Misconceptions Of Alcoholics

In today's society, alcohol is the leading cause of death in 10% of Americans (Krisch, 2013). Alcoholism, also known as "alcohol dependence syndrome," is a serious disease that not only affects many people, it affects the family and friends around them. Alcoholism is when a person can no longer control how much alcohol they consume (Segal, 2013). Alcoholism has always been an issue in society. Dating back in the early days of Greece to our current society, excessive drinking and Alcoholism have been very common (Gold et al., 2010). Many people depend on alcohol and drinking to excess harms our bodies. That is why Alcoholics develop different liver conditions and their bodies begin to break down. While there are many misconceptions about how

They face many emotional and physical issues, as well as, many judgements and misconceptions from society. For many alcoholics, their alcoholism stems from a lot of emotional distress. For example, a common emotional issue many alcoholics suffer from is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Many people who suffer from PTSD use alcohol to try to forget about their past. PTSD can be generated from any traumatic event in a person's life. One common misconception about PTSD is that only war veterans can develop PTSD, however, any sort event can trigger PTSD such as, a death in a family, any form of assault or an

Alcohol increases a person's risk in getting cancer. According to the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), alcohol is a carcinogen (Frieden, 2013). The most common places cancer will form related to alcohol consumption are the mouth, esophagus, throat, liver and breast (Koob, 2015).

Alcohol effects the brain by making it harder to think clearly, coordination is off, and have mood and behavior changes. The heart will eventually stretch and droop, have an irregular heartbeat, end up having a stroke, or having high blood pressure due to consuming large amounts of alcohol on a single occasion. Drinking affects the liver in many different ways, also. The liver can become fatty, get alcoholic hepatitis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis. A body will be a much easier target for disease because alcohol weakens the immune system. Chronic drinkers are more liable to disease like pneumonia (Koob, 2015).

According to Frieden (2013) who wrote about the Alcohol-Related Disease Impact (ARDI), alcoholic liver disease has the most deaths in men and women who consume any amount of alcohol. Motor-vehicle traffic accidents has the second highest rate of deaths, due to drinking and driving. The third highest cause of death involving alcohol is poisoning (Frieden, 2013). The human body's response after consuming too much alcohol is to figure out how to get the alcohol out of the body, this results in throwing up all of the