Children
Children who grow up in an alcoholic home continue to suffer deep emotional and behavioral damage into adulthood. Children often find themselves blamed by an alcoholic parent. Their home is filled with conflict, confusion and embarrassment. They often carry this feeling of disorder into their adult lives, which affects their own families, their co-workers and society at large. Alcoholism in families has a vicious cycle, because children of alcoholics can suffer from many different emotional and mental disorders including addictions to alcohol, gambling, drugs, sex and food. Many of them go on to marry or live with alcoholics or abusers. Children of alcoholics may become alcoholics themselves sometimes because of heredity factors, but also because of the environment they grew up in. More than half of domestic violence cases and as many as 90 percent of child abuse cases involve alcoholism, according to a survey by Priory Healthcare, a rehab center. Girls in alcoholic homes are four times more likely to suffer sexual abuse.
Economic Costs
Alcohol abuse is a multi-billion-dollar disease in terms of what it costs, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. But the pain and suffering it creates cannot be counted in dollars. There's the loss of employment, loss of earnings and reduced productivity as well as the cost for treatment and hospitalization. Motor vehicle crashes, crime, property loss and damage and social welfare programs can take a huge toll in dollars and on victims. Court and prison costs add up daily in towns and cities throughout the country. The NIAAA reported in 2000 that alcohol problems cost about $184 billion in health care, business and criminal justice costs, resulting in more than 100,000 deaths. The costs keep rising.
Health Care
The health care costs alone of alcohol are staggering. It's estimated that 25 percent to 40 percent of all patients in U.S. hospital beds are being treated for complications due to alcohol-related problems, according to The Marin Institute, an alcohol industry watchdog in San Rafael, California. Heavy drinkers have higher health care costs than moderate and non-drinkers. Alcohol-related car crashes are the No. 1 killer of teens. The drug problem is a major concern of parents. Alcohol is the drug most frequently used by teenagers and causes the most negative health consequences, The Marin Institute says.
