Alcoholism Research Paper

Intro Alcoholism may be more common than you think. In fact, 18 million adults suffer from a drinking disorder (WebMD). Even more alarmingly 85,000 children ages 12 to 17 suffer from a drinking disorder (Shivani, Goldsmith, and Anthenelli, 2002). Alcoholism is listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) under substance abuse and is a unique disorder because it can also be considered more of an addiction than a disorder. It is also considered to be the fourth biggest health problem in the United States (Ammerman, Ralph, and Tarter, 1999). Unlike some of the typical mental disorders like anxiety and depression that are thought to be caused more by genetics, alcoholism is stigmatized to be the person’s fault. This topic is important to me because my grandparents were alcoholics. This had a significant impact on my parents growing up and ended in divorce for my mom’s parents. Since I was little, my parents have cautioned me about how addictive alcohol can be for some people and how I am even more susceptible because of my familiy’s history of alcoholism. Now that I am in college where drinking is quite common, I want to know more about alcoholism as a mental disorder. For my research paper, I …show more content…
Relationships play a large role in the way that people drink, for example, the friendships that a person makes will expose them to different situations that may lead to more contact with alcohol. There was a study conducted in a high school that looked at extracurricular activities and their possible links to drinking (Hoffmann, 2006). They found that the percent of students that were in clubs and extracurricular activities matched the percentage of seniors that drank (Hoffmann, 2006). They also found that depending on the socio-economic status of the school and the type of school also had a significant effect on the number that the students drank (Hoffmann,