Resilience and burnout
Anna-leila Williams in Integrating Health Humanities, Social Science, and Clinical Care, 2018
Alcohol is the most commonly abused chemical substance worldwide. The medical diagnosis, alcohol use disorder, is “a chronic relapsing brain disease characterized by compulsive alcohol use, loss of control over alcohol intake, and a negative emotional state when not using” (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, n.d.). Several studies have found associations between health professional burnout and alcohol use disorder. A 2012 study surveyed over 7,000 members of the American College of Surgeons for self-report of alcohol use disorders, clinical depression, the three burnout domains (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low personal achievement), and reporting medical error in the three months prior to the survey (Oreskovich et al., 2012). Results showed 15.4% of surgeons met criteria for moderate or severe alcohol use disorder (13.9% of male surgeons and 25.6% of female surgeons). The surgeons’ results are considerably higher than the data reported for the general US population, which shows overall 9.4% of the population meet criteria for all substance misuse, including alcohol. In addition, the gender differential for surgeons with alcohol use disorders is a reversal of what is documented for the general US population, which shows men are more than twice as likely as women are to abuse all substances. Risk for alcohol use disorders among the surgeons increased for those who had burnout, depression, and reported medical error in the three months prior to the survey.
Assessment of Co-occurring Disorders, Levels of Care, and ASAM Requirements
Tricia L. Chandler, Fredrick Dombrowski, Tara G. Matthews in Co-occurring Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders, 2022
The addition of a severity index to the current diagnosing system considers that some individuals are less involved than others. With as few as two symptoms, an individual can be diagnosed with a use disorder. It is entirely possible at this point to diagnose any individual who has used alcohol normally throughout their life, who now requires more alcohol to feel ‘drunk’ and experience a hangover, with a mild alcohol use disorder. This would, of course, be a mistake and abuse of the system. The severity index was created to acknowledge that there is a continuum in diagnostics. Unfortunately, the research has not supported the effectiveness of the severity index as providing a more precise treatment plan (Lane et al., 2016). However, these findings are more of a reason for the professional to thoroughly analyze the level of dysfunction of an individual. Any assessment of an individual must include the apparent and reported dysfunction of the individual.
Alcohol Use Disorders: Diagnosis and Treatment
James M. Rippe in Lifestyle Medicine, 2019
Ms. Howard is a married 43-year-old who presents to establish care in a community primary care practice. She has no specific concerns. On routine questioning, she admits to intake of half a bottle of wine, sometimes more, per night for the past two to three years. On further social history, she explains that she has been an unemployed lawyer since being a stay-at-home mom for several years. Her family history is significant for her father’s premature death at age 40 from a boating accident that may have been alcohol-related. On exam, she has elevated blood pressure and, on cardiac auscultation, an audible S4; she has no stigmata of chronic liver disease. At the conclusion of the history taking and the physical exam, the care provider contemplates how to assess the patient’s likelihood of alcohol use disorder, how to follow up a positive screening test, and how to provide counseling and treatment to prevent disease progression based on the information found below in this chapter.
The Sexual Experiences and Sexual Problems Encountered by Men with Alcohol Use Disorder: A Qualitative Study
Published in Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 2023
Havva Gezgİn Yazici, Latife Utaş Akhan
Alcohol use disorder is a multidimensional and chronic condition that affects an individual’s physical and psychological state, has an impact on one’s social and economic life, and disrupts sexual health and therefore quality of life (Dişsiz, 2015). It is known that since alcohol can cause neurogenic damage, a long-term and high consumption of alcohol leads to sexual dysfunction in men (Pendharkar et al., 2016; Prabhakaran et al., 2018). High doses of alcohol inhibit sexual arousal, hinders erection and causes ejaculation problems. A long history of alcohol intake affects various systems of the body and leads to almost every kind of sexual dysfunction in men (Ghadigaonkar & Murthy, 2019). Wielding an adverse effect on male sexual functions, alcohol can also lead to low self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and a deterioration of physical health (Diehl et al., 2016). In a study by Prabhakaran et al., where the authors worked with male patients with an alcohol addiction to explore the effects of alcohol on sexual dysfunction, it was reported that 37% of the patients had sexual dysfunction (Prabhakaran et al., 2018). In a study in Central India, it was shown that 48% of alcohol-dependent male patients had sexual dysfunction (Bhainsora et al., 2021). A study conducted in Poland revealed that about 72% of alcohol-dependent patients complained of one or more sexual problems (Siembida et al., 2018).
Male mice exposed to chronic intermittent ethanol exposure exhibit significant upregulation or downregulation of circular RNAs
Published in The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 2022
Zhe Gong, Xiaoming Rong, Xiangpen Li, Hongxuan Wang, Dandan Liu, Lei He, Jingrui Pan, Qingyu Shen, Ying Peng
Alcohol use disorder is characterized by loss of control in alcohol consumption, a strong desire for alcohol drinking, and anxiety or depression during withdrawal. It involves several neurobiological aspects, including alterations of various neurotransmitters and their receptors in specific areas (1), neuroinflammation (2), and neurohormonal changes (3). Among these, neurotransmitters, including dopamine, glutamate, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), serotonin, and endogenous opiates, are thought to be involved in the motivation for drug seeking and maintenance of alcohol use after developing an alcohol use disorder (4,5). Despite the harmful consequences of this disorder, effective preventive strategies and treatment options remain suboptimal. Moreover, the biomarkers of alcohol use disorder remain unknown.
Prevalence and psychological correlates of alcohol use among Nigerian university students
Published in Journal of Substance Use, 2021
Rachel B. Asagba, Samson F. Agberotimi, Abayomi O. Olaseni
Finding on the prevalence of alcohol use among the university student population across the six geo-political of Nigeria revealed that the majority of the students constituting 68.8% of the total sample reported that they do not take alcoholic beverages. It was further established that 16.8% of the participants reported non-risk drinking. This implies that the individuals using alcohol at this level are probably recreational or occasional drinkers, and not likely to experience any serious adverse consequence from their alcohol use. A worrisome part of this finding is the proportion of the sample that reported the dependence level of alcohol use. This indicates a definite problematic drinking behavior to the extent that individuals drinking at this level can be said to have alcohol use disorder. In a related study by Verankar and Vaz (2018) 39.4% of the sampled student population reported alcohol consumption, with the majority (82.3%) of the drinkers being non-risk drinkers and 17.7% reported problem drinking behavior. Previous scholars have also expressed concern about the high prevalence of alcohol use among university students in Nigeria, suggesting that the phenomenon is as a result of freedom and a wide variety of new experiences, choices, and influence that the university education offers (Ajayi et al., 2019; Ekpenyong & Aakpege, 2014; Olley & Alade, 2016).
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