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Alcohol addiction
can be influenced by a number of factors. Most people use
alcohol socially to change how they feel because they want to
feel better or different. They use alcohol for the perceived
benefits, or the benefits experienced, not for the potential
harm. People use alcohol to relax, have fun, to be part of a
group, out of curiosity, and to escape from physical and/or
psychological pain. Many of the reasons young people use alcohol
are the same reasons adults use alcohol.
What causes alcohol addiction?
Many factors influence a person's initial alcohol use.
Personality characteristics, peer pressure, and psychological
stress can all contribute to the early stage of alcohol abuse.
These factors are less important as alcohol use continues and
the person repeatedly experiences the potent pharmacological
effects.
This chemical action, which
stimulates certain brain systems, produces the addiction, while
other psychological and social factors become less and less
important in influencing the individual's behavior. When the
pharmacological action of a drug dominates the individual's
behavior and the normal psychological and social control of
behavior is no longer effective, the addiction is fully
developed. This self-perceived "loss of control" is a common
feature of alcohol addiction and reflects the biological nature
of the problem. People who are physically dependent on alcohol
usually develop a tolerance. This means that they need to drink
more and more to get the same effect.
Since alcohol so easily permeates
every cell and organ of the body, the physical effects of
chronic alcohol abuse are wide-ranging and complex. Large doses
of alcohol invade the body's fluids and interfere with
metabolism in every cell. Alcohol damages the liver, the central
nervous system, the gastrointestinal tract, and the heart.
Alcoholics who do not quit drinking decrease life expectancy by
10 to 15 years
Alcohol also can impair vision,
impair sexual function, slow circulation, cause malnutrition,
cause water retention (resulting in weight gain and bloating),
lead to pancreatitis and skin disorders (such as middle-age
acne), dilate blood vessels near the skin causing "brandy nose,"
weaken the bones and muscles, and decrease immunity
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