What Is The Difference Between
Alcohol Abuse And Alcoholism
Alcohol Abuse is different from Alcoholism. They both involve the substance – Alcohol; there ends the
similarity.
Alcohol Abuse:
There is not a strong craving for alcohol in the individual doing the drinking. There is also no physical
dependence on alcohol.
What alcohol abuse is, is a pattern of drinking that has the end result of one or more of the following:
1. An inability to perform well at work, home or in school
2. You drink while doing activities where being impaired could be dangerous
3. You continue drinking, despite the fact that it has caused you to have relationship
problems as a result of your drinking.
4. You have encountered scrapes with the legal system linked to your consumption of
alcohol.
Alcoholism:
A disease that has several symptoms; one of which is, cravings that are strong, for a alcoholic drink and cannot
be ignored is referred to as Alcoholism or "alcohol dependence".
Alcoholism symptoms are:
Craving alcohol, so much so, that it becomes a compulsion to have a drink that you cannot easily ignore.
If you can put off drinking, you will exhibit symptoms of withdrawal such as: nausea, sweating, shakiness, and
anxiety. These are pretty much the same symptoms of any other drug withdrawal.
You will not be able to control the number of drinks you consume to just one, even on occasions where you may
wish to limit your consumption.
You will build a tolerance to alcohol up over time; where it will take more and more alcohol to achieve a
feeling of being "high".
It is very difficult to recover from Alcoholism without getting professional assistance and support.
Facts About Alcoholism:
Alcoholism is a very misunderstood disease.
It is difficult for those who have little knowledge of the disease to understand why someone who drinks to the
point that an alcoholic does; just doesn't have the willpower to stop when faced with such devastating results of
their disease.
It is also hard to understand why two people drinking the same drink, and the same amount of alcohol can have
different results one having little, no apparent problem and the other suffering the symptoms of alcoholism.
Others find it difficult to come to terms that Alcoholism is indeed a disease and not just the person's wish to
drink and cause the havoc that results.
Those who study the disease, use questions like these to explore the disease and come to a clearer understanding
of why the disease exists and how to help those who suffer from it.
Did You Know
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Alcoholism is influenced by both hereditary and environmental factors.
Addictions, particularly addictions to alcohol tend to run in families and it is
known that genes to play a role in that process.
Research has shown in recent years that people who have/had alcoholic parents are
more likely to develop the same disorder themselves.
Interestingly, men have a greater propensity towards alcoholism in this
circumstance than women.
People with lowered inhibitions are at an even greater risk for becoming
alcoholics.
The two main characteristics for becoming addicted to alcohol stem from having an
immediate family member who is an alcoholic and having a high-risk personality.
A person with a high-risk personality is one where he or she has lower inhibitions
and thrives on taking risks in most all situations.
If a person comes from a family with one or more alcoholics and likes to take
risks, they should recognized that they are at what is considered high risk for becoming an
alcoholic.
At this time, it is thought that the genetic tendency toward
alcoholism in a person does not ensure that he or she will become an alcoholic but instead
just means that those people feel the effects of the alcohol more intensely and quickly. In
effect, the determination of genetic risk is only a determination of higher risk toward the
addiction and not necessarily an indication of future alcoholism.
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There has been a discovery that a person's genetic makeup may have something to do with why they react
differently than another person in similar scenarios.
The genetic connection may be why you see more than one member of the same family, suffering from
Alcoholism. Having a family history of alcoholism is not the only prediction of the disease.
Interesting Facts
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It is a concious decision to drink and get drunk. You can not become an alcoholic if you do
not drink alcohol.
Group therapy or attending a self help group is always beneficial to anyone wanting to
recover from alcoholism.
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Environment has a big influence on whether or not a person takes that first drink, or is likely to
continue drinking.
Environmental influences can be:
Where you live
Your friends
The culture you are a part of
Peer pressure
Availability of alcohol
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