Enjoying alcohol has been a ubiquitous experience for humans since society first developed thousands of years ago. No matter how different in appearance or ideology, almost every culture in the world enjoys alcohol as a social lubricant or as a vital part of a ceremony or ritual (think of champagne toasts at weddings). With over 70% US citizens and 90% of UK residents declaring that they enjoy at least one alcoholic beverage a week, alcohol is undoubtedly a persistent presence in everyday life. However, there’s a difference between using alcohol as a social lubricant and letting it become a destructive and debilitating force in one’s life. This article will outline what alcohol addiction is and popular misconceptions that surround this terrible disease.

While alcohol is often used to relax nerves and loosen inhibitions (think first dates!), alcohol is a notorious depressant. While many users report feeling happy when intoxicated, doctors classify alcohol as one of the strongest depressants in the world, and insist that social context influences the “happy feelings” that users experience. When consumed in small doses, alcohol can warm the skin and produce a flushed feeling; however, when consumed in larger quantities, alcohol can lead to blurred vision, staggering, nausea, headaches and – in severe cases – coma and even death.

Any consumption of alcohol slows the activity of the brain and the speed in which information is filtered and processed. Alcohol abuse, on the other hand, has been shown by scientists to alter biochemical brain functions (including neuron-firing and important protein activity), which is highly similar to neurological symptoms experienced by drug abusers. This is why alcohol is often classified as a gateway drug, as the brain is programmed to desire alcohol as strongly as basic necessities – once alcohol is no longer enough for the altered brain, an abuser will often turn to drugs in order to get a much-needed hit. The continued abuse of alcohol can not only physically alter the activity of the brain – it can even cause severe mental illness and irreversible damage.

Alcohol addiction is also dangerous because the human body is designed to develop a tolerance to the substance; in other words, the more you drink, the more you’ll need to drink in order to feel the same kind of buzz that you once experienced before.

When it comes to alcohol addiction, there’s a popular myth that those who suffer from it are simply lazy or weak-willed people who refuse to give up the bottle. This view of alcohol addicts most certainly comes from the general ignorance that exists in society about addiction, since this disease alters the composition of the biochemical proteins in the brain. As stated before, an addict cannot differentiate between healthy and unhealthy alcohol consumption because his or her brain is incapable of doing so; thus, it becomes extremely difficult for an addict to quit cold turkey without experiencing some form of a relapse. Because the brain is biologically conditioned to need alcohol, it takes a strong person to quit cold turkey, since he or she will be fighting against powerful biological urges.

However, when it comes to alcohol abuse, there are ways to beat it, thanks to the combined help of therapy and medication. While medication can help to alter the damaging biochemical compositions that drive an addict to consume alcohol, therapy is an important part of the healing process as well. Often, the dependence on alcohol arises from an emotional or mental issue that has been left unchecked by the addict in question; a therapist can help to uncover these issues and teach the recovering addict how to deal in healthy and constructive ways.