tolerent to
the new substance and the tissue becomes immuned to it, and the
the bodie tissue
needs the constent pressence of alcohol. Gamma alcoholics
crave the need for
alcohol but yet can only live without alcohol for a short
peroid of time. If the
Gamma alcoholic does not get there alcohol there
body reacts very violently.
Gamma alcoholics is one of the most common
types of alcoholism in the United
States. The fourth type of alcoholism
is Delta Alcoholism. In Delta alcoholism
the drinker cannot stay away from
liquor for even a day or twowithout suffering
from withdrawl syptoms. Usually
this type of alcoholism is found where alcohol
is drank customarily.
Addiction to acohol is very much like addiction to heroin.
Alcoholism is
a very tough habit to break, many people that have been classified
as a
alcoholic can never have a normal life again. Teenagers that are
alcoholics
are much more easily disturbed than adult alcoholics. In the near
past the
United States has been expeirenceing a widespread use of
alcohols by teenagers
(Haskins, 40) Today there aree some 500,00 alcoholics
between the ages of ten
and nineteen, and it is estimated that one of every
fifteen young people today
will eventually become an alcholic(Haskins, 42).
Teens drink for curiosity and
to act like adults, not only that but peer
presure and just to look cool in
front of friends. Parents are a stong
influence to teenagers to not drink or
limit the use of alcohol by young
people, as statistics show. If none of the
parents in the United States
drank, then neither would most of there
children(Haskins, 105). Teenage
drinking is getting to the point where the age
group is getting younger and
younger, it is now not uncommon to find teenagers
with alcohol problems in
nine-, ten-, and twelve year olds(Haskins,
91).
Bibliography
Haskins, Jim Teen-age Alcoholism New York:
Hwathorn Books, Inc., 1976