When Too Much Is Not Enough - Essay Example

Section/# When Too Much Is Not Enough Although it is true that there are various forms of addiction which exist within society, one of the most common forms of addiction exists throughout the world is with regards to alcohol addiction. The overall prevalence of alcohol addiction can mainly be attributed to the fact that unlike many types of stimulants, narcotics, or drugs in general, alcohol is widely available and ultimately quite cheap for the average consumer. Studies regarding the effect of alcoholism have generally been concentric upon the degree and extent to which is damaging to the overall health of the individual who suffers from it. Although this is a relevant question to engage, this does not in and of itself allow for a greater degree of understanding with respect to how alcoholism and those who suffer from it can in fact improve their own lives. Rather, it takes a more fatalist approach to the fact that alcoholism portends a certain level of harm and damage and therefore new responses and medical treatments must be provided toward seeking to ameliorate these negative externalities. However, as any medical professional would agree, the gold standard with regards to any form of substance abuse and/or addiction is with respect to seeking to end it in the first place. If a given form of substance abuse, and/or alcoholism can be averted, then the negative health impacts that would be realized over the years can necessarily themselves be averted. For purposes of this brief analysis, the author will focus upon the means through which different forms of therapy and alternative treatments have been proven to impact upon alcoholism and the degree and extent to which alcohol dependency is realized within a given individual (Rose et al., 2011). Moreover, rather than utilizing the term “addict” to discuss a state of existence for those individuals who suffer from drug addiction alone, the term will freely be used within this analysis with regards to those individuals who suffer from alcohol addiction. Whereas many different types of medical practice and approach has been changed due to the impact of technology and the means through which a greater level of understanding for particular medical conditions has been inspected, treatments for alcoholism are no exception to this. Whereas in the past, they were only a limited number of approaches with regards to the way in which alcoholism was treated, the current era provides a great litany of approaches; each of which has its own particular application and realm of impacts. Accordingly, the first approach which will be analyzed is perhaps one of the oldest and can also be considered as one of the more helpful and time proven techniques of ending alcohol addiction and improving the general outlook that an addict may have (Young & Connor, 2006). This old approach to treating alcoholism is of course with reference to the many types of support groups that exist to provide a greater understanding of the fact that the individual is not alone in the struggle they are engaging (Gilles et al., 2006). Although A.A. and others like it have proven to be amazingly successful with regards to the way in which individuals are able to overcome their issues with alcoholism, it must be understood that group therapy in and of itself is not the only mean through the which the alcoholics dependency can be broken. A recent approach that has begun to be represented more and more often within the medical community is the range and extent to which certain types of drugs can be utilized to break the addiction. Due to the fact that neurologists and a litany of other healthcare professionals and research scientists have begun to understand the actual mechanisms through which addiction and addictive behavior takes place in the brain, a range of pharmaceuticals have been presented to block these processes form occurring and reduce the overall compunction and drive that a given addict may have with regards to seeking out the next drink (Walker, 2013). A few of these drugs are based upon seeking to program the individual with something of a Pavlovian response with respect to creating an aversion to alcohol based on providing a nauseating, or other disquieting, response to alcohol input into the human body. One of the drugs that has been utilized to a great degree of effect has been antabuse (disulfiram). This particular drug works by providing a horrendously unbearable nauseating response at the moment that alcohol enters the bloodstream. However, the ultimate efficacy of this particular pharmacological approach depends largely upon the degree and extent to which the individual who is prescribed such a remedy is committed to taking this drug each and every day as a means of staving off the desire to drink (Park & Grant, 2005). Studies that have been performed that regard the ultimate success rate denote that fewer than 23% of individuals that utilized this approach alone were able to ultimately gain a level of improvement with regards to the alcohol addiction they suffered form. Many researchers have attributed this rather low success rate with the fact that many individuals that utilize this approach are ultimately responsible for any improvements in the level of addiction that they face (Thomas et al., 2011). What is meant by this is the fact that unlike in support groups where a type of group responsibility for the success of failure of a given individual is taken for granted, the ultimate success of the pharmacological approach is predicated upon the degree and/or extent to which the alcoholic will be motivated to self medicate and stave off the threat of backsliding into alcoholism yet again (Cox et al., 2006). Naturally, one would be remiss without discussing the role that alcohol rehabilitations centers effect the way in which individuals can experience a level of victory over alcoholism. The actual process of detoxification is ultimately what the rehabilitation center is for. Unlike other addictions, the process of alcohol detoxification is relatively short; generally between 3-7 days total. During this time, the detoxification center is able to ensure that the individual is free from any alcoholic beverages and can integrate with them an understanding for how they should address the cravings that they will doubtless have as well as speaking to the physical and emotional needs that have ultimately prompted them to seek out alcohol as a means of solution to their problems (Kuntsche et al., 2006). For this reason, detox centers for alcohol typically keep an individual for slightly longer than 2 weeks as a means of seeking integrate not only the physiological needs of the patient but also the emotional/psychological needs that have prompted them to alcoholism in the first place. From all of the information that has been presented, it may appear as is treatment for alcoholism is entirely dependent upon pharmacological means or direct levels of intervention on the part of groups or detoxification centers. However, as medical science has continued to expand new understandings concerning the way in which the brain actually functions have come to be known, the reason for addiction and the means by which behavioral as well as genetic factors can impact it have come to be understood (Myers, 2013). Of all of the behavioral components of individuality that have been discussed, it is perhaps it is perhaps the potential linkage between genetics and predisposition to alcoholism that has been the most difficult to prove. This is due to several factors; however, perhaps the first and foremost is with respect to the unique level of environmental pollution that has clouded many of the research studies into this topic (Perryman et al., 2011). What is meant by the term environmental pollution is with regards to the fact that unlike other predispositions, a predisposition to our alcoholism is oftentimes evidenced as a result of the environmental factors in which the child is brought up. In short, this creates an addiction likelihood that does not guarantee that particular psychological addiction will result; rather, it exponentially increases the risk that exists for such a psychological or physical addiction to develop in the first place. Whereas it is not necessarily common to find test subjects for analysis who had homosexual parents or relations and early childhood and were thereby predisposed to this behavior in later maturity, it is nonetheless almost impossible to find individuals who are alcoholics that were not exposed to alcoholism and alcohol abuse as children (Korhonen et al., 2012). In such a manner, engaging in this particular level of research and equipping it to the research which has been conducted previously, with respect to homosexuality and predisposition to crime, is something akin to analyzing to somewhat unrelated behavioral compliments. However, recent studies have indicated that genetic similarities between identical twins also correlated to drastically increased risks of alcoholism in the future; even if the identical twins were adopted within the first few months of infancy to new parents. One specific gene in question, DRD2, has been synthesized by researchers to be the one most commonly indicated as a genetic predisposition to alcoholism and dependency upon substance abuse. Once again, the mere existence of this specific gene is not a guarantee of alcoholism; rather, it merely increases the risks that an individual, once exposed to alcohol, has a statistically must higher chance of becoming dependent upon it as compared to a person without such a genetic marker. As can be preeminently recognized from the research that has thus far been performed, a clear and unmistakable link to the connection between genetics and the formation and representation of personality is also noted with respect to this aspect as well. Therefore, seeking to aid an individual’s need to delineating a best approach with regards to treating alcoholism, it must be understood that oftentimes a litany of approaches are applicable to any one individual. Rather than denoting that one is best in each and every case, a more rational explanation would be to appreciate the fact that treating alcoholism is a nuanced approach that must take into account many different factors that the patient may exhibit. For instance, if an individual patient is one that suffers from a long history of alcoholism, then a focus upon the genetic factors that lead to alcoholism and seeking to address these via direct and indirect methods of intervention is the most appropriate strategy. However, if a particular emotional distress this taking place, group therapy and psychological counseling in tandem with pharmacological approaches may be the most effective. By much the same token, those individuals who do not have any of the prior indicating symptoms may best be served by a detoxification program in tandem with some of the other secondary approaches that it within this analysis. In short, the determinants of the patient and the ultimate reason for why they are suffering from alcoholism, the degree and extent to which they suffer, and the prognosis that each of these programs have with regards to the general rate of recovery must all be considered. Ultimately, what has become patently obvious from the information that is thus far been presented is the fact that the best course of action with regards to reducing alcoholism within the general population hinges upon an agreement both with the healthcare provider/counselor and the individual addict himself/herself. Just as with Alcoholics Anonymous, it is necessary for the individual addict to come to an appreciation for the fact that they are indeed flawed and have a character and personality traits that is leading them down a path ultimate destruction. Without such a level of realization, the range and extent to which alcoholics can be improved and/or a general level of quality of life be represented is ultimately next to impossible. However, if a willingness to address the situation, regardless of what approaches taken, is evidenced, a greatly increased chance of success is evidenced in each of these three approaches which have been referenced in this brief analysis. References Cox, W.M., Hosier, S.G., Crossley, S., Kendall, B., & Roberts, K.L. (2006). Motives for drinking, alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related problems among British secondary-school and university students. Addictive Behaviors, 31, 2147–2157. 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