Bob Ferguson Alcoholism Research Paper

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Recovering alcoholic Bob Ferguson once said “I didn’t want to change me. I wanted to change the world around me with a chemical” (Ferguson Alcohol: cradle to grave, p 208). What this quote means is that Ferguson wanted a quick way to get rid of the troubles he was having in the world and the only way he thought he could fit the world was with alcohol. Although many Americans consider alcoholism as an addiction, researchers prove that alcoholism is in fact a disease because of a person’s genetics and uncontrollable environment factors. In addition, there are many terrifying ways how a person can become an alcoholic. One way a person can become an alcoholic is their genetic makeup. Researchers approximated between 50 and 60 percent of alcoholism …show more content…
When the world seems to be against a person, people tend to block the hardships with positive or negative actions. When a person decides to take negative actions they usually end up with life troubles. There are many factors in the environment that can contribute to becoming an alcoholic such as, bad days at work, family issues, getting bullied, school, and friends. A fast-talking New Yorker, Bob Ferguson, once said “When something went wrong in my life, I wanted a quick fix from outside” (Ferguson Alcohol: cradle to grave, p 208). He wanted a way to escape the real world for a couple of minutes so he turned to alcohol, did that routine every time, an eventually became an alcoholic. A man named Spicer once said “People start drinking because they enjoy it,” he said, “but end up drinking because it feels awful when they stop” (Spicer Alcohol: cradles to grave, p 209). What people fail to realize is that when people start drinking to escape reality for a few minutes, the alcohol starts changing the way the brain functions. This is a common way how people become alcoholics. This disease effects everything in an alcoholic’s life. Uncontrollable environmental factors can cause anyone to become alcoholics, but it is the mindset that controls a person. Clinician’s researchers believe that “Craving for alcohol appears to be intimately related to the loss of control over consumption” (Jyothi, …show more content…
This gives people the opportunity to realize what causes alcoholism and how to control it. People who suffer from alcoholism or has a close friend or family member can see why those people are the way they are and can help. Alcohol is a terrible disease to cure and most people do not take that into consideration. Even though alcoholism runs in the genes, the people that inherited those genes can overcome that craving of alcohol. When comes genetic alcoholism, comes alcohol dependency and most people will fail to overcome that urge. The environment can have a trigger to people with genetic alcoholism. (The environment can also be a trigger for those with genetic alcoholism) People who develop alcoholism will eventually develop life problems. The actions they take with an alcoholic’s brain function is never a positive outcome. The alcohol will continually take over someone’s body if abusing the substance. (The alcohol will continually take over someone’s body if the substance is repeatedly abused.) Alcohol changes a person’s whole mind set, causing them to change as a person. Alcoholism is a disease because people cannot control it. There are people that are genetically impacted and then there are people who are impacted by their non-stop surroundings. Alcoholism is a major disease with Americans throughout the world. These factors such as, genetic and

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