| Popis: |
Alcoholism is one of the major health problems of the world. In the United States, it is believed that between 6 to 8 million adults of the total population of 220 million may be addicted to alcohol. It is generally overlooked that in terms of addiction, alcohol is of far greater importance than all of the other drugs combined (Rubin and Lieber, 1971). Alcoholism occurs as a consequence of chronic drinking and some form of predisposition, either psychological, biochemical, or genetic in nature. Recently, it has been shown that alcoholism is a form of drug addiction according to pharmacological criteria of tolerance and dependence (Mendelson and Mello, 1969). Various genetic and other psychosocial factors, such as sex, age, education, occupation, income and religion may all play an important role in the drinking habits of a population. According to one survey (Cahalan and Cisin, 1968), older people generally appear to drink less than younger people. However, senescence in some individuals is often associated with many adaptational and behavioral problems such as depression and anxiety brought on by financial insecurity, disability, or death of a family member (Busse and Pfeiffer, 1969). Such conditions may frequently lead to excessive drinking in some members of an older population. |
