Alcoholism: Caused by Nature or Nurture? [Infographic]
Originally Written and Posted by medicalnewstoday.com
What Is An Alcoholic?
Last updated: Tuesday 8 September 2015
An alcoholic is a man or a woman who suffers from alcoholism- they have a distinct physical desire to consume alcohol beyond their capacity to control it, regardless of all rules of common sense.
According to Alcoholics Anonymous UK, who say they have no unique definition for alcoholism, it may be described as a physical compulsion, together with a mental obsession. Apart from having an enormous craving for alcohol, an alcoholic often yields to that craving at the worst possible times. The alcoholic knows neither when nor how to stop drinking.
Definition - an alcoholic is a person, while alcoholism is the illness. An alcoholic suffers from alcoholism. Alcoholism is a long-term (chronic) disease.
Alcoholics are obsessed with alcohol and cannot control how much they consume, even if it is causing serious problems at home, work, and financially.
Alcohol abuse generally refers to people who do not display the characteristics of alcoholism, but still have a problem with it - they are not as dependent on alcohol as an alcoholic is; they have not yet completely lost their control over its consumption.
Moderate alcohol consumption will not generally cause any psychological or physical harm. However, for some individuals, social drinking eventually leads to heavier and heavier alcohol consumption, which does cause serious health and psychological problems.
Alcoholism in the UK - one in every 13 people in the United Kingdom is an alcoholic, according to the NHS (National Health Service) statistics. Even among people who are not dependent on alcohol, a sizeable proportion drink too much.
In the USA, 15% of Americans are problem drinkers, while between 5% to 10% of male and 3% to 5% of female drinkers could be diagnosed as alcohol dependent, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The World Health Organization (WHO) says there are at least 140 million alcoholics in the world; unfortunately, the majority of them are not treated.
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