Alcohol Rehabilitation Directory

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When most people contemplate the harmful effects of alcohol abuse, they tend to picture the impact on the actual individual with the problem. This includes a large host of negative side effects from mild issues such as loss of control to more permanent or long lasting ones in the form of liver damage. In reality, however, alcohol abuse affects much more than simply the individual who is abusing it; it also affects every person they come into contact with, particularly their family members and close friends, fellow employees and society as a whole.

Effects On Family

Those who abuse alcohol tend to be increasingly irritable and have poor reasoning and judgment and as anticipated, this in turn affects those around them. This poor judgment and irritability can lead to an increase in violent crimes as well as domestic abuse, whether it is physical or verbal. In fact, studies have even shown that children who live with alcoholics will usually feel that they are socially isolated, be more likely to develop depression, and have lower grades in school.

Not Fulfilling Obligations

The lack of reasoning associated with alcohol abuse as well as the physical side effects can lead to those who abuse the substance not fulfilling their obligations and this is true for all areas of life including responsibilities at work, home, and school. If a person fails to turn up to work because of alcohol abuse, whether due to drinking at the moment or an injury related to it, this will also represent a decrease in workplace productivity and that can negatively impact the economy as a whole, even if the difference in productivity per person seems small. Those who abuse alcohol are more likely to miss work and to be less productive when they do show up, further contributing to the issue. In 1992, the number of estimated productivity loss associated with those who abused alcohol at some point in their life was $66.7 billion.

Violent Crimes

Each year thousands of murders and other violent crimes occur that are related to alcohol abuse. In fact at one point around 34% of murder cases involved alcohol and over half of rapists had consumed alcohol prior to committing the crime.

Unintentional Injuries

Those who abuse alcohol are also much more likely to cause unintentional injuries, both to themselves and other members of society in general. Many people are aware of the large number of people injured each year by drunk drivers, but even in terms of non-traffic related injuries, alcohol abuse leads to many unintentional accidents each year. These include a wide range of issues and poisoning, gunshot, falls, drowning, hypothermia, and burns or fires have affected both the person abusing alcohol and those around them over the years. When one of these injuries occurs to someone who is by the alcoholic, it represents a huge effect on society as an innocent and unrelated person suffers from the actions of another.

Fatalities

Perhaps the most serious and certainly the most irreversible effect of alcohol abuse on society would be in the form of fatalities. Experts say that every year alcohol is related to over 100,000 deaths and although that is a small percentage of the population, it is still a large impact on society as a whole. This is particularly true when you factor in those related to the victim who have lost friends or family members.

Health Care Costs

As far back as the 1990s, experts were already aware of the large cost to society via health care for those with alcohol abuse. A large portion of this is due to the fact that over half of the confirmed reports of abuse were related to alcohol. Even as long ago as 1983, alcohol use cost an estimated $15 billion in terms of treatment and general health care. This number has increased over the years due to inflation and the rising cost of medical care.

The Effects on Infants

No one is able to escape the effects of alcohol abuse on society, not even babies. Fetal alcohol syndrome is a very real issue that affects somewhere between 0.2 and 1.5 out of every 1,000 live births within specific areas of the United States. Other studies have put the rate somewhere from 0.5 to 2.0 out of 1,000 live births but scientists feel this number may only reflect a third of the actual statistics. While the numbers vary greatly from state by state, any child that is born with fetal alcohol syndrome will have to deal with the negative effects of alcohol. Additionally society as a whole will notice these effects through the increased health care needs of the child.