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Alcohol abuse: A pattern of problem drinking that results in health consequences, social problems, or both. Different from alcoholism or alcohol dependence.
Alcohol dependence: See Alcoholism.
Alcoholic: A person with the chronic disease or illness of alcoholism.
Alcoholism: A disease or illness that includes alcohol craving and continued drinking despite repeated alcohol-related problems, such as losing a job or getting into trouble with the law. Symptoms include craving, impaired control, physical dependence, and increased tolerance.
Binge drinking: Heavy drinking over a short period of time. This generally means five or more drinks in a row for men and four or more drinks in a row for women; this may be repeated over several days.
Codependency: A set of maladaptive, compulsive behaviors learned by family members to survive in an emotionally painful and stressful environment. These behaviors are passed on from generation to generation whether alcoholism is present or not.
Denial: A psychological defense mechanism that reduces awareness of the fact that alcohol use is the cause of an individual's problems.
Dependence: Physiological and/or psychological reliance on or addiction to a substance, which results from the recurrent use of the substance; characterized by mental and/or physical changes in the user that make it difficult to stop usage.
Detoxification: The process of safely getting alcohol out of one's system.
Disease: An involuntary disability. Alcoholism is a chronic disease consisting of genetic, psychosocial, and environmental elements.
Impaired control: The inability to limit alcohol use or to limit the duration, quantity, and/or the behavioral consequences of drinking.
Inpatient treatment: Treatment (also called rehabilitation) for an addiction that takes place in a controlled environment such as a hospital. The patient is checked into the hospital and remains there until treatment has ended.
Legal drinking age: The age at which people are permitted by law to purchase alcoholic beverages.
Outpatient treatment: Treatment for an addiction that takes place without the patient being checked into a hospital or treatment center. Often, intensive outpatient treatment involves several hours of therapy per day scheduled around the patient's normal daily activities. Regular outpatient treatment is often one or two sessions per week.
Primary disease: Refers to the nature of a disease in addition to and separate from other states associated with it. A disease that is not a symptom of another illness.
This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.
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