a disease in which a person craves alcohol, is unable to limit his or her drinking, needs to drink greater amounts to get the same effect, and has withdrawal symptoms after stopping alcohol use. alcoholism affects physical and mental health, and causes problems with family, friends, and work. also called alcohol dependence.
出典:Wikipedia
出典:『Wikipedia』 (2011/08/08 00:06 UTC 版)
Alcoholism is the addiction to or dependency upon drinking excessive amounts of alcoholic beverages. Since the late twentieth century it has been considered an addictive disorder. It is characterized by compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcohol, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, relationships, and social standing. Like other drug addictions, alcoholism is medically defined as a treatable disease. The term alcoholism is widely used, and was first coined in 1849 by Magnus Huss, but in medicine the term was replaced by the concepts of "alcohol abuse" and "alcohol dependence" in the 1980s DSM III. (The term alcohol dependence is sometimes used as a synonym for alcoholism, sometimes in a narrower sense.) Similarly in 1979 an expert World Health Organisation committee disfavoured the use of "alcoholism" as a diagnostic entity, preferring the category of "alcohol dependence syndrome". In the 19th and early 20th centuries, alcohol dependence was called dipsomania before the term "alcoholism" replaced it.