Alcoholism is a Disease free essay sample

In the U. S alone over 15 million people are currently affected by alcoholism. Alcoholism is a chronic and progressive disease that includes problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol, continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems, having to drink more to get the same effect (physical dependence) or having withdrawal symptoms when you rapidly decrease or stop drinking. Alcoholism is a chemical disease because it breaks down differently in the stomach and has an entirely different effect on the brain of the alcoholic than on the non-alcoholic. The main organ involved with alcoholism is the brain. Alcohol interferes with the electrical charges of nerve cells that send messages to the brain about thoughts, feelings and learning. After chronic exposure to alcohol neurotransmitters are altered permanently and can also lead to brain shrinkage. Advanced states of alcoholism cause states of dementia psychosis and when their tolerance increases, alcoholics show signs of disorientation, paranoia and aggressiveness. We will write a custom essay sample on Alcoholism is a Disease or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Heavy alcohol intake reduces some of the brains chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin. These chemicals give us the feeling of well-being and pleasure. At the same time alcohol releases chemicals that cause stress and depression. It is this chemical imbalance in the brain that may be responsible for alcoholism. Alcoholism is also progressive, which means it gets worse over time. Alcoholism causes biological, psychological, social and spiritual problems and as the disease progresses, the alcoholics ability to function daily declines. Personality changes are a result from neuropsychological impairments to the persons cognitive and affective functioning; they think, feel and behave differently than previously, but believe their functioning normally. Social or relationship problems arise within the family, the community and at work. Family life deteriorates to the point that treatment for family members is necessary for their own recovery. Another reason why alcoholism is a disease is because of genetics and environmental influences. It is estimated that 40-60% of the risk for developing any addiction, including alcoholism, is genetic. Studies with adoptees have shown that having a familial history of alcoholism increases the risk of developing an alcohol dependency. According to one study, having a familial history of alcoholism but being raised in a household without alcohol abusers still leads to a fivefold increase in the odds of becoming an alcoholic. However, environmental factors are still important the same study found a larger increase in the odds of becoming an alcoholic given both a family history of alcoholism and a pro- alcoholic environment. A persons surroundings can play a strong role on the road to potential alcohol abuse and alcoholism. An environment that promotes drinking can make it difficult for many people to avoid the temptations of drinking to excess. Opposing viewpoints argue that alcoholism is not a disease. One of the most common arguments against the disease of alcoholism is that the disease model is only useful for treating people who consider themselves alcoholics. Another claim is that excessive drinking can cause physical disease and involve physical dependence without therefore being a disease itself. It is also believed by skeptics that to be diagnosed with alcoholism means a person has to give up their identity as a normal person and take on the identity of someone with a disease. While all of these claims are understandable, there are faults within the claims that leaves â€Å"alcoholism is not a disease† an unsupported allegation. Alcoholism is described as a physical compulsion along with a mental obsession, which falls into the category of addiction. Addiction has been proven to be a brain disease, as mentioned earlier in this article the brain is the organ that goes hand in hand with alcoholism. The brain is what makes one crave an alcoholic beverage, it’s what causes one to have extreme withdrawal effects when the desire for alcohol is unmet. Alcoholism is an addiction, and addiction is a brain disease. Also, the belief that the alcoholics complex turns from a â€Å"normal† identity to a â€Å"diseased† identity is illogical. Diabetes is a disease, Aids is a disease and those who carry those diseases don’t let it define them or their lives. Alcoholism is a chronic and progressive disease that includes problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol, continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems, having to drink more to get the same effect (physical dependence) or having withdrawal symptoms when you rapidly decrease or stop drinking. If alcoholism continues to be overlooked as a disease, we will continue to have over 80,000 deaths a year in the U. S from the excessive alcohol use. If you or someone you know is suffering from alcoholism, don’t let them remain untreated. There are several ways of curing this disease such as therapy, counseling and medications. Alcoholism is a disease and should/can be treated as such. Work Cited

Informative Essay Sample on Jimi Hendrix

Informative Essay Sample on Jimi Hendrix James Marshal Hendrix was born in Seattle, Washington on November the 27th, 1942. Jimi had a style of guitar playing all of his own. He was renown for his rough style of playing. In this essay there will be comparisons made between Jimi and these other famous guitar players that were all around his era: Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, John Lennon, Jimmy Page, Jose Feliciano and Carlos Santana. Jimi Hendrix was so different to other players. All these artists have/had varied styles of playing. Eric Patrick Clapton was born on March 30, 1945. He is an excellent musician. Eric plays blues/rock music. When he writes his music it is usually about things that has occurred in his life. One of his famous songs is Tears in Heaven. This was a tribute to his son that died from falling out of the fifty-third story of a block of apartments at the age of four. Eric’s playing was very clean and tight, compared to Jimis style, which is rougher. Each song Jimi wrote would have a main riff but each time he played it he would add different little riffs. Jimi played more rock and roll. Eric played more softer and smoother music. Jimi Hendrix and Mark Knopfler are defiantly two of the best guitarists of all time. Mark was born on the 12th of August 1949 in Scotland. He has been with many bands but since the 70’s his main band has always been Dire Straits. Mark mostly plays rock and roll with his band but he is also well known as a solo artist. He is writes a lot of his bands songs, most of the songs are a sorts of clean rock and roll, a very different style to Jimi’s songs. Mark did not have a drug addiction unlike Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. Born on October the 9th, 1940 was legend, John Lennon. He is most famous for being one of the guitarists out of the band The Beatles. Sadly, John died on the 8th of December 1980. He was shot in the back, on his front doorstep of his apartment by a fan. The Beatles played a very wide range of music, but when the Beatles broke up John went solo. Ballads seemed to be what he enjoyed playing most. Jimi Hendrix tended to play more rock and roll then John. Jimi’s music was more orientated around guitar playing then Johns, because John Lennon seemed to concentrate more on the lyrics then anything else. John wasn’t as well known for the skills of his guitar playing but more for his singing and overall music. Englishman Jimmy Page was born on the 9th of January 1944. He played in several rock bands but the band he has been mostly connected with is Led Zeppelin. While Jimmy has been in this band he has been performing mostly rock and roll, but before he joined Led Zeppelin he found out he was also great at playing acoustic guitar. Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix were both fairly similar, but there were differences with their view on life. Page seemed to have a rough sketch of where his music was taking him and maybe you could say he was a bit more organised then Hendrix. Hendrix way of living life was more relaxed and calm. The two as people were comparatively different but the two as guitar players were somewhat similar; Hendrix, seems to play more music that is at sometimes full on, whereas Page’s style as a soloist was mostly smooth and clean, but at times he liked to play rock and roll. Jose Feliciano was a Spanish man, born at Lares, Puerto Rico. He was born on the 10th of September 1945. He has been blind since birth, but he does not let this disability hold him back. Although he started off playing pop and rock material, he changed his tune and turned to more mainstream Latin music. Jose moved to New York, (like Hendrix did) and by 1962 had gained a lot of fame and respect. Feliciano has played with a few bands but has never really been committed to any one particular group. Hendrix and Jose are like chalk and cheese; they are completely different from each other, totally different style of playing and very different personalities. Mexican, Carlos Santa was born on the 24th of July 1947. Carlos at first was solely dedicated to playing jazz and funk, but as his fame grew he spread his talent further. He has played with many other well-known artists such as: Matchbox 20 singer Rob Thomas and Macy Gray. In 1967 he formed a band called Santana. The original line up consisted of a keyboard player, vocalist, drums, percussionists, rhythm guitar and lead guitar. As you can see it is a fairly large band. The band’s Jimi Hendrix played with usually just had the basic drum kit, bass guitar, vocalist and guitar but Carlos likes bigger bands with lots of percussion and a solid beat. Carlos is relatively similar to Hendrix in that they both love to have lots of guitar solos in their songs but Carlos just seemed to have the edge on Hendrix, not because of what they played but because of how they executed their music. Their personalities where to some extent comparable but Carlos was much more controlled and organised then Hendrix ever was. In conclusion, Jimi Hendrix was a very different musician to any other in his time and since. He was very laid back and unaware of the outside world. His music was so different compared to Mark Knopfler, John Lennon, Jimmy Page, Jose Feliciano and Carlos Santana because they wrote lyrics about things that happened in their life and world affairs, whereas Jimi wrote about the seedier side of life. Perhaps if Hendrix had of lived to the age of the other guitarists I have stated here, he might have changed his style of writing lyrics as his life changed and he matured. 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