Alcoholism or Alcohol Dependence

7 Pages 1764 Words

ther behaviors common in people who are alcohol dependent include seeking out opportunities to drink alcoholic beverages—often to the exclusion of other activities—and rapidly returning to established drinking patterns following periods of abstinence.
PREVALENCE

Alcohol dependence affects a broad cross section of society around the world. Statistics show that alcohol dependence touches successful business executives, skilled mechanics, laborers, homemakers, and church members of all denominations. Scientists have not identified a typical alcoholic personality, and they cannot predict with absolute certainty which drinkers will progress to alcohol dependence.

Alcohol use varies depending on an individual’s social, cultural, or religious background. Some individuals do not drink at all—about one-third of adults in the United States who are 18 and older, for example, abstain from alcohol. Others drink as part of social custom. Still others drink frequently and in substantial amounts. Those suffering from alcohol dependence drink to appease an uncontrolled craving for alcohol or to avoid experiencing the unpleasant symptoms of withdrawal.

WHO estimates that nearly 62 million people worldwide suffer from alcohol dependence. The prevalence of the illness varies in different countries. In the United States nearly 15 million people experience problems related to their use of alcohol. Of these, alcohol dependence affects about 8.1 million men and women, or almost 3 percent of the population. Men are three times mo...