It is not always easy to spot an alcoholic. Not everyone who has a drinking problem is falling down on a park bench with a brown paper bag concealing the bottle in their hand. Nor is every alcoholic spending their evenings perched on a bar stool ordering round after round to satisfy an addiction. For …
Overall, 9.2 million men and 5.3 million women struggle with an alcohol abuse disorder annually, although less than 8% receive help for their drinking problem. The long term effects of alcohol abuse are severe, as alcoholism causes physical dependency and can lead to problems like liver damage and cognitive issues. Alcohol is a commonly used, …
Sometimes we are not the best judge of our own behavior or condition. Such is the case when it comes to gauging our relationship with alcohol. Going on a weekend bender once or twice a year does not necessarily make you an alcoholic. Going on a bender every weekend and sipping a few throughout the …
If you or someone you love has addiction issues related to drinking, you might have asked yourself: why is alcohol addictive? That’s a fair question, and one a lot of people wonder about. After all, many people drink and not all of them become addicted to it. But yet alcohol is an addictive substance. So …
Alcoholism is one of the largest problems in the United States, but it is one that sometimes gets ignored or minimized. People sometimes don’t realize the danger of alcohol because of its legality and easy access. People may think it’s harmless and that drinking will pose no risk for them. However, millions of people die …
There is no doubt that having a parent who has a problem with drug addiction or alcoholism has an impact on children. A parent who is severely addicted may expose his or her children to a wide range of negative experiences that can range from unpredictable mood swings to financial struggles to violence. Children may …
Do Children of Addicts Grow Up to Become Addicts? Read More »
Some people know they have a drinking problem when when they can’t hold a job or their liver starts to fail. It’s not as easy for a successful alcoholic to admit to a problem. In fact, if that’s you, you may be thriving in your career, even as a drinking problem grows. An alcoholic who …
Successful Alcoholics: Thriving in Careers, Drowning in Drinks Read More »
Delay discounting is a term psychologists and psychiatrists use to describe the human tendency to favor tangible short-term rewards over potentially greater long-term rewards. The same term applies to the human tendency to weigh obvious short-term losses against potential long-term losses. In a study slated for publication in 2014 in the journal Addictive Behaviors, researchers …
How Does Delay Discounting Affect the Behavior of Cocaine Addicts? Read More »
The 19th century novelist Lewis Carroll once famously wrote: “I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then,” but he may have been wrong. A new study suggests that the impact of early abuse or neglect lasts into adulthood, affecting personality and alcohol use.
All professionals who deal with alcohol-related issues know that a family history of diagnosable alcohol problems can significantly increase a person’s chances of developing his or her own pattern of problematic drinking. However, researchers are still exploring the ways in which such a history manifests in the present. In a study published in July 2014 …
How Does Family History Impact Risk for Drinking Problems? Read More »