Alcohol Use and Abuse

This article is quite informative and it gives a very positive message. At the end of the day an alchoholic is a human being, and we should treat him like a human being and care for him like a patient.

Hate the sin, dont hate the sinner.

Re: # 22
dear foggy 1...what i meant was that those people who have a family history of alcoholism and depression and also brought up by alcoholic parents might have a biochemical predisposition to alcohol abuse and if they have a environment full of alcohol and drugs they might get more involved in alcohol abuse than their friends who do not have such physical and psychological predisposition.
it is upto families, schools and communities to develop programs so that people vulnerable to addictions are identified and treated early than late. how can you deal with the problem when people are either in denial or are waiting for divine intervention rather than taking responsibility of their behaviours individually and collectively. thanks for your meaningful feedback.
sincerely sohail

in your article you have mentioned addictive personality. is there any developmental or predictable inkling to it? or is it just a label after the deed is done. before the person becomes actually addicted to some thing like alcohol, what is he? a weak or an unstable personality? Globally, but more in the developed world, there are places where the weak and unstable personality can be defined, spotted and approached for timely intervention. for instance schools college, other educational institutions, places of work, clinics, hospitals and other medical institutions, and not forgetting prisons. proper records are available and excellent reference bases exist. suicide and homicide are the culminating two end all be alls of an @addictive personality@ i gather, and must be apprehended. in pakistan the exposure to alcohol is covert,and therefore cannot be approached easily. school going children are exposed to poetry like that of Ghalib, and are exposed to the mystic, beautiful nature of wine ensconced in superb words. while the accent would be on teaching and appreciation of the art of poetry of a truly unparalleled remarkable poet -ghalib. yet children cannot help wondering at the qualities of a banned fluid that makes the imagination flow like -wine!!!

Re: # 20
dear muh...adil...thanks for your appreciation...sohail

Very informative article, best wishes sir.

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Re: # 18
dear ejaz...feedback from people like you makes creative sharing worthwhile and meaningful. thank you...sohail

Dr Sahib:

Thanks for the 411 on alcohol. Your articles are always informative and insightful.

Ejaz

masadi yaar,

You are really wasting your time on chowk.

Most of us on chowk are bullshitters who don't give a fuk one way or another, but like to argue for the sake of argument.

You have well reasoned arguments, mostly. But you fall for the trolls easily and get riled up and lose track. I think you are just raising your overall anger and bloodpressure up here...

my 2 cents.
with much respect,
thinking storm

I fully comprehend what the author wrote. He tried to discuss the problem of alcoholism based on his experience in West. Lets not try to derive meanings which do not even exist. If the author wanted to insult our culture, there are more open and direct ways rather than discussing the problem of alcoholism in West. Although you may counter argue by saying that perhaps author wantd to "insult" our culture in a subtle manner.

Kulharee writes "You should stick to your tasbee and musala and leave stuff like this to experts, such as Dr. Sohail. "

The day we leave things to "experts" like him will be the day the world goes to hell....wait, people like him are already taking it there. Regarding "responsible drinking", the slogan that is advertised, is deceptive because of the nature of the addictive substance due to its chemical effect on the brain. Now I know that you are incapable of responding to my arguments with reason, eventhough you understand fully what I am saying, but that is no reason to just repeat the claim and say "everything does that"- when i) everything is not of the same addictive/chemical "nature" as alcohol, ii) and the benefits/versus harms criteria is quite valid in the judgment of that "everything"- iii) when given i) and ii) the harms include wide scale death through car wrecks, disease, as well as a factor in crime and domestic abuse- we know what needs to be done, similar logic to outlawing the higher drugs that cause lesser harm than alcohol...

Regarding the boring "peon of the West" thing, when you throw out fake statistics to prove your point about the "West" and never lose a chance to deride Islam and praise the West, the statment "peon of the West" is proven true, regardless of "boring". I give a rat's fart about entertaining you.....

Masadi, I am sure in there, there is some point that you are trying to make. But it is really hard to figure out what that point may be. How about taking some courses in effective communication skills? Your old band-baja of peon of the west is now getting a bit boring. I stand corrected: extremely boring.

Another gem from Madasi: “There is no such thing as “responsible” drinking on a society-wide level.” Is there “reponsible” anything at society-wide level? You are such a doffus. You should stick to your tasbee and musala and leave stuff like this to experts, such as Dr. Sohail.

When we look at alcohol consumption on a "personal" level then some people can definitely control their booze, but when we look at it on a "social level", then its free flowing availability produces, as we have seen (read my post below) to wide scale problems and wide scale abuse as well, it becomes a social problem a "public issue". Its benefits (recreation etc) in that context compared to those harms (wide scale death and disease, crime etc) are comparatively miniscule (just as the Quran suggests in quite scientific terms). Therefore whenever public health and well being is concerned, if a "drug"- and alcohol is one is found to have greater harms and side effects than benefits, its distribution is not allowed period, that is the criteria that the FDA in the US follows and what the science that is humanistic in its outlook would recommend.


Note: repost from below

Alcohol temporarily increases brain serotonin function, but after that temporary rise, levels of serotonin fall below the normal level. This reduced serotonin level is linked to a heightened vulnerability to depression, increased risk of violent suicide, aggressive and impulsive behavior, and a tendency to further abuse alcohol, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Alcohol consumption in any amount leads biologically (through serotonin) to a tendency to abuse it. There is no such thing as “responsible” drinking on a society-wide level.

razaraja writes "The author is not taking a pro west position and in fact has discussed the problem of alcoholism"

He is indeed taking a pro-West position and trying to deride the other culture, unless you are unable to comprehend what you are reading. For those of us who have to suffer article after moronic article this trend in his writing as in the writing of the other co-conspirator Mohammed Gill is quite obvious...

Kulharee writes "Linking crime to Alcohol is quite simplistic way of looking at crime. It will be like arguing that 100% of crimes committed by muslims are related to Islam"

A completely BS comparison by someone who doesn't have a clue about what he is talking about. That alcohol is a factor in crime does not mean that it causes crime by itself, you have to look at structural and process causes and alcohol is a major factor in all process causes of violent crime, i.e. its effect is more indirect, in the form of facilitator. Comparing a chemical substance that is known to produce aggression and make antisocial behavior more tolerable thereby facilitating crime, to the religious identity of the criminal i.e. Islam to Muslim or Christianity to Christian is the most absurd use of parallels that I have ever read but that is what we have come to expect from people like Kulharee and the rest of the "West is Best"- peons of the colonials...

Regarding the per-capita claim for crime, not to mention the fact that a small percent of crime gets reported that makes it to the official statistics, no conlcusion can be drawn from per-capita crime rates about a society except for the activity of its police force- I have been teaching this stuff punk- next, most of the developed countries have a much higher per capita crime rate than most Muslim countries where alcohol is outlawed. Once again Kulharee was speaking through his moth eaten soul where he wants to legitimize the disease just because his gods that pay him a few dollars have it as part of their culture and high life...

Re: # 10
dear kulharee....i agree with you that delinquency and crime are multifactorial...involving emotional...social...economic...political factors.
on a lighter note. somebody said
10% of roadside accidents are by alcoholics...that means 90% are by sober people. if sober people stayed away from road even alcohilcs have more space and less accidents...smiles
i value your feedback..thanks for appreciarion...sincerely sohail

Linking crime to Alcohol is quite simplistic way of looking at crime. It will be like arguing that 100% of crimes committed by muslims are related to Islam. The countries with the least per capita crime also happen to be the places where Alcohol is freely available.

Very informative article Dr. Sohail Sahib. Thank you.

Dr.Sahib is right, Karl Marx said famously, religion opium of masses.
Alcohol is kind of neutral and may be good if just used for nasha, little entertainment that is responsible use of alcohol to support people working in Liquior specially hard working poor people but too much is abuse. QA MAJ , einstein, Churchill ,etc are people who used alcohol all life for entertainment but were not drunkard.