alcoholism

Dependence on alcohol. It is characterized as an illness when consumption of alcohol interferes with normal physical or emotional health. Excessive alcohol consumption, whether through sustained ingestion or irregular drinking bouts or binges, may produce physical and psychological addiction and lead to nutritional and emotional disorders. Long-term heavy consumption of alcohol leads to diseases of the heart, liver, and peripheral nerves. Support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous are helpful.

Successful treatment of addictive alcoholism depends on the motivation and cooperation of the patient. Patients accustomed to a large daily intake of alcohol may respond only to institutional treatment where the physical symptoms of withdrawal are prevented or diminished by the administration of tranquillizing drugs. Milder cases of addictive alcoholism are treated by reinforcing the patient's desire to give up alcohol. Drugs, such as disulphiram, are regularly taken by the patient. Alcohol, even in small quantities, taken in association with disulphiram causes the patient to feel acutely ill. The drug is continued regularly until the craving for alcohol is lost. ‘Aversion therapy’ may be used to condition the patient to associate alcohol with unpleasant experiences such as electric shocks. In ‘group therapy’ individual willpower is strengthened by the collective motivation of a number of people with a similar object. This principle is used in the voluntary society Alcoholics Anonymous, some of whose members have cured themselves and are willing to help others. Members remain anonymous and are helped in confidence.