December 6, 2006 (2) A4

1. Alcoholism was first defined by a Swedish physician in 1849.
2. Definitions of Alcoholism

• key signs or symptoms associated with problematic alcohol consumption (such as preoccupation with alcohol, loss of control over alcohol use, use of alcohol in excess of what is deemed to be the social norm, craving for alcohol, tolerance, and withdrawal
  
• consequences of alcohol use
• biological, psychological, or social factors, alone or in combination, that contribute to the etiology of alcoholism
• the nature of alcoholism as a disease or as a behavioral disorder

According to Edwards and Gross (1976), the alcohol dependence syndrome is defined by the following seven criteria:
* narrowing of the drinking repertoire (involving the establishment of daily drinking patterns and selective choices of alcoholic beverages)
* salience of alchol-seeking behavior
* increased tolerance to alcohol's effects
* repeated withdrawal symptoms
* drinking to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms
* subjective awareness of a compulsion to drink
* reinstatement of established drinking patterns following a period of abstinence.
These seven characteristics of alcohol dependence lie at the heart of all currently used and proposed diagnostic criteria.

1. Why do these things happen?
2. How much does it take for an average Alcoholic to become intoxicated?

Flavin, Daniel K., and Robert M. Morse. "What is alcoholism?." Alcohol Health & Research World 15.n4 (Fall 1991): 266(6). Student Resource Center - Gold. Thomson Gale. Centennial High School (MD). 6 Dec. 2006 http://find.galegroup.com/ips/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=IPS&docId=A12754619&source=gale&srcprod=SRCG&userGroupName=elli29753&version=1.0.