March 20th 2015

DISEASE THEORY ESSAY

jogrady1@niagaracollege.ca

Jessica OGrady [4253139]

PSYC 1310 - 80

Alcohol abuse seems to affect almost everyone in some way or another. Its the one drug
many dont associate with being a drug in the first place, but more of an icy cold beverage which
allows users to let loose on a weekend, or relax after a long day. It depresses the nervous
system, which makes people less inhibited to their behaviour, but numb to their feelings, while
it also seems to magnify underlying possible anxious, aggressive, angry or unhappy emotions,
which are all potential emotions that could lead to issues even without intoxication. Enjoying
drinking or craving a drink every once in a while doesnt necessarily make somebody an
alcoholic, once somebody compulsively is unable to stop alcohol consumption, then it becomes a
problem. In some cultures, binge drinking (more than 4-5 drinks within 2 hours) isnt considered
a problem at all, rather an accepted social activity to allow people to show their true personality,
while we view it as problematic, or a symptom of a problematic disease we label alcoholism.
Scientists often argue whether or not alcoholism, or any addiction for that matter can be
considered a disease while some victims arent born with any physiological abnormalities to
drive their drinking habits. For some alcoholics this is false. For them alcoholism is technically a
disease, due to abnormal genes passed down through generations of alcohol drinkers. These
people have a higher correlation with developing alcoholism than people without alcohol
consumers in their biological family, but having these genes doesnt necessarily mean consuming
alcohol will become an issue for these people once they decide to drink. Alcohol addiction and
dependence of late has been shown to be affected by the influence of genes. The presence of such
genes does not confirm whether a person will turn into an alcohol addict, but there is a high
correlation amongst carriers of such genes and alcohol addiction. (Banerjee, 2014)

What makes somebody alcohol dependent? The difference between an alcohol addict and
an alcohol non-addict goes beyond the quantity and intensity of alcohol consumed. Long-term
alcohol abuse produces physiological changes in the brain such as tolerance and physical
dependence. These changes in the brain chemistry maintain the alcoholic's compulsive inability
to cease alcohol consumption drinking and results in alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) upon
discontinuation of alcohol. An alcoholic is therefore aware of the harm caused by alcohol on his
or her health but, is unable to control such compulsive drinking impulses. (Walter, et al., 2003)
People drink for different reasons, often starting in adolescence while still going through
development. Teens crave independence, succumb easily to peer pressure and often act without
consequences which sometimes means binge drinking. It is common knowledge that drinking
allows its users to let loose, decreases anxiety and numbs emotions, these short term effects
are desired by first time users, who are more likely to try alcohol if theyre expecting those
possibly positive experiences to come from it. Ethanol (alcohol) at low blood concentrations
releases behaviours that are otherwise inhibited and usually produces feelings of relaxation and
good mood which may facilitate socializing. (Banerjee, 2014) This widely known understanding
of alcohols effects on our behaviour reinforces the idea that drinking can have a positive effect,
a problem for people with possible mental problems. Because alcohol relaxes the body, users
who experience anxiety often self-medicate with alcohol to cope with the unpleasant sensations
anxiety brings on.
Alcohol interacts with several neurotransmitter systems in the brain's reward and stress
circuits. These interactions result in alcohol's acute reinforcing effects. (Banerjee, 2014) Because
of this, drinking to supress anxiety reinforces the fact that alcohol works to alleviate anxious
feelings, thus making the users brain believe alcohol is the answer to relieve future anxiousness

when in fact it does the opposite in the long run. Acute and chronic stressors have been
associated with alterations in mood and increased anxiety that may eventually result in the
development of stress-related psychiatric disorders.
Various studies have been done on adopted children which reveal the fact that biological
factors alone do influence the possibilities of alcoholism developing in children of alcoholics:
Adoption studies show that alcoholism in adoptees correlates more strongly with their biological
parents than their adoptive parents (Sigvardsson, Bohman, & Cloniger, 1996) These types of
studies help us realize the correlation between alcoholics and their alcoholic or non-alcoholic
family, and whether or not they are a possible influence behind alcoholics disease we now
know both physiological and environmental factors contribute to the likelihood alcoholism will
develop in a user.
It is much easier to argue alcoholism is a disease if they came from a family of
alcoholics, but that isnt the case considering not every drinker who develops an alcohol
dependency has a mental illness or predisposition to developing alcoholism. Alcohol is a
powerful drug which can get some users hooked within the first try. Once the brain senses a
certain activity giving it pleasure; it will rewire the brain chemistry in a way which makes the
person want to have more of that activity. (Banerjee, 2014) So as soon as somebody finds being
intoxicated pleasurable in any way, thats when the disease will start to take its course.
While there is much evidence to support the theory that certain genetics can influence a
persons probability of developing an alcohol dependence disorder, many argue that alcohol
addiction is simply a pattern of negatively reinforcing behaviour. Alcohol addiction takes place
primarily through two means. The first is a positive reinforcement method and the second is a
negative reinforcement method. Positive reinforcement represents an environmental situation in

which a rewarding stimulus or experience (e.g., alcohol-induced euphoria) increases the chances
that the individual displays a certain response (e.g., alcohol-seeking behavior). Negative
reinforcement refers to an increase in behavioural patterns, such as alcohol ingestion, if the
behavior facilitates the individual to circumvent or avoid an aversive stimulus (Banerjee, 2014)
Alcoholism is an addiction, and an addiction is a pattern of problematic self-destructive
behaviours in which they are aware are destructive, yet cannot find the power to stop. People
who have traditional diseases have physiological abnormalities that create symptoms in which
they cannot chose to stop. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse and Addiction:
Addiction is defined as a chronic relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive
drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences. It is considered a brain disease because
drugs change the brain they change its structure and how it works. These brain changes can be
long lasting, and can lead to the harmful behaviors seen in people who abuse drugs. Non-users
almost always ultimately have the choice to not start drinking, which is why people will argue
against it being a disease, because they consciously caused it and chose to keep drinking even
after it became problematic.
Having this predisposition to alcoholism also doesnt necessarily mean they will become
addicted to alcohol even if they did start to drink. Some children grow up resenting the
behaviours alcohol brings out in people, and might have a negative opinion on alcohol when they
reach the age where their peers start to drink, making them less inclined to drink until
intoxication. Even though genetic differences affect risk, no 'gene for alcoholism' exists, and both
environmental and social factors make substantial contributions to a person's risk of alcoholism.
(Edenberg & Foroud, 2013)

In conclusion, I dont think alcoholism is a disease, most people are just looking to cope
with unwanted feelings they may have when they become alcohol dependent. With alcohol being
associated with fun parties and wild nights, its no wonder people turn to it right away as a
requirement to let loose, it can be mixed thousands of different ways to best suit your taste, and
better yet its legal. Considering there might be people out there with alcoholic genes, or a
bigger likelihood of having alcoholism due to their alcoholic parents, who dont ever have issues
with alcohol, physiologically there could be something wrong with their genes, but if its not
affecting their behaviour or hindering their lives, I dont think it should be labeled as a disease.

References
Banerjee, N. (2014). Neurotransmitters in alcoholism: A review of neurobiological and genetic studies.
Indian Journal of Human Genetics, 20-28.
Edenberg, H. J., & Foroud, T. (2013). Genetics and Alcoholism. Nature, 487-492.
Health, A. C. (1997). Genetic and environmental contributions to alcohol dependence risk in a national
twin sample: Consistency of findings in women and men. Psychological Medicine , 1381-1396.
National Institute on Drug Abuse and Addiction. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.drugabuse.gov/.
Sigvardsson, S., Bohman, M., & Cloniger, C. (1996). Replication of the Stockholm Adoption Study of
alcoholism. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 681-687.
Subhash, C. P., & Moonat, S. (n.d.). Stress, Epigenetics and Alcoholism. Alcohol Research: Current
reviews.
Walter, H., Gutierrez, K., Ramskogler, K., Hertling, I., Dvorak, A., & Lesch , O. (2003). Gender-specific
differences in alcoholism: Implications for treatment. Arch Womens Mental Health, 253-258.