Heavy Drinking

Heavy Drinking informs the general public for the first time how recent research has discredited almost every widely held belief about alcoholism, including the very concept of alcoholism as a single disease with a unique cause. Herbert Fingarette presents constructive approaches to heavy drinking, including new methods of helping heavy drinkers and social policies for preventing heavy drinking and the harms associated with it.

Determine if your drinking is a problem, develop strategies for curbing your intake, and measure your progress with this practical, engaging guide to taking care of yourself. Every day, millions of people drink a beer or two while watching a game, shake a cocktail at a party with friends, or enjoy a glass of wine with a good meal. For more than 30 percent of these drinkers, alcohol has begun to have a negative impact on their everyday lives. Yet, only a small number are true alcoholics--people who have completely lost control over their drinking and who need alcohol to function. The great majority are what Dr. Doyle and Dr. Nowinski call "Almost Alcoholics," a growing number of people whose excessive drinking contributes to a variety of problems in their lives.In Almost Alcoholic, Dr. Doyle and Dr. Nowinski give the facts and guidance needed to address this often unrecognized and devastating condition. They provide the tools toidentify and assess your patterns of alcohol use;evaluate its impact on your relationships, work, and personal well-being;develop strategies and goals for changing the amount and frequency of alcohol use;measure the results of applying these strategies; andmake informed decisions about your next steps.

Alcohol use by young people is extremely dangerous - both to themselves and society at large. Underage alcohol use is associated with traffic fatalities, violence, unsafe sex, suicide, educational failure, and other problem behaviors that diminish the prospects of future success, as well as health risks â€" and the earlier teens start drinking, the greater the danger. Despite these serious concerns, the media continues to make drinking look attractive to youth, and it remains possible and even easy for teenagers to get access to alcohol. Why is this dangerous behavior so pervasive? What can be done to prevent it? What will work and who is responsible for making sure it happens? Reducing Underage Drinking addresses these questions and proposes a new way to combat underage alcohol use. It explores the ways in which may different individuals and groups contribute to the problem and how they can be enlisted to prevent it. Reducing Underage Drinking will serve as both a game plan and a call to arms for anyone with an investment in youth health and safety.

Alcohol is a killerâ€"1 of every 13 deaths in the United States is alcohol-related. In addition, 5 percent of the population consumes 50 percent of the alcohol. The authors take a close look at the problem in a "classy little study," as The Washington Post called this book. The Library Journal states, "...[T]his is one book that addresses solutions....And it's enjoyably readable....This is an excellent review for anyone in the alcoholism prevention business, and good background reading for the interested layperson." The Washington Post agrees: the book "...likely will wind up on the bookshelves of counselors, politicians, judges, medical professionals, and law enforcement officials throughout the country."

This book examines trends and social disparities in alcohol consumption. It assesses the health, social and economic impacts of key policy options for tackling alcohol-related harms in Canada, the Czech Republic and Germany, extracting policy messages for a broader set of countries.

“A game-changing look at one of our culture’s hidden problems. . . . Honest, brave and inspirational.” — Margaret Trudeau Over the past few decades, the feminist revolution has had enormous ramifications. Women outnumber their male counterparts in postsecondary education in most of the developed world and are about to do the same in the workplace. But what has not been fully documented or explored is that while women have gained equality in many arenas, they have also begun to close the gender gap on risky drinking. Binge drinking among women is on the rise, contributing exponentially to a wide array of health issues—a problem exacerbated by the alcohol industry itself. Battling for women’s dollars and leisure time, corporations have developed marketing strategies and products targeted exclusively to women. Girls’ Night Out wines, MommyJuice and Mommy’s Time Out, and berry-flavoured vodkas and fruit coolers are all aimed at the female consumer. Award-winning journalist Ann Dowsett Johnston illuminates this startling trend; dissects the psychological, social and financial factors that have contributed to its rise; and explores its long-lasting impact on our society and individual lives, including her own. In the bestselling Drink, she interweaves in-depth research and interviews with leading researchers with the moving story of her own struggle with alcohol, as well as those of many other women, from age seventeen to seventy. The result is an unprecedented and bold inquiry that is both informative and shocking.

This book explores the extent of underage drinking across Europe and North America, as well as our current understanding of factors that increase the risk of this behaviour and potentially effective evidence-based approaches to prevent underage drinking.