Alcohol and Alcoholism Binge Drinking Exploratory

Alcohol

I began my research with an open mind. Alcohol was a huge topic, and I needed to narrow it down and come up with something meaningful to research. As I looked at the different aspects of drinking habits, one issue kept resurfacing that drew my attention. That issue was the long-term effects of drinking on the individual. I was interested in binge drinking, as well as heavy drinking sustained over time. Although I could not come at this from a physiology or medical point-of-view, I did hope to address some of the medical issues that will arise when researching alcohol, such as liver damage and liver disease. Ultimately, I developed a working research question I could use to guide my research and hone the issues. The research question I am currently using to conduct my research is, "How does alcohol as a whole affect the body in short- and long-term circumstances?"

This exploratory research question has already been yielding a vast wealth of references and resources. I started off by reading general articles on the topic of the short-term and long-term damages that alcohol can cause the body. I went to the websites of reputable organizations, avoiding websites with information that was unreliable. Some of the first websites I visited included the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, and the Mayo Clinic. These websites had a stupendous amount of information about alcohol and the effects on the body. The resources will help guide my thinking on the paper, because they are unbiased and thorough. Information about symptoms of liver disease, and of alcoholism, are combined with specific and targeted interventions to treat the problem.

After the initial exploration, I started to read some more detailed reports about the effects that alcohol has on the body. This included an article called "Drinking (Alcoholic Beverages)." It was found in the Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context, from October of 2012. This article was also objective in nature, providing me with further quantitative data to help me substantiate my research question with numerical information. Charts, and other visual data helped me to see what the effects of alcohol were on the body, and helped me come up with a proposed solution to that problem later. Interestingly, the Opposing Viewpoints article concluded that drinking in moderation was actually good for the body and healthy. The benefits of moderate drinking actually outweigh the costs, which means that alcohol itself is not the problem. Problem drinking, such as binge drinking, is the problem.

A story on ABC's 20/20 entitled "Intoxication Nation" caught my attention next. This television show was very disturbing to watch. I learned a lot about the extent to which people go to intoxicate themselves. There are parties called "blackout parties," in which the participants purposely drink so much that they lose consciousness. The problem of binge drinking has become an epidemic that is using up valuable law enforcement resources.

The United States seems to have a special relationship with alcohol. I learned this as I delved deeper into this issue. For example, in many countries that have lower rates of binge drinking than the United States, children have sips of wine with dinner or learn how to drink in moderation by the time they are teenagers. This moderation approach prevents what some call the "forbidden fruit" mentality. A forbidden fruit mentality means that the person who is denied alcohol as a "forbidden fruit" will be more likely to binge on that substance because it has added allure. This is what seems to be happening in the United States, where the cultural norms and laws against alcohol are too strict and prevent people from learning healthy drinking behaviors. If drinking in moderation has been proven to be healthy, then shouldn't researchers and policy makers be focusing on changing the law so that Americans learn healthy drinking behaviors rather than banning alcohol altogether? From personal experience, I know that learning moderate drinking behaviors as a child can help a person develop healthy attitudes toward alcohol as an adult.

Therefore, I realized quickly that my subject was still very broad, and also that I had not yet developed my thesis statement. The thesis statement in this case will connect the problems I addressed in the beginning (which are the short- and long-term effects of alcohol use) with a proposed solution. The solution to the problem will be in the realm of public health and will be related to the encouragement of moderate drinking via a relaxed approach to alcohol laws. My working thesis became: In order to reduce the instances of binge drinking and unhealthy drinking behaviors, it is important to encourage drinking in moderation.