Alcoholism is an addiction to alcohol or the mental illness resulting from alcohol dependency. It is the third highest cause of death in the U.S. due to its link to alcohol-related deaths. Some signs of alcohol abuse include continuing to drink despite health issues, injuries while drinking, and withdrawal symptoms like anxiety when stopping. Resources for support include counseling services and Alano clubs. Important messages for children of alcoholics are that the addiction is an illness, the child is not at fault and cannot fix it, and there are people who can help.

1. Alcoholism
Danielle Sorenson

2. Definition
 an addiction to the consumption of alcoholic liquor or the mental illness and
compulsive behavior resulting from alcohol dependency.

3. Statistics
 Three in four alcohol poisoning deaths involve adults ages 35 to 64 and most deaths occur
among men.
 100,000 people die each year from alcohol-related causes: drinking and driving crashes,
other accidents, falls, fires, alcohol-related homicides and suicides.
 Alcoholism was identified as a contributing factor in the deaths of 30 percent of those who
died from alcohol poisoning from 2010 to 2012.
 The group with the most alcohol poisoning deaths per million people is American
Indians/Alaska Natives.
 Alcohol abuse is the third highest cause of death in the in the U.S. (due to its link to alcohol-
related deaths.)
 Prevalence of Drinking: According to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health
(NSDUH), 86.4 percent of people ages 18 or older reported that they drank alcohol at some
point in their lifetime; 70.1 percent reported that they drank in the past year; 56.0 percent
reported that they drank in the past month.

4. Symptoms
Signs of alcohol abuse:
 Your friends or family members are
worried about your drinking.
 You keep drinking even though you
have health problems that are
caused or made worse by alcohol
use, such as liver disease.
 You get hurt or you hurt someone
else when you are drinking.
Signs of alcohol addiction:
 You cannot quit drinking or control
how much you drink.
 You need to drink more to get the
same effect.
 You have withdrawal
symptoms when you stop drinking.
These include feeling sick to
your stomach, sweating, shakiness,
and anxiety.
 You have given up other activities
so you can drink.

5. Resources/Support
 Coulee Council on Addictions
http://www.couleecouncil.org
 Alanoclubs http://alanoclubs.org
 Counseling Associates, LLC.
http://www.counselingassociateslacrosse.com

6. Strategies
Important messages for children of addicted parents to hear include:
 Alcoholism/drug dependency is a sickness.
 You can’t make it better.
 You deserve help for yourself.
 You are not alone.
 There are safe people and places that can help. k There is hope.
 http://nacoa.org/wp-
content/uploads/2016/01/pdf/9a722892fce516a1d9ce1c3f4bb0df1f-EDkit-
web-06.pdf

7. videos
 How an alcoholic parent effects a child:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2aMVBTknGU
 How to deal with an alcoholic parent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bMwDq1wXXQ

8. Sources
 https://talbottcampus.com/2015-alcoholism-statistics/
 https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-
consumption/alcohol-facts-and-statistics
 http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/alcohol-abuse-and-
dependence-symptoms