Alcoholism Essay Research Paper AlcoholismAlcoholism chronic and — страница 2

social stigma attached to it decreases, alcoholics and their families tend to conceal it less, and diagnosis is not delayed as long. Earlier and better treatment has led to encouragingly high recovery rates. In addition to managing physical complications and withdrawal states, treatment involves individual counseling and group therapy techniques aimed at complete and comfortable abstinence from alcohol and other mood-changing drugs of addiction. Such abstinence, according to the best current evidence, is the desired goal, despite some highly controversial suggestions that a safe return to social drinking is possible. Addiction to other drugs, particularly to other tranquilizers and sedatives, poses a major hazard to alcoholics. Antabuse, a drug that produces a violent intolerance

for alcohol as long as the substance remains in the body, is sometimes used after withdrawal. Alcoholics Anonymous, a support group commonly used for those undergoing other treatment, in many cases helps alcoholics to recover without recourse to formal treatment. Despite these encouraging signs, estimates of the annual number of deaths related to excessive drinking exceed 97,000 in the United States alone. Economic costs related to alcoholism are at least $100 billion a year. Additional data are needed on various societal costs of alcoholism as well as on the costs of various modes of treatment compared with their actual results.