Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a chronic pattern of impaired control over alcohol use and continued drinking despite harm, often accompanied by physical dependence. Clinical systems generally use the diagnosis alcohol use disorder.

Alcohol use disorder: A clinical diagnosis describing problematic alcohol use that causes significant impairment or distress. This is the current diagnostic framework used to describe the condition.
Alcohol detoxification: Medically supervised management of alcohol withdrawal during the initial period after drinking stops. Severe withdrawal may require supervised treatment before longer-term recovery work.
Benjamin Rush: An American physician and political leader who argued that habitual drunkenness was a disease. His writings helped frame chronic drunkenness as a medical problem.
Binge drinking: A drinking pattern that raises blood alcohol concentration to a high level in a short period. Binge drinking can cause harm without necessarily meeting criteria for a chronic disorder.
Alcohol-related liver disease: A spectrum of liver damage caused by prolonged or heavy alcohol consumption. It is a major physical consequence of sustained harmful drinking.
Alcohol dependence: A pattern of adaptation to repeated alcohol exposure, often involving tolerance and withdrawal. Physical dependence can make continued drinking partly a way to avoid withdrawal.
Cognitive behavioral therapy: A form of psychotherapy that addresses patterns of thought and behavior contributing to distress. It can help identify drinking triggers and practice strategies for changing behavior.
Thomas Trotter: A Scottish physician whose 1804 dissertation described habitual drunkenness as a disease. His early medical account helped establish disease language for persistent drinking.
Alcohol misuse: Use of alcohol in ways that increase risk or cause harm, without specifying a particular diagnosis. Harmful drinking is broader than the persistent impaired control associated with alcoholism.
Alcoholic cardiomyopathy: A weakening of the heart muscle associated with prolonged heavy alcohol consumption. Long-term alcohol exposure can damage the heart as well as the liver.

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