Impact on the Person
In addition to the everyday concerns we all have, alcoholics must also cope with the many problems caused by their drinking—health problems, family problems, job problems. Alcoholism creates its own world of anguish—anxiety, fear, guilt, anger, insecurity, and resentment. The way alcoholics deal with all this is through denial.
Impact on the Workplace
Alcoholics create excessive safety risks and have unusually high accident rates. Also, their performances decline and they are often absent or tardy. All this costs the company in down time, medical care, and property damage. In addition, alcoholism is often the cause of dissension in the workplace because coworkers have to fill in or cover up for the alcoholic.
Impact on the Family
Alcoholism has a way of bottling up an entire family. Not only does it make the alcoholic sick, it isolates family members from each other and from the world around them. Every alcoholic family has its own mixture of neglect, anger, suspicion, guilt, fear, and abuse that erodes the bonds that hold the family together. Alcoholism is not just the drinker’s disease, it is the whole family’s disease.
Impact on Society
Alcoholics are more often involved in traffic injuries and fatalities, accidents, fires, child and spouse abuse, homicides, and suicides. The cost in human suffering is incalculable. And alcoholism costs Americans billions of dollars every year in medical expenses, higher automobile insurance premiums, and property damage.
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