Description

Alcohol is commonly used and abused depressant. Alcoholism, also known as alcohol use disorder, is a broad term for problems with ethanol (commonly referred to as alcohol), and generally refers to alcohol addiction, which is the compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing. It is medically considered a disease, specifically an addictive illness. Alcohol dependence is a substance-use disorder in which an individual is physically or psychologically dependent upon drinking alcohol. There are many terms used synonymously with alcohol misuse, including ‗alcohol abuse, ' ‗alcohol dependence, ' ‗problem drinking, ' ‗binge drinking, ' and ‗risky drinking behaviour.' However, often times these phrases are not defined properly by the researchers/general public and have different connotations when being used. According to Phillips (2004), the words ‗addiction, ' ‗abuse, ' and ‗dependence' are used more often in psychiatric and medical settings than phrases such as ‗problem use' and ‗misuse, ' which are used more often when dealing with the negative psychosocial aspects of alcohol issues (Phillips, 2004). Alcohol dependence is differentiated from alcohol abuse by the presence of symptoms such as tolerance and withdrawal. Though both the terms, alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse are sometimes referred to by the less specific term alcoholism. However, many definitions of alcoholism exist, and only some are compatible with alcohol abuse. There are two major differences between alcohol dependence and alcoholism as generally accepted by the medical community. 1. Alcohol dependence refers to an entity in which only alcohol is the involved addictive agent. Alcoholism refers to an entity in which alcohol or any cross-tolerant addictive agent is involved. 2. In alcohol dependence, reduction of alcohol, as defined within DSM-IV, can be attained by learning to control the use of alcohol. That is, a client can be offered a social learning approach that helps them to 'cope' with external pressures by re-learning their pattern of drinking alcohol. In alcoholism, patients are generally not presumed to be 'in remission' unless they are abstinent from alcohol 2 When looking at alcohol misuse and alcoholism in parents, Laybourn, Brown, and Hill (1996) describe four patterns of parental drinking. These drinking patterns include consta.