The Role Of Alcohol Abuse In Adolescents

Alcohol has been around for thousands of years, first discovered by Neolithic humans. In the late 1700s, most Americans drank alcoholic beverages and preferred these beverages to drinking water, which was often contaminated. Alcohol was never viewed as a serious problem in America until after the Revolution. In the early nineteenth century, physicians, ministers, and larger employers created the anti-alcohol (temperance) movement. This movement was the result of concern about the drunkenness of workers and servants, and was devoted to convincing people that alcohol in any form was dangerous and destructive. However, alcohol-related problems did not disappear and pressure increased to prohibit the sale of alcohol altogether. As a result, the …show more content…
A professor of biological psychiatry at Kings College London, named Gunter Schumann explained the role of genetics in addiction, particularly alcohol abuse and dependence. There are different ways someone can become alcohol-dependent, they might lack executive control or be looking for a way to reduce stress and anxiety. Schumann indicated that alcohol and substance abuse and psychopathology in adolescents is often caused by life events. An increased frequency of binge drinking during the teenage years has been linked to stressful events early in life, possibly because such events tend to decrease resilience to stress. Additionally, there is preliminary data showing that alcohol abuse in adolescents affects development of various parts of the brain. Underage alcohol use is a serious national concern and has led to the development of self-regulatory codes intended to assist the alcohol industry in ‘behaving responsibly’ in marketing their products. Self-regulatory codes prohibit alcohol advertising and marketing that appeal to underage consumers and prohibit advertisement in places where a majority of the public is under the legal drinking age. Three trade associations participate in self-regulation and have voluntary advertising codes, with similar precautions about placement and content of ads. The Beer Institute represents more than 200 brewers who produce more than 90% of the beer brewed in America. The Distilled …show more content…
Many people in society feel that alcoholics are entirely to blame for their addictions. Although there is some truth to the idea that we are all primarily responsible for our actions, it is ignorant to solely blame the addict for their addiction and expect them to get better overnight, without us taking the time to learn about addiction and realize that no one voluntary chooses that lifestyle. With a better understanding about alcoholism, society can further reduce the problems associated with alcohol use. One way to reduce alcohol problems would be to improve alcohol social policies that place measures to control the supply of alcohol and/or affect population-wide demand for alcoholic beverages. Comprehensive policies apply legal procedures to control supply and demand, provide public education and treatment to those who need help, control access to alcohol by age, location and time, raise taxes to affect prices and to pay for problems caused by consumption, and harm-reduction strategies to limit alcohol-related issues such as domestic violence and drunk driving. Since alcohol is an economic commodity, an increase in price can reduce the demand for it. To reduce alcohol related problems at the community level we should, identify priority areas for interventions, increase recognition of alcohol-related harm and promote effective and cost-effective responses to the causes of harmful use of alcohol and