Alcohol effect on community
Alcohol is a public health issue that largely affects almost all communities. Its effects can be felt far and wide and includes broken homes, increased healthcare costs, social isolations, employment issues among others. It should be noted that communities that aggressively address the alcohol issues perform better and have a higher health rate as compared to those that are reluctant on the issue. Alcohol addiction leads to inability to control oneself and increases personal weaknesses. This being the case, this paper will address the effect of alcohol on the community with a bias on the effect on health, family, and job and thereby conclude by making possible recommendations that can be used to reduce the impact of alcohol in the community.
Many research that have been done do not relate many health effects on controlled drinking but indicate health effect of alcohol on binge drinking or excessive drinking. All in all, there is no safe level because in most cases, the effects of alcohol are felt after several years of consumption. Research that has been carried out indicates that excessive alcohol consumption may lead to the reduction of the red blood cells in the body thus causing anemia. At the same time habitual drinkers are at higher risk of getting cancer, cardiovascular, and liver problems. Other effect of alcohol on the health of human include reduced fertility, high blood pressure and the risk of getting a heart attack. Alcohol affects the mind in that it interferes with the normal brain communication mechanisms thus causing disruptions that can lead to mood and behavior changes. The mood swing may lead to impair judgment due to impaired sight.
The effect of alcohol on the family cannot be underestimated as it can cause more pain and damage than other influences whether internal and external. Alcohol affects the unborn and may lead to the birth of deformed babies with mental and physical deformities that are irreversible. To the children whose parents are addicted to alcoholism, they may have psychological problems including feeling low esteem, having depression as a result of the parents behavior, feeling loneliness because the parents are usually not available to offer moral support and may lead to anxiety and stress. Children may grow up to become drinkers, may drop out of school due to parents inconsiderate actions while others may become abused by the parents. To the spouse or partner, alcoholism may lead to poor communication between the two leading to abuse and fights in the family. At the same time, it may deplete the finances that otherwise would have been used on other important household usage or investment. It may also lead to separation and reduced intimacy.
Alcoholism has a negative effect on work and workplace performance. This is supported by the fact that heavy drinkers are often late for work, have health problems and pose greater risk of harming themselves and others. The company suffers loss of production as a result of absenteeism and inability to work effectively by the alcoholic employee. The company might therefore decide to sack the employee thus rendering him/her jobless. At the same time, the alcoholic may start stealing from the company. All these affects the company since it has to undertake disciplinary procedures on the affected, undergo extra costs to hire new employees thus affecting the organization’s performance.
In conclusion, alcoholism and its effect on the community is real and ought to be addressed. It leads to broken families, medical complication and loss of self-esteem. This being the case, some of the strategies that can be used to address the issue of alcoholism in the community include interventions. This entails counselling the affected members and putting in laws that limit alcohol consumption. At the same time, to the affected, inpatient and outpatient programs could be undertaken to help the affected control their drinking habits. Therapy including psychosocial and peer group supports could help the addict in overcoming their drinking habits.