Alcohol Use Disorder and Alcohol Addiction
Introduction
According to the society we live in, alcoholism habits have increased compared to the past, where only the traditional beer was available. In comparison to this time, many people have engaged in alcoholism. To some extent, others went up abusing it by drinking it excessively until it impairs their judgment or even until it becomes a mental disorder. Alcoholism is a habit of alcohol abuse mostly being witnessed in today’s society, especially in the United States of America, among other states; it entails the incapability to control the drinking habits. When an individual is addicted, he or it is difficult to stop the practice. On the other side, addiction is a mental and physical failure to cease using alcohol or any other substance abused. However, it is bringing mental issues and physical effects to the user. This essay will discuss how adolescent boys are addicted to alcohol, the symptoms and characteristics of alcohol addiction, and the symptoms and alcohol etiology.
Overview
Drinking alcohol in excess over a long time may cause dependence. These are the symptoms of abusing alcoholism in individuals, which can be observed in behavior and mental variations. They may be judged that this particular youth takes alcohol and has been addicted to it.
Symptoms of addiction to alcohol over a long time
- Unstable moods.
- Unacceptable behavior.
- Unclear speech.
- Reduced attention or memory.
- Poor organization.
Characteristics of alcohol addiction
The following are the features that are observed in an addicted person or among adolescent boys.
- Those who have been addicted to alcohol seem to be able not to stop the habit of taking alcohol.
- Among the adolescent boys who have been dependent on alcoholism seem to keep changing their mood, sleep and appetite over food.
- It makes individuals continue drinking despite negative results.
- Those who have stuck in alcoholism feel as if they are rejected.
- The youth who practice alcoholism involve themselves in hazardous behaviors.
- Feeling worried about the substance or conduct.
Etiology of alcohol addiction
When individuals keep on taking alcohol for a long time every day, the particular person becomes addicted because the alcohol concentration diffuses into the blood and the person’s mind and causes one to be addicted. The following are the etiological causes of alcohol addiction among the youth and other abusers of alcohol (Lubman, 2016). Once it is abused for a long time, it causes some problems such as liver disease called liver cirrhosis, causes heart disorders, can lead to stroke, hypertension, can as well cause digestive complications, among others. Alcohol dependence can also cause breast cancer, esophagus, colon, liver, throat and mouth tumor.
Genetics involvement in alcoholism
Scientists have proved that the environment in which people are brought up can influence a person’s behavior and, therefore, since genes depend on the ground. People who grow in an atmosphere of alcoholism forty to sixty percent are alcohol drinkers because of genetics (Blanco-Gandía et al. 2018). In fact, regarding genetics, pieces of evidence show that alcoholism is a multipart genetic disorder with changes within a significant number of genes affecting risk. Gene ADHIB and ALDH2 are considered to be the genes of alcohol metabolism, which are well recognized to bear impacts on the risk for alcoholism.
What happens when one withdraws from using alcohol and the recommended drug to cope with withdrawal?
When an addicted person ceases taking alcohol, one aspect that changes is that the drinker’s bodyweight decreases (Best et al. 2016). On the other hand, the drinker’s body composition improves, the fat stored in the stomach decreases, and fat particles in the blood improve. The drug used in coping with alcoholism withdrawal is the Naltrexone drug, where its work is to lessen the desire for alcohol, resulting in fewer relapses.
Statistics on how alcohol is becoming addictive in adolescent boys
According to the statistics which were produced by the National Drug Strategy Household Survey, in the year 2019, in the United States of America, it was found that 66% aging fourteen to seventeen years old have never had a full serve of alcohol, whereas on the others aging fourteen to seventeen years- old they take alcohol weekly and are about 2.8% (Antonelli, et, al. 2018). On the other side, those aging eighteen to twenty-four years old take some take it daily and are about 27.9%.
How alcoholism addiction costs the United States of America each year.
According to the CDC, it is thought that $249 billion each year are used as states’ national drinking habit, and of which comes from excessive drinking (Adamson SJ, 2012). They also propose that the $249 billion yearly costs are greatly underestimated since numerous injuries and alcohol correlated health issues remain either testified or undiagnosed.
Statistics of diverse societies in the United States of America in the struggle for alcohol addiction.
According to the different ethnicities living in the United States of America, society has indulged mostly in alcoholism, especially youth (Alessi SM, 2017). The leading race in alcohol addiction is the Mexican American, who is said to be 64% of the addicted group. In contrast, the second ethnic group is the Puerto Ricans constituting 10% and the Hispanics making up 4%, among others.
Problems related to alcohol like too much drinking, drinking too fast, or drinking too often are among the most ordinary health .problems in the United States. Many people struggle with controlling their drinking habits. Most people with addiction disorder may benefit from a specific form of treatment. About one-third of the people who have been treated for addiction problems have shown no other symptoms after one year. In contrast, others substantially cut down their alcohol problems and have reported fewer alcohol-related problems.
Types of treatment
There are several treatment processes for addiction that involves behavioral treatments, medications, and mutual-support groups. In this discussion, I will focus on mutual support like alcoholics anonymous, which provide peer support for people who want to quit drinking and they are majorly used together with medication and counseling
12 step program
The basic principle of the 12 step archetype is that people can help each other maintain abstinence from behaviors to which they are addicted. In achieving this, they hold meetings to discuss and share their experiences and support each other in achieving abstinence. According to this study, those who abstain have an improved intellectual well-being outcome than those who do not. The 12 step program gives the people an agenda from which to capitulate their dependence and make progress with life (Leggio et al., 2017). In this discussion, we will study the application of 12 step programs in preventing addiction to adolescents. We shall look at alcohol addiction which has proved to be a menace to adolescents.
Through the adoption of this program, meetings will be held in a church, and those who have been addicted to alcohol will meet their peers who are not alcohol users, and they are to share their experiences. During these meetings, those who have been facing the addiction will have to make the 12 steps which include: admitting powerlessness over addiction; after believing that alcohol has ruled over their thinking, they are then supposed to believe that a higher power which can be the power of the holy spirit or the faith in the word of salvation and deliverance from the bondage of alcoholism can help. Then through the influence and sharing of experiences with no addicts’ peers, they are to decide to turn control over to the other power, which means that they are to try and divert the management of their thinking from alcohol to the word of God. Through the meeting, they are to reflect and take a personal inventory of the benefits and the disadvantages that alcohol has had in their life and make the necessary amendments.
They are then to make an admission once they have carried out the personal inventory and complete submission to that other power which in our case is the power of salvation and abstinence from alcoholism they are to submit that they have made a realization that they have been doing wrong and that they are ready to leave that bad behavior of addiction to alcoholism. The other step will involve enquiring the advanced authority to eliminate the evils, then enlisting the evils committed others due to the addiction, and then being willing to make amends. (Beraldo et al., 2019). If possible, one should contact those who have been hurt by their alcoholism behavior if doing that will not harm them further. The other step will involve looking for illumination and linking with the higher power through prayer and consideration. Finally they will communicate to their other addicts and encouraging them to adopt that method and abstain from alcoholism.
The moral and medical model
When carrying out the 12 step program, the moral model where addiction has been viewed as a moral wrong, and thus it has to be controlled through the belief of a higher power: they believe in God’s power and adoption of what is morally right. In the medical or the disease model, addiction is viewed as a disease that has a biological and genetic, and environmental origin. It means that an abnormal condition is present, which will cause discomfort, distress, or dysfunction to the individual affected. When carrying out the 12 step program, the addicted person, through the pastor’s involvement, is encouraged to have faith in God’s word, which will help him psychologically. Through this higher power, treatment for the addiction will be achieved. Also, the addicted person will be encouraged by the pastor to insist on prayers continuously, which will help strengthen the belief and recovery.
The treatment plan will consist of 3 sessions wherein the first session will include the taking of intakes and in this phase, several addicted people will be admitted into the program, and a group of peers who are not addicts and other medications, as well as counseling and spiritual experts, will be included in the meetings. In this first session, there will be a rapport between the counselors and the addicts then the problem to each will be noted. The second phase will involve meeting with each addict and exchanging experiences as well exploration and assisting the client evaluate his or her opinions and spirits. During this phase, the addicts will be aided in comprehending the explanations for the thoughts and feelings. In the last phase the client who in this situation is the addict is included in creating the requisite amendments.
Issues in treatment
There are some problems with the 12 step program, which may make it an unreliable choice. These challenges are: they are commonly controlled by undertakes rather than health specialists, they emphasize on will power rather than drill the mind to create diverse adoptions, they also provide no cohesive actions for psychological well-being, and lastly, they apply a one magnitude fits all tactic rather than acclimatizing treatment to the situation which befall a person
In adopting the 12 step program, one must be aware of ethical issues like confidentiality; there should also be differences in different people’s cultures. Also, there is a need to respect human rights, protect client safety, and ensure the practitioner-client relationship’s integrity.
Comorbidity
Comorbidity is the presence of one or more supplementary circumstances that often occur along with the primary condition. The most common comorbidity factors for alcoholism are anxiety in both sexes in adolescents, and the second is substance abuse like cigarettes and bhang, which go along with alcohol. (Guan et al., 2020). Those who are found to be alcoholics also have the problem of alcoholism and substance abuse. There are also mood ailments, and personality complaints, and schizophrenia that intersect with drug or alcohol dependence. These conditions affect how a person feels, cooperates, as well as the perception he has to the world.
