The Path of Alcoholism
Most people don’t begin drinking with the intent to end up being an alcoholic struggling against a painful strong addiction. Most people begin with just a sip here, a drink there. So, some may wonder, “how does an individual go from casual drinking to alcoholism?”
Recent studies have shown that there are some specific factors that may contribute to a teen’s beliefs about alcohol use in their early teenage years. For example, some factors that can influence a teen’s attitude towards alcohol use and/or abuse may include:
- Alcohol related attitudes and actions of parents and other family members
- Alcohol related attitudes and actions of other adults encountered outside the family unit
- The attitudes toward alcohol use held by a teen’s peer group
- The actual level of alcohol intake happening in a teen’s peer group
- The amount of exposure to pro-alcohol and/or anti-alcohol messages through various forms of media
Many kids who head down the path toward alcoholism are influenced by their peers and begin to experiment with alcohol. This experimentation often leads to initial positive effects, which may be followed by negative long-term addictions. Regardless of how alcoholism originates, it is a very serious and dangerous disease that knows no boundaries and can cause many problems in any individual’s life.