According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 50 percent of adults in the United States are regular drinkers (defined as at least 12 drinks in the last year). It is also estimated that among the 15.1 million alcohol dependent individuals in America, a third are women.

While limited amounts of alcohol consumption does not harm anyone, one needs to be wise enough to know how much is enough. There is also a difference between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence. While the former refers to drinking alcohol and then indulging in socially unacceptable behavior, something that can cause physical harm to others, the latter involves a physical dependence and craving for alcohol.

Uncontrolled alcohol consumption can affect the individual as well as the society that he or she lives in. There are also certain larger societal issues that drinking causes.

Individual Negative Effects of Alcohol Abuse

In the short term alcohol consumption makes a person cheerful. Over time it can cause dehydration, lack of motor coordination, blurred vision and a lowering of inhibitions. Long term health concerns include liver health.

An initial sign that someone is beginning to develop an alcohol dependency is that they seek out alcohol drinking occasions. They look at drinking as an escape from problems. Loss of will power and inadequate attempts to seek help are common.

Loss of self control becomes a pattern among those who abuse alcohol. Friendships start to last only if the companion is an alcohol partner.

Societal Concerns of Excessive Alcohol Consumption

The social effects of alcohol are far reaching. Some of these are:

– It is estimated that more than a hundred thousand people face death due to alcohol.

– There is a considerable loss in productivity that the workforce faces at large. Estimates go up to $100 billion per year. Work accidents, absenteeism, low performance while on the job are specific ways in which the overall productivity is reduced.

– About 40 percent of industrial fatalities and 47 percent of injuries at the workplace are caused due to drinking in some way or another.

– Alcohol abuse is involved in 50 percent of driving fatalities and someone is killed in an alcohol related accident every 30 minutes in the United States.

– Lactating, breast feeding or pregnant women who drink actually feed alcohol to their babies who are unable to burn the alcohol in the way an adult liver can. Genetic disorders and other defects are more probable among babies born of drinking mothers. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders are common due to alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

– 3/4ths of all domestic abuse incidents involve the consumption of alcohol by the abuser.

Knowing when you are moving from a casual drinker to one that is actively looking for alcohol almost all the time is essential. If you feel that you child or spouse is drinking more than what is considered okay, use the alcohol test to check out the number of times he or she is drinking. In the long run it may be one of the best things you can do for a person.

– Anne Hamilton