Alcohol Use Disorder

Alcohol use disorder is a state of liquor use that is associated with difficulty in managing alcohol intake, is engrossed in liquor, tends to use liquor even though it induces complications, drinks more to feel the same impact, or suffers withdrawal side effects when you rapidly decline or quit drinking. According to Beidel, Bulik, & Stanley, the DSM-5 details the main sympt (2010).

• Developing a strong desire to drink alcohol
• Increase the volume and time expended on consumption
• Dedicating a great deal of time to practices aimed to procure or restore liquor from its effects
• Persevering desire or effort to minimize the consumption of alcohol
• Repetitive use of alcohol bringing about inability to satisfy significant commitments at work or home
• Increased consumption of liquor in spite of experiencing repetitive social or relational issues caused by impacts of alcohol
• Giving up essential work-related, social and recreational exercises
• Repetitive liquor use even in physically dangerous situations
• Increased liquor consumption regardless of information of having a physical or mental issue
• Withdrawal disorder.

The level of daily liquor intake by an individual dictates whether an individual is suffering from AUD or exercising normal liquor consumption. Normal use of alcohol calls for moderate drinking which requires a woman to consume an average of one drink a day and two drinks for men while AUD involves excessive alcohol consumption. The effects or symptoms are also different whereby, for normal use of alcohol there are no severe or mild symptoms as compared to AUD.

The biopshycosocial perspective is a model that tries to explain different paths that cause AUD. The model is an interaction of biological, psychological and sociological factors (Beidel, Bulik, & Stanley, 2010). Biological factors have a significant contribution to the development of AUD in an individual. Different researches have proven similarity in the patterns of alcohol consumption or abuse being passed from parents to their children and even further across their generations hence proving the effects of genes in the development of AUD. For instance, according to the family pedigree study, investigation on alcoholic customers contrasted with general community and demonstrated an expansion in the lifetime predominance of liquor abuse across all biological family members. The increase in developing liquor addiction is greater among those relatives with the closest hereditary relations to the drunkard, contrasted to the general community.

According to the psychological perspective AUD results from an individual’s behaviour, perception on alcohol consumption, and their expectations after use. A person’s behaviour is a result of learning accompanied by the efforts to maintain the acquired behaviour. Continued use of alcohol is attributed to classical or operant conditioning whereby, in the case of operant,  a person tends to drink alcohol as a reaction to a given stimuli such as bad mood. Alcohol is viewed as a positive reinforcement if it results to a desired result such as a decrease in anxiety and pain or if it brings about a better mood. Alcohol is also viewed as a way of eliminating undesirable stimulus such as anger. This perception of alcohol leads to increased consumption of liquor which makes a person dependent on liquor and ends up developing the alcoholic disorder. In addition, individuals may unknowingly develop the disorder by imitating their addicted alcoholic friends. The inner desire to experience what others feel pushes one to continue consuming liquor and the repetitive use might end up turning the person into an alcoholic.

The social cultural perspective lays more emphasis on one’s environment as a causative agent of AUD. It focuses on family interaction, violence, peer influence, and the social environment in which a person interacts with every day. A family with one of its members consuming liquor may get used to that and end up maintaining the problem in the family instead of putting efforts towards eliminating the behaviour. As well, peer pressure is a great challenge to the adolescents. In the quest to belong to a certain group, adolescents are introduced to the use of liquor whose continuous use leads to addiction. AUD also results from an individual’s social environment. Persons living in a society or environment with policies and laws that prohibit or govern the use of alcohol, have a reduced consumption rate compared to persons in areas lacking alcohol use laws. The more the exposure to liquor, the greater the use thereby resulting to alcoholism disorder.

The treatment for AUD fluctuates, depending on a person’s needs. Medication may include a concise mediation and/or a group or personal counselling.  Attempting to stop the consumption of liquor to enhance personal satisfaction is the primary treatment objective. One of the treatment methods of AUD is detox and withdrawal. The method involves initiating a program of detoxification which takes few days but medically oversees individual withdrawal from alcoholism. During detoxification and withdrawal, it is necessary to consume sedating prescriptions to counteract withdrawal indications.

Psychological guidance and counselling sessions are another key method in treating AUD. The process is facilitated by a specialist who has the relevant skills counselling. Counselling can be conducted to a group or on personal basis with aim to enable alcoholics comprehend their unruly intakes thereby facilitating the recuperation process. The family support also plays a critical role in the recovery from AUD. After counselling, it is important for the counsellor to ensure a follow-up care.    

Alcohol use, particularly in huge amounts for a long duration, results in many negative consequences on a person’s body and brain. Alcohol is a central sensory system depressant hence it influences all organs, particularly the cerebrum and the liver. Some of the consequences of liquor disappear a short period after drinking while others have a longer lasting effect (Beidel, Bulik, & Stanley, 2010).

One of the long term consequences of AUD is brain damage. Continuous alcohol use disturbs the neurons hence negatively influencing the psychological working, behaviour, and the mind-set. Neurons are connected to all the cerebrum’s capacity and their soundness is essential for effective memory development. Damage of the neurons by AUD further leads to high blood pressure, damaged memory, and unclear eyesight.

AUD causes alcohol dependence which refers to a condition in which an alcoholic develops tolerance to the liquor effects. An individual feels the urge to drink more so as to experience similar outcomes to those received in the past. If the person quits drinking, he/she experiences withdrawal indications such as nausea, unsteadiness and even more severe illnesses like insanity and convulsions.

Alcohol use influences the development of infants in pregnant ladies. Amid the first three months of pregnancy, a drunkard lady is at danger of a miscarriage. At the point when ladies uses liquor, it flows down their circulation system then to the placenta which further directs it to the foetus. The impact of this is a baby's liver is not fully formed and can't subsequently process the liquor as fast. At the point when a foetus has a high concentration of liquor in their blood, there is the danger of sufficiently lacking oxygen and required supplements for cerebrum and organ development. The general impact may bring about a disorder referred to as Foetus Alcohol Syndrome which causes facial disfigurements in children, decreased memory capacities and short-term medical problems, for example, dependence on medications and liquor. Excessive liquor intake in women also leads to premature, underweight, or still births.

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References

Beidel, D. C., Bulik, C. M., & Stanley, M. A. (2010). Abnormal psychology: Study guide. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.