As a legal beverage for the last century, alcohol is an important staple in the American economy. In 1984 alcohol provided federal, state, and local tax funds totaling approximately 12.5 billion dollars, and provided jobs for at least 784,000 people. With the significant impact that the sale of alcohol had/has on the American economy, it became important to find something to compensate for the loss in revenue when the treatment of alcohol abuse reached its peak in the 1970’s. The compensation was the cost of the treatment itself; pharmaceutical companies were able to charge patients for their treatments and this had its own impact on the economy. Many alcohol treatments are longer-term treatments, and when there are approximately 13 million
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In the part of the film that we watched he was in a very low and desperate place. He was doing anything to get alcohol and it had damaged his relationships with his girlfriend and brother. His loved one’s had given up on him, and he no longer believed he could change his habits. I had to think about the number of people who experience this sense of shame and hopelessness, and understood that a pill like Antabuse could offer those individuals so much relief. Alcoholism is an epidemic in our society, and it effects society across multiple levels; as Antabuse is used to treat addiction it also indirectly effects society on a medical, legal, economical, social, cultural, and interpersonal level. By inducing an intense chemical “hangover” Antabuse has the potential to cure an alcohol addiction and thereby improve both physical health and interpersonal relationships. The concept of drug therapy is still a prominent form of treatment for alcohol addiction. Drugs that have similar effects to Antabuse are still frequently prescribed. Drugs such as naltrexone and acamprosate are used primarily in the treatment of alcohol dependence. Drug treatments like these have not been proven to cut down on an individual’s cravings for alcohol, but the adverse effects of the drug seem to out weigh the reward of a drink. As aforementioned, Antabuse was the first drug aversion therapy to treat alcoholism approved by the FDA, and it proved to be reasonably effective and has inspired other drugs like naltrexone and
In the part of the film that we watched he was in a very low and desperate place. He was doing anything to get alcohol and it had damaged his relationships with his girlfriend and brother. His loved one’s had given up on him, and he no longer believed he could change his habits. I had to think about the number of people who experience this sense of shame and hopelessness, and understood that a pill like Antabuse could offer those individuals so much relief. Alcoholism is an epidemic in our society, and it effects society across multiple levels; as Antabuse is used to treat addiction it also indirectly effects society on a medical, legal, economical, social, cultural, and interpersonal level. By inducing an intense chemical “hangover” Antabuse has the potential to cure an alcohol addiction and thereby improve both physical health and interpersonal relationships. The concept of drug therapy is still a prominent form of treatment for alcohol addiction. Drugs that have similar effects to Antabuse are still frequently prescribed. Drugs such as naltrexone and acamprosate are used primarily in the treatment of alcohol dependence. Drug treatments like these have not been proven to cut down on an individual’s cravings for alcohol, but the adverse effects of the drug seem to out weigh the reward of a drink. As aforementioned, Antabuse was the first drug aversion therapy to treat alcoholism approved by the FDA, and it proved to be reasonably effective and has inspired other drugs like naltrexone and