People have been drinking from brown paper bags for years now throughout the western world, although it is difficult to say from when it has been part of our culture. The terminology alcoholism though dates back to 1849 and has been attributed to Magnus Huss, who was a pioneer is related alcohol to serious health conditions.
The word alcoholism itself was not actually recognized in the US until the late 1930s, through the formation of the alcohol support group known as Alcoholics Anonymous or AA as it is sometimes referred to. AA does not actually give alcoholism a concrete definition, but recognizes it as something between an allergy and an illness with a team support method of accountability and responsibility being a way to control alcoholism.
The first Doctor to classify problems in chronic alcoholics was E. Morton Jellinek from New England. He defined an alcoholic as being a person who through the consumption of such large quantities of alcohol, had resulted in dramatic effects on his or her bodily and or mental health. These changes would also end up affecting the alcoholic’s personal relationships and or their employment capabilities.
He therefore concluded that treatment was necessary and nothing much has changed since then except that the definition has been slightly altered by a number of medical affiliations. The word alcoholism is currently referred to by the American Medical Association as a particular chronic primary disease.
There are though let’s say a minority in the medical profession who just will not accept that alcoholism is actually a disease, so critics like Herbert Fingarette and Stanton Peele only use the term heavy drinking in relation with the harmful effects of alcohol consumption.
So due to the fact that alcoholism does not actually have a concluded definition, the disease itself is not always easy to detect. It is extremely difficult to really pick out the differences between an alcoholic and somebody who just drinks on a regular basis. If you need a more detailed review regarding the disease of alcoholism then you should start off by having a look at the blog linked below which is packed with useful information.