Are there more alcoholics today than in the past?

Question

I'm working on a school paper, and I need to write about the sociological aspect of alcoholism, and I need a little help. Do you think that there are more alcoholics now than in the past? And if so, why do you think that? A couple of the things that I thought of:

The decline in economy (leads to psychological problems which leads to alcoholism), more advertising (no solid proof of this, just a thought), general growing of acceptance (when people accept alcohol they generally have kids that will accept alcohol, so on and so forth), and more parents willing to buy their child alcohol due to a change in cultural values.

If you think their are more alcoholics in the past than now, why do you think that?

Thanks for the help in advance!

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

I think there are more alcoholics in the present. BUT, I only think that because alcoholism is more pronounced now than it was in the past. In the past, society didn't view drinking as a problem, but now if you depend on alcohol it is seen as a major problem. Society is also more conscious of the health, mental and emotional side effects of alcoholism now than it was in the past which makes it quick to pick up on alcoholism. This could also reason as to why there were no laws against drink driving in the past!

I guess in retrospect, you could compare it to smoking. In the past, smoking wasn't seen as a hazard or a bad habit, but majority of society certainly views it that way now!

Anonymous · Answer

More alcoholics today harmful then in the past.

Anonymous · Answer

Agree it's more widely available then when I was a kid. 

Of course I'm doing my bit to reduce the amount

RAVEN · Answer

i think there are
alcohol is more readily available now than it ever was and its so cheap that almost anyone can buy it
teens seem to turn to drink younger and younger now, blaming "nothing else to do"

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Are there more alcoholics today than in the past?

4 Answers