More people than ever have alcohol problems. Tens of millions of people around the world have become so addicted to alcohol that it is affecting their lives. But it's not just your well-being that is threatened by alcohol consumption. Millions more people who have no problem with alcohol are affected by those who do.
The word “abuse” means the abuse of something that can have a rightful place in people's lives. However, just because something is misused does not necessarily mean that it should be condemned by everyone.
Alcoholic beverages can be consumed by people who wish to consume them in moderation and under control, usually without harmful effects. However, with excessive consumption, it turns into alcohol abuse, which is harmful and even fatal for offenders and others.
Who are alcoholics?
A common impression of an alcoholic is that of a drugged drunkard lying on the sidewalk. However, this is the exception, not the rule.
It is estimated that about 95% of people with severe drinking problems are not usually drunk and hopeless. I am not a particular type of person either. They are a cross section of society, like those in any neighborhood, they have jobs, they look after the house, they raise a family.
Alcoholics can be found in all age groups. However, the fastest increase is currently seen among young people and women. Unfortunately, many more teenage children are involved in alcohol abuse.
Of course, sometimes a person who drinks too much is not necessarily an alcoholic. For example, you can be reckless, drink too much, and lose control over your senses. But from there, you can have excellent control over your alcohol consumption and avoid repeating your indiscretion.
However, people who have a severe alcohol problem have one thing in common: they are more or less dependent on alcohol. They don't want to be, yes, they feel like they can't do without it.
What they have in common is that their addiction to alcohol harms their life in one way or another: emotionally, physically, financially or socially.
A growing threat
According to World Health Magazine, "any assessment would classify alcohol-related disabilities as one of the largest clusters of health problems in the world." This publication also states: "In most countries of the world the incidence is increasing, sometimes at an explosive rate".
There are roughly 10 million people addicted to alcohol in the United States, up from several million in recent years. Millions of people develop reckless drinking habits that can lead to alcoholism.
The threat to life and happiness from alcohol abuse is very real. This is not a joke. For example, a driver who has been drinking is a serious danger to life. In the United States alone, approximately 25,000 people die each year in alcohol-related traffic accidents. That's about half of all road fatalities. And about 500,000 are injured by drunk drivers. Most of the drivers who drank were not only “social drinkers” but also problem drinkers and drug addicts.
In a California study of 1,000 fatally injured drivers, 65% of those responsible for crashes were under the influence of alcohol.
In addition, there are around 20,000 deaths from alcohol-related crashes in the country each year in addition to traffic accidents. Almost two-thirds of all murders and nearly a third of all suicides are alcohol-related, as are half of all fire and drowning deaths. Thousands of people die from alcohol-related illnesses.
In fact, many more people are killed or injured by alcohol each year in the United States than are killed or injured in a year of the Vietnam War. Additionally, reports from the Federal Bureau of Investigation indicate that over 40 percent of all arrests involve alcohol-related incidents.
Alcohol use has become so common and problematic that about one in five Americans say it causes serious problems for their family. There are people who think about these difficulties so much that now about 20% are in favor of a return to the ban.
Alcohol abuse threatens innocent people in different ways. Studies show that alcohol is implicated in a wide variety of rape and child sexual abuse. This is one of the most enduring characteristics of any crime.
About one in ten workers in the United States is addicted to alcohol in some way. It's the equivalent of about $ 25 billion a year, ridding the economy of sickness, absenteeism, inefficiency, and accidents. Excessive alcohol consumption is responsible for more losses to the industry than any other disease combined.