Alcoholism

**By **: Amanda Leick
 * Alcoholism in College Students **

Alcoholism is a disease that involves a dependence on alcoholic beverages, where an individual develops withdrawal symptoms and health risks.
 * Definition: **


 * Introduction: **

Alcoholism is important to college students because in reality whether a student drinks or not they experience the effects of college drinking. Many bad drinking habits develop in college. The stereotypical college student drinks and parties on the weekend. Many students attempt to "drink away" the stress of all the homework or the test they just failed. College students struggle to realize when they have had enough to drink. They drink until they are no longer stable on their feet or until they black out. Alcohol consumption is always risky but younger people like college students don't always realize the consequences of drinking too much. Alcohol shouldn't be relied on to have a good time or to diminish stress because when it is relied on many students can develop alcoholism.
 * Why is knowledge of Alcoholism important to college students? **

Drinking until you blackout, inability to control how much you’re drinking, and withdrawals from alcohol are a few major signs of alcoholism. This topic is very personal for me because I've seen these symptoms in the people I love. One friends drinking problem really became apparent during the college years of his life. He became the stereotypical college student who drank for social reasons but as time went on he drank more frequently. I want to educate people about drinking in college to prevent more people from developing this disease.
 * Motivation for choosing my topic, alcoholism: **


 * What are the different relationships with alcohol? **

Binge drinking is the consumption of excessive amounts of alcohol in a short period of time. It causes health problems in the students who do binge drink and it may cause them to develop alcoholism in their future adult life. For the nondrinkers they are under immense, unnecessary stress that comes from being pressured to consume alcoholic beverages at social gatherings with their peers. This article supports my question "Why should college students have more knowledge about alcoholism?" by agreeing that binge drinking can cause serious issues with the consumers. **Source:** []
 * 1. Binge Drinking: **

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Social drinking is the consumption of alcoholic beverages in the company of others. Students admit to drinking to fit in socially. They do not really enjoy drinking but they do not want to be different from the other people at the party. Studies have shown that peer behavior is a model of normative college activities. The more that your peers drink the more pressure you'll have to fit in. This is why colleges need to cut down the amount of drinking that occurs on campus.
 * 2. Social Drinking:**
 * Source: ** []



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"This slow build-up of alcohol tolerance means the functional alcoholic is drinking at dangerous levels that can result in alcohol-related organ damage, cognitive impairment and alcohol dependence. Chronic heavy drinkers can display a [|functional tolerance] to the point they show few obvious signs of intoxication even at high blood alcohol concentrations, which in others would be incapacitating" -
 * 3. Functioning**
 * Source:** []

Students who drink heavily can set themselves up for a future as a high-functioning alcoholic. They drink often and consume large amounts of alcohol in college and their drinking habits never change. They can become alcohol dependent but it may not be noticeable to others because they've built up a high tolerance.



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 The conclusion I came up with is that college campuses need to enforce stronger drinking policies. It also helps to educate students on alcohol consumption. The topic is especially significant to college age students because many heavy drinkers started their drinking habits in college. So in the future colleges need to make a stronger attempt to limit the amount of alcohol consumption is done one campus and protect their students the best that they can.
 * Conclusion: **