National Institute of Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism
Report

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First Special Report to the U.S. Congress
on Alcohol and Health

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Excerpt: Alcohol and Health
SSR: Writing, editing, management, and Fresh Eye

Preface

Man's desire to alter reality is one of the most ancient, persistent, and understandable of human needs. The many means used by people in diverse cultures reflect the universal necessity to transform oneself and one's world. In all times and places, people have enjoyed the mood-changing and pleasure-giving properties of alcoholic beverages. But, as is true with most pleasures, too much can be deleterious.

All individuals experience stress. In the face of stress, we all employ methods to maintain a dynamic equilibrium, both internally and externally. Most people, however, tend to believe that other people's coping mechanisms are not as good as their own. Thus while we are horrified by the abuse of such drugs as hallucinogens, narcotics, and stimulants by our youth, we pay little heed to the most abused drug of them all: Alcohol.

Threat to Life

Alcohol abusers shorten their life spans by 10 to a dozen years. Although these early deaths often result from the deleterious effects of alcohol on major body organs, alcohol is also implicated in death-through-violence: One-half of all traffic fatalities and one-third of all homicide victims have significant amounts of alcohol in their bloodstreams at the time of autopsy. We may not be able to quantify the violated quality of life incurred by alcohol abuse and alcoholism, but we know that many tens of millions of individuals and families are directly and indirectly affected by the 9 million persons with alcohol-related problems. A poignant aspect of these problems is their relation to many other forms of unhappiness: illness; family problems; poverty; job problems; or general demoralization. Although it cannot be said how often excessive drinking is the cause, and how often the effect, it is dramatically evident that alcohol-related problems go hand in hand with other forms of unhappiness.