HSER 342, Alcohol, Bertaccini, Writing assignment #1 SUTHERLAND 1. When you were growing up, what did you hear about alcohol and what did you see in terms of alcohol use? When I grew up, alcohol was ubiquitous. Every occasion, event, or emotion was treated with alcohol. If there was a wedding- alcohol. If there was a funeral- alcohol. If there was a hard day (or an easy day) at work- alcohol. If it was a day ending in the letter “y”- alcohol. Holidays were especially loaded with alcohol. My parents were from vastly different backgrounds. My mom grew up in affluence while my dad grew up in relative squalor. Her parents were high-society bay area people (Hillsborough, CA). His parents were originally from Kansas and settled in the central valley of CA. Their pre-marriage lives could not have been more different. When we would see my dad’s relatives at Easter and Thanksgiving it was totally different that when we would spend a week at my mom’s parents around Christmas time. The one similarity that I noticed when I was young was alcohol. Alcohol was a totally acceptable way to relax, socialize, and stabilize in times of turmoil. There was no stigma (that I was aware of) when I was under the age of 10. Alcohol was totally cool. It wasn’t until my dad’s drinking became alcoholic and my mom became abstinent that things got weird, but by then, I was hooked. Alcohol was and would be a part of my life for the next 30 years. 2. In general, what problems do you think students see as a result of alcohol use? Students suffer from all kinds of implications of alcohol use: It is expensive. Students will spend 99 cents on Top Ramen then manage to scrape together 10 dollars for a twelve pack of beer. It puts them in dangerous situations regularly. Date rape, DUIs, violence at bars/ parties, and alcohol poisoning are just a few of the dangers they encounter while using or around alcohol. Alcohol is not a good study aid. Drinking can affect memory storage and acquisition. State dependent learning mean a student can study while slightly inebriated and only be able to recall properly in the same state of inebriation. This leads to a cycle of abuse that is as insidious as it is damaging. Depending on several factors, alcohol can be highly addictive. Because of the acceptance/ permissiveness of alcohol in student life, students are regularly playing a game of “addiction Russian roulette” especially if they are ill informed about alcoholism/ addiction causes or factors. 3. If you had the authority to change the legal designation of a single substance, which substance would you choose and why? I would decriminalize all substances. I think that might lead to a better set of conversations concerning drugs and alcohol. Prohibition of alcohol does not work. It is far too easy to make alcohol (water + sugar + yeast) and to strengthen it through distillation (simple equipment + heat). As far as changing the legal designation of a simple substance, I would probably abandon the practice of drug testing for marijuana (make it nationally legal and OK for people to use out of the work place). Marijuana drug testing is absurdly counter-productive. The tests don’t test for current use (only usage in the past 30 to 90 days) and are not a good evaluation of someone‘s worth as a worker. If you could test for alcohol use in the last 30 to 90 days in a way that was sustainable and affordable, I think there might be a better result, societally speaking. 4. How does alcohol affect the following systems/ organs? : Digestive, Circulatory, Kidneys, Liver. Digestive: Alcohol can cause an increased risk of cancer of the tongue, mouth, throat, lip, colon, stomach, and pancreas. It can also cause gastritis, acid reflux, ulcers and vomiting. Vomiting can lead to death through tearing the esophagus or the stomach itself. It can also contribute to hemorrhoids. Circulatory: Increased heart rate, blood pressure, weakened heart muscle, and irregular heartbeat (atrial fibrillation) can all be cause by alcohol. Indirectly, alcohol can also contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes which can harm the peripheral circulatory system. Kidneys (renal): Heavy drinking puts a heavier load on the kidneys as they have to work harder to help filter out the alcohol. Drinking lowers the efficacy of the kidneys in filtering blood. Dehydration due to heavy drinking also puts additional load on the renal system, which can directly or indirectly affect the kidneys (hormonal imbalances). Liver: Drinking large amounts of alcohol can have adverse effects on the liver. The cells of the liver can become damaged causing cirrhosis, fibrosis, or something called a “fatty liver”. When the liver becomes damaged in these ways, the affects of the problems can range from a lack of energy to jaundice (yellowing of the eyes and skin) to liver failure. Liver failure is deadly and the only solution is to undergo a liver transplant. 5. Alcoholism is a biopsychosocial disease. What does this mean? The biopsychosocial model of viewing problems in human subjects is based on three factors that contribute to a specific problem, condition, or syndrome. The bio part is the physiology that is involved (biological processes). The psycho part is the psychological factors that contribute to a situation. The social part refers to the environmental factors that contribute to a problem or situation. Alcohol use, abuse, and alcoholism are biopsychosocial issues because they are driven on these three levels in different ways for different people. For the treatment of any given individual it is important to consider: BIO: What is the person’s family medical history? Do they have relatives that have had addiction issues, compulsive behaviors, anxiety, etc? PSYCHO: What sorts of beliefs does the person have about alcohol? Is the person “selfmedicating”. What other psychological pressures are in existence within the individual that are contributing to alcohol use/abuse/dependance? SOCIAL: What are the social situations/ pressure that contribute to the individual’s use/ abuse of alcohol? What are the social situation that do (or can) contribute to a reduction in use or total abstinence?
