Paper Topic:

Operant Applications

Running head : Alcohol Dependence

Alcohol Dependence

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Abstract

Alcohol has been termed a poison to the body system and in high doses it can actually kill and so alcoholism is discouraged both in the medical world and the psychological world . Medical practitioners claim that alcohol dependency is a disease , while psychiatrists refute that claiming that it is a behavioral disorder and one becomes an alcoholic by choice . Doctors encourage medication in the treatment of alcoholism while psychiatrists believe that a therapy session is enough

to change the behavior of an alcoholic and one of the techniques they use to prove this is the ` Cognitive Therapy

ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE - BEHAVIORAL DISORDER OR DISEASE

Scientists argue that alcoholism is a disease that requires medication and not a behavioral disorder as claimed . According to them , the exact cause for it is not yet known though scientific research indicates it is an inherited disorder whose incidence increases by the number of alcoholic relatives . In science , the treatment is long term and is divided into two : detoxification so as to withdraw from alcohol followed by rehabilitation . Use of medicine , education and behavioral techniques are also proving useful during treatment . However , scientists still insist that alcoholism has no definite cure and the only reliable solution is abstinence

Scientific research has been argued against by psychologists . They insist that alcohol dependence is by no means a disease but a behavioral disorder . According to the Baldwin Research Institute , alcoholism is a choice that one makes and...

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