title: Consequences of alcohol addiction.
abstract: Abnormal alcohol consumption commonly leads to medical, psychiatric, neurologic, traumatic, neoplastic and sociologic sequelae. Adequate prevention or treatment of these conditions requires recognition of alcohol as a primary etiological or precipitating agent. The consequences of alcohol addiction must be separated from the alcoholic's actual motivation or drive to use alcohol. Alcohol reinforces and perpetuates its own use with psychosocial stressors not required to produce addiction in the biologically vulnerable. Psychosocial stressors may stimulate alcohol consumption, but not necessarily addiction in the nonvulnerable. The consequences of drinking do not produce the abnormal drinking. A major life problem associated with alcohol use may lead to a presumptive diagnosis of alcohol addiction, but definitive diagnosis is based upon the presence of a preoccupation with the acquisition, compulsive use of and relapse or recurrent use of alcohol.
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans