John P. Cunha, DO, is a U.S. board-certified Emergency Medicine Physician. Dr. Cunha's educational background includes a BS in Biology from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and a DO from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in Kansas City, MO. He completed residency training in Emergency Medicine at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Dr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist. She is a former Chair of the Committee on Developmental Disabilities for the American Psychiatric Association, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and Medical Director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, Maryland.
Alcoholism is a disease. It is often diagnosed more through behaviors and adverse effects on functioning than by specific medical symptoms. Only
two of the diagnostic criteria are physiological (those are tolerance changes and withdrawal symptoms).
Alcohol abuse and alcoholism are associated with a broad range of medical, psychiatric, social
effects, legal, occupational, economic, and family problems. For example, parental alcoholism underlies many family problems such as divorce, spouse abuse, child abuse and neglect, welfare dependence, and criminal behaviors, according to government sources.
The great majority of individuals with alcoholism go unrecognized by physicians and health care professionals. This is largely because of the person with alcohol dependence is able to conceal the amount and frequency of drinking, deny problems caused by or made worse by drinking, there is gradual onset of the disease and effects on the body, and the body has the ability to adapt to increasing alcohol amounts up to a point.
Family members often deny or minimize alcohol problems and unwittingly contribute to the continuation of alcoholism by well-meaning behaviors such as shielding (enabling) the person with alcohol dependence from adverse consequences of drinking or taking over family or economic responsibilities. Often the drinking behavior is concealed from loved ones and health care providers.
Individuals with alcoholism, when confronted, will often deny excess consumption of alcohol. Alcoholism is a diverse disease and is often influenced by the alcoholism sufferer's personality as well as by other factors. Therefore, signs of a drinking problem and symptoms often vary from person to person. There are, however, certain behaviors and signs that indicate someone may have a problem with alcohol. These behaviors and signs include insomnia, frequent falls, bruises of different ages, blackouts, chronic depression, anxiety, irritability, tardiness or absence at work or school, loss of employment, divorce or separation, financial difficulties, frequent intoxicated appearance or behavior, weight loss, or frequent automobile collisions.
Compared with children in families without alcoholism, children of alcohol
dependent individuals are at increased risk for alcohol abuse, drug abuse, conduct problems, anxiety disorders, and mood disorders. Alcoholic individuals have a higher risk of psychiatric disorders and suicide. They often experience guilt, shame, and depression, especially when their alcohol use leads to significant losses (for example, job, relationships, status, economic security, or physical health). Many medical problems are caused by or made worse by alcoholism as well as by the alcoholic's poor adherence to medical treatment.
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