G. Alan Marlatt. Alcoholism. Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean 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. In psychiatry several other terms have been used, specifically "alcohol abuse", "alcohol dependence," and "alcohol use disorder" which have slightly different definitions.[1] In 1979, an expert World Health Organization committee discouraged the use of "alcoholism" in medicine, preferring the category of "alcohol dependence syndrome".[2] In the 19th and early 20th centuries, alcohol dependence in general was called dipsomania, but that term now has a much more specific meaning.[3] People suffering from alcoholism are often called "alcoholics".
Many other terms, some of them insulting or informal, have been used throughout history. Treatment of alcoholism takes several steps. The Natural History of Alcoholism Revisited. The Natural History of Alcoholism Revisited (1995) is a book by psychiatrist George E. Vaillant that describes two multi-decade studies of the lives of 600 American males, non-alcoholics at the outset, focusing on their lifelong drinking behaviours.
By following the men from youth to old age it was possible to chart their drinking patterns and what factors may have contributed to alcoholism. Another study followed 100 severe alcoholics from a clinic eight years after their detoxification. The National Review hailed the first edition (1983) as "a genuine revolution in the field of alcoholism research" and said that "Vaillant has combined clinical experience with an unprecedented amount of empirical data to produce what may ultimately come to be viewed as the single most important contribution to the literature of alcoholism since the first edition of AA's Big Book. "[1] Some of the main conclusions of Vaillant’s book are: That alcoholism is as much a social as a medical condition.
The Natural History of Alcoholism Revisited. Alcohol Addiction. Ethanol or ethyl alcohol is a sedative-hypnotic drug that acts on the human brain like other sedative-hypnotic drugs such as the barbiturates and benzodiazepine tranquilizers(Valium, Xanax, Ativan &etc.). All of these drugs can substitute for one another and prevent withdrawal symptoms from each other. Thus benzodiazepine tranquilizers are commonly used briefly to treat severe alcohol withdrawal. Ethyl alcohol, like other sedative-hypnotic drugs in its class, can cause physical dependence in anyone who consumes enough of it for a sufficient period of time.
The withdrawal syndrome from ethyl alcohol is identical to that for other drugs in the same class such as Valium, Librium, Xanax, Ativan, phenobarbital and other barbiturates(Nembutal, Seconal, Amytal &etc.). Individuals who have been regularly exposed to any of these drugs may develop the following physical symptoms upon abrupt discontinuation or drastic reduction of dosage: Physical dependence is not addiction. The Addict's Dilemma.
Alcoholics Anonymous. The Recovery Show - 12 step recovery for those of us who love alcoholics or addicts.