Drinking is a long-standing common life habit and social custom, and now it is becoming an important public health problem in the world. If excessive drinking has caused physical or mental damage and brought adverse social consequences, if the time and amount of drinking have reached a certain level, the drinker can't control his drinking behavior and appear somatization and withdrawal symptoms, which is called alcohol dependence.
Alcohol damage to the body: Excessive drinking will lead to serious physical, psychological and social damage, with obvious damage to internal organs and nervous system. Epilepsy, liver cirrhosis, gastrointestinal diseases and other common diseases Psychological damage caused by alcohol: Alcohol dependence can lead to personality changes, anxiety and depression, sexual dysfunction and suicide. Alcohol causes social damage: traffic accidents, domestic violence, personal attacks, etc.
The cause of disease
1. Biological factors
Genetic studies have found that some people are born with a genetic tendency to rely on alcohol; The metabolism of alcohol is mainly through the action of alcohol dehydrogenase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. People with low acetaldehyde dehydrogenase activity will feel uncomfortable after drinking a little, so they will not drink a lot and it is difficult to have alcohol dependence.
2. Psychological factors
People who are depressed, shy, anxious, nervous and unsociable overcome these defects by drinking alcohol, and are prone to alcohol dependence over time.
3. Social factors
Such as region, race, customs, environment, occupation and the attitude of the public and the government towards alcohol will definitely have an impact on the occurrence of alcohol dependence. It takes about 10 ~ 20 years to develop from frequent drinking to alcohol dependence.