“Alcoholism” is a term that you have probably heard on several occasions. However, it might be difficult for us to supply someone with a precise definition. What is alcoholism? Is alcoholism simply when we have drunk “a few too many” beers? Is alcoholism represented in one’s dislike or inability to digest alcohol? Is alcoholism a sickness like a cold or flu, which can be remedied with a large bottled water and a good night’s sleep? Actually, none of the descriptions aptly describes the essence of what alcoholism is.

To fully understand what is alcoholism, we should determine what alcohol itself is. In other words, what is the chemical difference between grape juice and wine? Alcohol, also recognized as ethanol, is a liquid that can burn. This liquid, alcohol, lacks taste and color, and is formed when yeast undergoes a chemical change. The human body can speedily take in alcohol, into the bloodstream. After this occurs, alcohol functions as a depressant on the body’s central nervous system. This benefits the body, by lowering one’s feelings of exhaustion. However, to better understand what is alcoholism, we should be aware that alcohol can lower a person’s focus, prudence, and restraint. Still, numerous studies have indicated that moderate alcohol consumption can have certain benefits. For instance, it could lower one’s risk of heart disease.

On the other hand, alcoholism exceeds the perimeters of moderate alcohol drinking. In fact, the vital characteristic of alcohol abuse is the unstable usage of alcohol, with major and repeated negative effects associated with its repetitive usage. Alcoholism is used interchangeably with the disorders of alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse. These problems typically involve recurrent difficulties in life that, which can be directly linked to alcohol consumption. Both alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence can result in severe results that influence a person’s private life and health. In fact, both of these problems can also affect the entirety of society.

However, we do not have to be scientists to intuitively know what is alcoholism, based on the detrimental affects that one night of hard drinking can have on our bodies. Still, why do many alcoholics and non-alcoholics alike take an oath that they will never again get drunk only to experience déjà vu during the next weekend? The answer is more complex than one might assume. Firstly, one’s genes have a significant impact on one’s addiction to alcohol. The chance that you will have drinking problems is 10 times greater if your parents also had drinking problems, than if they lacked those difficulties. In a nutshell, some people are more prone to addictions, than others are. Still, it should be noted that this addiction is not activated if one chooses to avoid alcohol.