Alcoholism has been a growing problem in many countries around the world. Many countries have their citizens’ struggle with alcohol addiction which has led to many profound effects including loss of lives and increased burden on the healthcare costs to treat the alcohol-related diseases. Many factors contribute to alcoholism in different countries, with reports showing that developing nations suffer most from the effects of alcohol addiction due to high rates of poverty and unemployment leading to depression amongst the citizens. This paper examines the prevalence of alcoholism in the three countries which include the United States, Japan, and Nigeria. Each of these countries has different prevalence rates of alcohol addiction, different population size and different economic growth.
Alcohol use in the United States has been rising over the past few years. According to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), at least 86% of people ages 18 and above reported to have used alcohol at some point in their life ( Logrip et al., 2015 ). The survey further shows that 12.9% of the adult American citizens struggle with heavy alcohol addiction. With the United States having a population of 326766748 according to 2018 reports, it means that at least 42 million Americans struggle with alcoholism. Alcoholism has had adverse effects on Americans with at least 88000 deaths taking place due to alcohol-related issues ( Gladwin et al., 2015 ). One of the reasons why Americans drink is due to the legality of alcohol. Drinking alcohol is legal not only in the United States but also in many other nations. Many view drinking as a form of relaxation after work, but some people engage in risky drinking and addiction. People feel that taking alcohol can help averse the psychological symptoms that may come due to the ever challenging environment. There is no regulation on people taking alcohol as long as one is an adult and this could be one of the reasons for the increase in the number of people drinking. According to the census, 209 million people in the US are ages 25 and above, and 66% of this population has a bachelor’s degree. However, at least 85% of adults have completed high school or its equivalent. More than 70% of the US population who have attained high levels of education does not engage in risky drinking habits thus the reason why alcoholism in the US is lower compared to the countries with low literacy levels and high unemployment rates. The United States also has rehabilitation programs and treatment centers for alcoholics which help many people get over the addiction.
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Japan is a country with a total population of 126.8 million. According to the reports by the Japan Ministry of Health and Welfare, 67% of the Japan population drink alcohol ( Osaki et al., 2016 ). Out of the total population of Japan, an estimated population of 2.5 million are heavy drinkers, representing 2.5% of the total population. This is a smaller percentage compared to the United States where at least 12% of the population are heavy drinkers. The reason for this difference is the drinking culture and attitude that exists between the two countries. In the US, alcohol is very common and found almost everywhere, and drinking is taken as an ordinary activity. Also, US does not allow underage drinking, but this law is not as restrictive as many underage people still drink. In Japan, underage drinking is not entertained, and it is an offense to sell alcohol to an underage ( Egawa et al., 2014 ). At the same time, high-risk drinking is prevalent in the United States due to the way people view alcoholism. This is unlike in Japan where people who engage in risky drinking are looked down upon. However, both Japan and the United States have rehabilitation and treatment programs for the alcoholics. The literacy levels in Japan is at 59%.
Nigeria is one of the African nations with the highest rates of drinking. With the drinking rates estimated to be at 89% for the whole adult population and 31% being high-risk drinkers, the country has witnessed the ever-rising rates of drinking ( Lasebikan& Ola, 2016). According to the 2017 reports, Nigeria has a population of 190.9 million people. The country has local bars at every junction in the cities and urban centers thus confirming the reports of high drinking rates. The culture of Nigeria people also makes it top on alcohol consumption. The culture of many festival and celebrations which see people come together to drink and eat has also contributed to the high prevalence rates of drinking. Compared to the development of Japan and the US, Nigeria is still a developing country with a GDP of 375.8 billion USD. The rates of unemployment are high in Nigeria, standing at 14.2% compared to the US at 4% and Japan at 2.5%. When many people are unemployed and do not have any economic activity, they tend to engage in risky drinking habits to averse their psychological problems. For this reason, Nigeria stands to have the highest drinking prevalence out of the three countries. Also, there are very few programs in Nigeria that aim at helping the alcoholics to recover. Unlike Japan and US which has many rehabilitation and treatment centers for drug addicts, such services are less accessible in Nigeria.
The first solution to the problem of alcoholism is behavioral treatment. This is a process which involves working with healthcare professionals to help identify and change certain behaviors that could be making a person get to negative drinking. It involves one-one counseling and conversation with the patient. Alcohol counseling can help build strong social support, develop positive behavioral change and might also assist in coping and avoiding getting back to alcoholism after treatment ( Wu et al., 2015 ). Under behavioral treatments, cognitive behavioral therapy can be used to help the patient change from the habits that cause excessive drinking. In this therapy, the therapist talks with the addicts and help them come over the psychological factors that could be leading one to take excess alcohol. There is also a motivational advancement therapy where the therapist help builds the motivation to help change the drinking behavior. This can occur by first making the patients understand how alcohol works and then build in them the motivation to stop drinking. The addicts should be made to understand that the solution the problem relies upon them. Making them first accept that they need help is the first step to successful behavioral change. After accepting their situation, they need to open up and make efforts that will help develop a positive behavior change. After therapy, the patient should be taken through the primary care. In primary care, the patient gets examined and evaluated for any health risk and assess if there is a need for any medication. Excessive drinking can have many health effects which require medication before getting to the levels that are life-threatening.
References
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