You may view this document in Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, French, Japanese, Chinese, German, Greek, Korean or English!

Alcoholism

Alcoholism is something that can affect both men and women at any stage of their life. There are two main causes of alcoholism: genetics and personal lifestyle. Studies have been done on the genetic factor of becoming an alcoholic. These studies show that children of parents who are alcoholics have four more times a chance than other people of having problems with alcohol.

 If there is a history of alcoholism in your family it’s important that you’re aware of any potential problems that you may have with alcohol. Each person’s individual lifestyle is another factor that is going to determine if you may or may not have a problem with alcoholism. If you already are at risk for alcoholism due to the genetic factor you’ll have to watch out for other factors in your lifestyle.

 The types of friends (if they have alcohol problems) and the types of social activities that you engage in will play a large factor in the amount of alcohol that you’re exposed to. If alcohol is always on hand and available to you it may become far too easy for you to reach for that drink when you should be saying no. If you have a lot of stress in your life you may find that alcohol helps to reduce some amount of stress. If alcoholism is an issue in your life you’ll want to find alternate methods of reducing your stress, such as exercising and getting plenty of sleep.

The treatment of alcoholism will vary for each individual. There are several different treatment methods that can be used depending on server the alcoholism is. Some common treatments of alcoholism include (1) medication that is used in the initial stages of recovery to reduce the craving and physical side effects of withdrawal, (2) therapy by trained doctor either in a medical facility or on an out patient basis, (3) support groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous.