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Cuthbert Mavheko
HORDES of youths in Zimbabwe find themselves drifting in the midst of a raging sea of increasingly permissive and often abusive alcohol cross-currents. “Do your own thing”, a popular adage among today’s youths, has led many teenagers in the country to abuse alcohol, leaving multitudes of them bobbing up and down in the chilly pool of alcoholism.
The generality of youths in the country do not receive any alcohol education at home. Instead they receive it in the peer-pressured “beer bash” with its so-called fun of “getting smashed,” “bombed,” “loaded,” “plastered,” or “clobbered.”
In fact there is a litany of popular terminology that is used by youths to lessen guilt and dress up the evil consequences of drunkenness and lack of self-control caused by the abuse of alcohol.
Youths spend most of their time at vuzu parties, bottle-stores, shebeens and beer-gardens, partaking of alcoholic beverages and later engage in delinquent behaviour.
They assault people and commit a spate of crimes that include robbery and gang-rape, to mention just a few.
The trend is so frightening in what it portends that it ought to shake every concerned citizen of this country out of complacency and act now to stem the ominous tide of alcohol-induced lawlessness that is gnawing at the very moral fabric of our nation.
It is insightful to note that the abuse of alcohol is one of the greatest causes of loss of human productivity and of suffering and death the world over.
According to research, no other single force is more responsible for the problem of alcohol abuse than hypertension or excessive stress.
Joblessness, poverty, interpersonal strife, uncertainty about the future, a gnawing sense of hopelessness and helplessness are all factors that add up to create what Marc Schuckit, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California and an authority on alcohol problems described as a vague continuous feeling of anxiety that breeds the “disease” of change.
Millions of people the world over, particularly youths, seek to dull the pain of this “disease” by using alcohol.
They turn to alcohol to anaesthetise the stress produced by emotionally upsetting events or situations like poverty and unemployment, among others. The tragic irony is that the supposed panacea to their problems has itself created an epidemic.
What those who abuse alcohol fail to realise is that using alcohol to cope with stress only creates further stress, thereby contributing to a vicious cycle in a person’s life.
Sadly though, some people end up being caught up in the death-trap of alcoholism
Meanwhile, the chemical compound ethyl alcohol or ethanol, which is commonly referred to as alcohol is produced by natural fermenting processes of vegetative matter and is readily metabolised in small amounts in most people.
Alcohol is technically and pharmacologically classified as a drug because it alters the functioning of the body in a manner that no other substance does.
Yet it is the only drug that can also be classified as a food in small amounts because it provides calories and in some beverages like opaque beer, for instance, produce a few beneficial nutrients.
Be that as it may, the key point to note here is that alcohol is harmful if it is consumed in large amounts. High levels of alcohol in the bloodstream depress areas of the brain controlling vital organ functions — breathing, heartbeat and central nervous system responses dangerously weaken. This can easily lead to a coma or even death.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that as of 2010, there were 208 million people with alcoholism worldwide (4,1 percent of the population over 15 years of age).
In the United States, about 17 million (7 percent) of adults and 0,7 million (2,8 percent) of those aged 12 to 17 years of age are affected. Alcoholism is more prevalent among males and young adults, becoming less common in middle and old age.
Alcoholism directly resulted in 139,000 deaths in 2013 up from 112,000 in 1990. A total of 3,3 million deaths (5,9 percent of all deaths) are believed to be caused by alcoholism.
Many terms, some insulting, have been used to refer to people affected by alcoholism. These include tippler, drunkard, dipsomaniac and souse, to mention just a few.
In 1979, WHO discouraged the use of the term “alcoholism” due to its inexact meaning, preferring to call it alcohol dependence syndrome.
Alcoholism, also known as alcohol use disorder (AUD), is a broad term for any drinking of alcohol that results in problems.
Previously it was divided into two main types that is alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence.
In a medical context, alcoholism is said to exist when two or more of the following issues are manifested: a person drinks large amounts of alcohol over a long period of time, has difficulty in cutting down alcohol intake, acquiring and drinking alcohol takes a great deal of a person’s time, alcohol is strongly desired, usage of alcohol results in one being unable to fulfill certain responsibilities, health problems and risky situations.
As alluded to earlier, alcohol abuse can adversely affect some parts of the body, particularly the brain, heart, liver, pancreas and also the immune system.
This can result in mental illness, Wernicke Korsakoff syndrome, an irregular heartbeat, liver failure and an increase in the risk of cancer, among a litany of other diseases.
Drinking during pregnancy can cause damage to the body, resulting in fetal alcohol syndrome. Generally, women are more sensitive to alcohol’s harmful physical and mental effects than men.
One should state in conclusion that environmental factors and genetic factors are involved in causing alcoholism, with about half the risk attributed to each of these factors.
Research has discovered that a person with a parent or sibling with alcoholism is three to four times more likely to be alcoholic themselves. Environmental factors include social, cultural and behavioural influences. High stress levels, anxiety, as well as inexpensive, easily accessible alcohol increases the risk of alcoholism.
Online Reporter