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Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. [15] Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records.
Alcohol use is a major cause of preventable liver disease worldwide, and alcoholic liver disease is the main alcohol-related chronic medical illness. [6] Millions of people of all ages, from adolescents to the elderly, engage in unhealthy drinking. [ 7 ]
An alcoholic will continue to drink despite serious family, health, or legal problems. Like many other diseases, alcoholism is chronic, meaning that it lasts a person's lifetime; it usually follows a predictable course; and it has symptoms. The risk for developing alcoholism is influenced both by a person's genes and by his or her lifestyle." [62]
Alcohol has been produced and consumed by humans for its psychoactive effects since c. 7000–6600 BC. [21] Alcohol is the second most consumed psychoactive drug globally, behind caffeine. [22] [23] Drinking alcohol is generally socially acceptable and is legal in most countries, unlike with many other recreational substances.
Alcohol myopia is a cognitive-physiological theory on alcohol use disorder in which many of alcohol's social and stress-reducing effects, which may underlie its addictive capacity, are explained as a consequence of alcohol's narrowing of perceptual and cognitive functioning. Alcohol packaging warning messages
High-functioning alcoholics may exhibit signs of alcohol dependence while still managing to fulfill their professional and personal responsibilities. Some common characteristics include denial, maintaining responsibilities, high alcohol tolerance , physical and mental health issues, and social isolation.
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. In alcohol dependence, reduction of alcohol, as defined within DSM-IV, can be attained by learning to control the use of alcohol.
Temperance proponents saw the alcohol problem as the most crucial problem of Western civilization. [44]: 21 Alcoholism was seen to cause secondary poverty, [68] and all types of social problems: alcohol was the enemy of everything good that modernity and science had to offer.