length: 914 words 2.6 double spaced pages alcohol consumption was initiated on reservations when traders in the nineteenth century started to offer it to oppressed and depressed native americans. Natives represent, in fact, the ethnic group with the highest degree of alcohol consumption in the united states. Confinement on reservations after displacement brought for native americans identity conflicts and assimilation problems. This situation promoted the abuse of liquor to mitigate the psychological pain inflicted by the dispossession of the land and enclosure in a limited and controlled space.

Both the stereotype of the noble savage and the drunken indian are recurrent figures in mainstream literature of the us. Native american literature of the 70s and 80s american indian literary renaissance focused on restoring the tribal inheritance of mixed blood indians who had been alienated both by whites and fellow indians. Serving in the army during world war ii or in the vietnam war, some tried to gain the respect of their fellow soldiers only to collapse completely and dive into an ocean of solitude. Westport connecticut: greenwood press, 19 alcohol is one of the most used and misused drugs known to man.

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Alcohol is usually included at celebrations or family and alcohol affects the nervous system by slowing the body's functions. Cirrhosis is a result of liver another risk of alcohol abuse is societal problems. Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant it slows down the bodys functions and its effects are similar to those of a general anaesthetic. If you take any alcoholic beverage and remove the ingredients that give it taste and colour, you get ethyl alcohol. The same symptoms surgical patient experiences under ether are those experienced by a person drinking alcohol.

Alcohol consumption is a learned behaviour no one likes the taste of alcohol at first. People drink out of curiosity, because of custom lets toast the bride and groom , or o escape from an unpleasant feeling with a sense of well being and euphoria. It is a primary disease: it is not caused by some underlying psychological or moral flaw.

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It is a progressive disease: it does not improve as long as one continues to drink. Image source: wonderful6pack.files.wordpress.com a primary characteristic of an alcoholic is a loss of control once an alcoholic starts to drink, he or she is not able to predict things or situations in a normal way. There are at least 300,0 alcoholics in australia and 1 person in 10 who drinks at all will become an alcoholic. 1,600,0 australians are affected either personally, or within their family by abuse of alcohol. Once alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream, it is rapidly distributed throughout the body. The most profound early effect is on the central nervous system, where it acts as a sedative, producing relaxation and sense of well being. When alcohol is taken regularly, in large amounts over many years, permanent physical damage will occur.

This damage is often aggravated by the lack of vitamins because most alcoholics have poor eating habits. In the final stages of alcoholism, parts of the brain are permanently damaged and confusion, disorientation and dts result. Any chemical that alters mood, feelings, co ordination, perception, or behaviour, alters the cells in the brain and disrupts their normal chemical behaviour. Alcohol can affect millions of nerve cells and change communication patterns throughout the brain. Alcohol can impair vision, distort hearing, muddle speech, impair judgement, dull the bodys senses, disturb motor skills, and reduce co ordination.

Deep inside the brain alcohol can affect the areas that control aggression, hunger and thirst, pleasure and pain, and body temperature. These effects are produced because alcohol inhibits blood from transporting oxygen to brain cells. When brain cells are deprived of oxygen, they become impaired and possibly die! thats brain damage.

Because the brain matures more slowly than other organs of the body, it may be even more susceptible to certain permanent, irreversible effects of alcohol. The hypothalamus is the portion of the brain that controls lour automatic reflexes: breathing, heartbeat, and other bodily operations over which an individual has no conscious control. When alcohol is present in the blood stream it directly affects the hypothalamus, possibly damaging it, particularly during the adolescent years. In addition, alcohol has a profound effect on the frontal lobe the part of the brain that allows us to analyse and program our behaviour. It also allows us to convert experience to memory and is responsible for the formation of our self image. Those who lower the energy levels in the brain by using alcohol or other toxic chemicals, lose not only mental capacity, but their ability to realise they have lost it. Peer pressure is very strong and the need to belong and to be accepted often leads a young person to yield to these pressures.