There is increasing awareness of the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption, dangers that health authorities constantly emphasize through advertising campaigns.
However, despite the gradual awareness (or, at least, its attempt), there is an evident increase in the abuse of this substance. Why does this phenomenon occur in a society where the risks of alcohol abuse are increasingly clear? What are the causes of alcohol addiction? Let’s find out.
Perhaps we should start with the following question: What, in reality, is alcohol?
Is about a substance that causes our central nervous system to slow down and, what is worse, generates dependency The frequency with which our society turns to alcohol (at lunches and dinners, parties, social events, etc.) increases the risk of depending on it, since it becomes something common in daily life.
When, in a drink, we find the presence of ethanol or ethyl alcohol in an amount equal to or greater than 1%, we are talking about an alcoholic beverage. Among the most common alcoholic beverages we find wine and beer; Other types of drinks, such as rum or vodka, are increasingly common given their presence in nightclubs.
Variables that can cause alcohol addiction
Although it is true, then, that alcohol is very present in our daily lives, why do some people become addicted, and others not? Well, because for an addiction to alcohol to occur, it is not only necessary to be assiduous in its consumption, but other variables are also important, such as those detailed below.
It has been proven that People who suffer from mental disorders are more likely to become addicted to alcohol Among the possible causes we cannot forget one of the most important: escapism. Psychological disorders such as major depression or trauma cause a person a lot of pain, and alcohol is an escape route for this suffering. The problem is that this person’s body will ask for more and more of the substance to feel relief, so alcohol consumption will skyrocket until it becomes a real problem.
2. Family and school environment
It is evident that the environment can influence when it comes to falling into an addiction. Both family problems and a conflictive school environment can cause the person to see alcohol as their only escape tool.
The family’s way of communicating and the way they express emotions have a lot to do with all of this. If since childhood we have lived in a distant and cold family environment, with little or no capacity for emotional expression, we will not know how to connect with our inner self in adult life, which can lead to problems; among others, alcohol addiction.
In the same way, children raised in a unstructured family, with an unfocused or non-existent meaning in life, may have the feeling that their life lacks meaning. It is a serious internal crisis that can end in excessive alcohol consumption ; again, to escape and disconnect from the anguish.
Not only is the family important for the child in the first years of his development; The school also has an important role in this sense. Thus, children who have been victims of bullying or who have suffered school failure are at high risk of falling, as adults, into alcohol addiction. In this sense, teachers must become a reference and support for these children.
Not having a job or having an unstable job are situations that can generate anxiety and worry and, therefore, can lead to alcohol abuse. The lack of job opportunities leads to certain levels of frustration and hopelessness that can also lead to alcoholism.
4. Professions with close contact with alcohol
Of course, working in the hospitality industry does not necessarily mean developing problems with alcohol, but it does. It is a scenario where people who are prone can easily access the substance
5. Today’s society
We live in a world where alcohol is constantly present in our daily lives, and access to this type of substance is very easy and fast.
Alcohol is so fully accepted in society that we often forget that it is, in fact, just another drug. Precisely this normalization means that we are not aware of the risks that, as a drug, its consumption entails.
Not only that: An ideology has been generated according to which people who do not drink do not know how to have fun This leads to the appearance of a series of prejudices that reinforce consumption.
