| CHANGEISGOOD 2006-02-23, 11:09 am |
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What is 'Alcoholism'?
Alcoholism is a strange word.
Everyone uses it, and is certain of what it means. However, no two
people seem to be able to agree on a clear definition. To some, an
alcoholic is a chronic inebriate living in the streets. To others, it
is anyone who has missed more than one day of work or school because of
over-drinking the night before. Members of the World Health
Organization had such a difficult time agreeing on a definition that
they abandoned the word completely in 1978 and replaced it with
'alcohol abuse and dependence'. The American Psychiatric Association
did the same two years later.
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