Alcoholism

Why do people drink alcoholic beverages (beer, distilled spirits, or wine)? Positive reasons for drinking alcoholic beverages include: Celebrating significant occasions with friends or loved ones. Enhancing enjoyment of social activities and relaxation. Complementing certain meals. Participating in religious ceremonies. Enjoying the taste as a beverage of choice. Negative reasons for drinking alcoholic beverages include: Escaping from tension or worries. Blocking out painful feelings such as fear, loneliness, and self-doubt. Attempting to relate better to …

…and legal, financial, or spiritual problems. Denial is used here not only in the psychoanalytic sense of a single psychological defense mechanism disavowing the significance of events, but more broadly to include a range of psychological maneuvers designed to reduce awareness of the fact that alcohol use is the cause of an individual's problems rather than a solution to those problems. Denial becomes an integral part of the disease and a major obstacle to recovery.