April: Alcohol Awareness Month

Alcohol abuse of one kind or another has been (indirectly) a part of my life longer than I want to remember. Growing up, my mother kept a bottle of 90 proof Gin or a six pack of beer in our fridge. I thought this was a normal occurrence in every home. I never noticed that she was drunk. She was just drinking almost everyday. A couple of years ago I met someone also was an alcoholic. It took me two years to finally, and sadly let go of the idea that I could change her and make her stop drinking. During those two years I had my life almost destroyed by her drinking. Alcohol affects many other people than the alcoholic. These include family, friends, and sometimes even the public at large.

What is alcoholism, and how does it differ from alcohol abuse? Alcoholism is defined as a chronic disease that carries with it a universally recognizable set of symptoms, including impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, distortion of thinking, most notably denial.

Alcohol dependence may include alcohol abuse in any form but its main features are an increased tolerance level, a compulsion to drink, an inability to quit drinking no matter what happens. Alcohol abuse is continuing to drink despite having persistent social interpersonal problems caused by or made worse by the effects of alcohol.

There are many side effects of drinking, some social, some physical and emotional. I once met a college girl in S. Korea where I was a missionary whose father had both legs broken because of a drunk driver. Because of the insurance or hospital rules (you don't leave the hospital until the bill is paid) he was in the hospital for over six months. I can still see the sadness in her eyes as she talked about it. Families are destroyed by alcohol, jobs are lost, and crimes are committed because of alcohol.

However, this is not a problem without a solution. There are support groups for friends and families of alcoholics. Most of us have heard of AA or Al-Anon. These are very good groups that have helped many, many people since AA (and then later Al-anon) first began in 1935.

There are also several medications to help Alcoholics with their problems. One, Antabuse, increases the hangover symptoms so much that it is supposed to discourage use of the drug. Another, more controversial drug, Naltrexone, has had mixed results in different studies, but has had positive results in several states. On the positive side it is used in two very different treatments. In one it is used to decrease cravings and encourage abstinence. In a more controversial treatment program called Pharmacological Extinction it is used (by inhibiting the body's reaction to the neurotransmitters that help experience the high associated with alcoholism) with the person's normal drinking patterns to in order to reverse the endorphin conditioning that leads to alcohol addiction. Another positive note is that it comes in a time release monthly injection form.

treatment program should be evaluated by looking at several different statistics, not only the number of people who have completed a program, but by the number of people who have entered it and the number of people who have relapsed and how long they generally are sober before relapsing. For example, a program that has had 100 people enter it and 50 people complete it with 25 of those relapsing after two years is not as good a program with 100 people in it and 90 complete it and 25 relapsing after five years.Yes, Alcohol causes many problems, not only in the alcoholic's personal life, but in his or her family, friends and even society itself. However there are many, many people out there willing to help the alcoholic. Support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-anon exist to help. Also several medications are available to help control alcohol dependency and addiction.