Though at-risk and binge drinking can result in a range of adverse consequences, not all people who engage in these kinds of unhealthy alcohol use have alcohol use disorder. It is important to remember that AUD is not due to an individual’s lack of self-discipline or resolve. Long-term alcohol use can produce changes in the brain that can cause people to crave alcohol, lose control of their drinking and require greater quantities of alcohol to achieve its desired effects. It can also cause people to experience withdrawal symptoms if they discontinue alcohol use. A BAC of 0.09% to 0.25% causes lethargy, sedation, balance problems and blurred vision. A BAC of 0.18% to 0.30% causes profound confusion, impaired speech (e.g. slurred speech), staggering, dizziness and vomiting.
Alcohol use disorder is often linked to other mental health conditions such as depression or anxiety. Talking to a qualified therapist can help you get to the root of your condition and devise a means to kick it. “The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” provides diagnostic criteria for identifying alcohol use disorder. For a person to be diagnosed with the condition, three of the following factors must have been present for at least twelve months. Even when a person has a genetic predisposition for alcoholism, positive environmental influences such as education, religion and marriage can decrease the chances of developing a drinking problem.
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However, once an individual begins drinking, personal choice has considerably less influence over whether they become an alcoholic compared to other factors. Many individuals with psychological illnesses turn to alcohol as a method of coping with their illness. For example, some with schizophrenia claim that alcohol “quiets” the voices in their head; causes of alcoholism some with depression claim that alcohol elevates their mood. This is especially common in individuals who have not been diagnosed or who have found that medication creates unpleasant side effects. Additionally, many psychological disorders reduce an individual’s ability to perceive the reality of their drinking or acknowledge risks and warning signs.
The alcoholic is not always under internal pressure to drink and can sometimes resist the impulse to drink or can drink in a controlled way. The early symptoms of alcoholism vary from culture to culture, and recreational public drunkenness may sometimes be mislabeled alcoholism by the prejudiced observer. In the general population, variation in daily alcohol consumption is distributed along a smooth continuum. This characteristic is inconsistent with the medical model, which implies that alcoholism is either present or absent—as is the case, for example, with pregnancy or a brain tumour.
What is the outlook for people with alcohol use disorder?
Public confirmation last year of Iowa’s high cancer incidence also converged with what most adult Iowans already knew in private. Among the 25 counties in the U.S. with the highest incidence of cancer, Iowa’s Palo Alto County ranks second. Roughly 21,000 Iowans now develop cancer in Iowa annually, according to the Iowa Cancer Registry.
Consuming large amounts of alcohol over a long period is most likely to result in alcohol use disorder. However, the time it takes for the condition to develop is highly individual. A person with AUD can lose control over the amount of alcohol they consume and continue to drink despite any adverse health, social or occupational consequences. Despite the prevalence of alcohol consumption, there’s no one-size-fits-all explanation for why some people who drink develop an addiction and others don’t.
