alcoholism thesis statement

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Developing Strong Thesis Statements

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

The thesis statement or main claim must be debatable

An argumentative or persuasive piece of writing must begin with a debatable thesis or claim. In other words, the thesis must be something that people could reasonably have differing opinions on. If your thesis is something that is generally agreed upon or accepted as fact then there is no reason to try to persuade people.

Example of a non-debatable thesis statement:

This thesis statement is not debatable. First, the word pollution implies that something is bad or negative in some way. Furthermore, all studies agree that pollution is a problem; they simply disagree on the impact it will have or the scope of the problem. No one could reasonably argue that pollution is unambiguously good.

Example of a debatable thesis statement:

This is an example of a debatable thesis because reasonable people could disagree with it. Some people might think that this is how we should spend the nation's money. Others might feel that we should be spending more money on education. Still others could argue that corporations, not the government, should be paying to limit pollution.

Another example of a debatable thesis statement:

In this example there is also room for disagreement between rational individuals. Some citizens might think focusing on recycling programs rather than private automobiles is the most effective strategy.

The thesis needs to be narrow

Although the scope of your paper might seem overwhelming at the start, generally the narrower the thesis the more effective your argument will be. Your thesis or claim must be supported by evidence. The broader your claim is, the more evidence you will need to convince readers that your position is right.

Example of a thesis that is too broad:

There are several reasons this statement is too broad to argue. First, what is included in the category "drugs"? Is the author talking about illegal drug use, recreational drug use (which might include alcohol and cigarettes), or all uses of medication in general? Second, in what ways are drugs detrimental? Is drug use causing deaths (and is the author equating deaths from overdoses and deaths from drug related violence)? Is drug use changing the moral climate or causing the economy to decline? Finally, what does the author mean by "society"? Is the author referring only to America or to the global population? Does the author make any distinction between the effects on children and adults? There are just too many questions that the claim leaves open. The author could not cover all of the topics listed above, yet the generality of the claim leaves all of these possibilities open to debate.

Example of a narrow or focused thesis:

In this example the topic of drugs has been narrowed down to illegal drugs and the detriment has been narrowed down to gang violence. This is a much more manageable topic.

We could narrow each debatable thesis from the previous examples in the following way:

Narrowed debatable thesis 1:

This thesis narrows the scope of the argument by specifying not just the amount of money used but also how the money could actually help to control pollution.

Narrowed debatable thesis 2:

This thesis narrows the scope of the argument by specifying not just what the focus of a national anti-pollution campaign should be but also why this is the appropriate focus.

Qualifiers such as " typically ," " generally ," " usually ," or " on average " also help to limit the scope of your claim by allowing for the almost inevitable exception to the rule.

Types of claims

Claims typically fall into one of four categories. Thinking about how you want to approach your topic, or, in other words, what type of claim you want to make, is one way to focus your thesis on one particular aspect of your broader topic.

Claims of fact or definition: These claims argue about what the definition of something is or whether something is a settled fact. Example:

Claims of cause and effect: These claims argue that one person, thing, or event caused another thing or event to occur. Example:

Claims about value: These are claims made of what something is worth, whether we value it or not, how we would rate or categorize something. Example:

Claims about solutions or policies: These are claims that argue for or against a certain solution or policy approach to a problem. Example:

Which type of claim is right for your argument? Which type of thesis or claim you use for your argument will depend on your position and knowledge of the topic, your audience, and the context of your paper. You might want to think about where you imagine your audience to be on this topic and pinpoint where you think the biggest difference in viewpoints might be. Even if you start with one type of claim you probably will be using several within the paper. Regardless of the type of claim you choose to utilize it is key to identify the controversy or debate you are addressing and to define your position early on in the paper.

Custom Essay, Term Paper & Research paper writing services

• testimonials

Toll Free: +1 (888) 354-4744

Email: [email protected]

Writing custom essays & research papers since 2008

Alcoholism research paper: writing guide & topics.

Writing a research paper on alcoholism might seem like pushing a cart downhill; nevertheless, most students end up feeling frustrated. The need to bring out a new and captivating piece, in the end, remains a dream to many. But luckily, there’s a way out!

Read the sections that follow and forget about alcoholism research paper hangovers and blackouts.

How To Write an Alcoholism Research Paper Thesis

As earlier introduced, knowing the secret behind any successful paper puts you in the winning team. We need to note that such an article will majorly serve two essential purposes:

• To fight alcoholism
• To raise awareness among the people

The alcoholism outline for the research paper is as follows:

Alcoholism Research Paper Intro

An exciting introduction will hook the reader to your research paper. He/she will want to read more to feed his curiosity. Since the intro is the first paragraph that meets the reader’s eye, it should be outstanding as much as possible.

You can spice up your introduction in the following ways:

Present unexpected statistics and facts on alcoholism, Brief definitions of technical terms in your topic, if any Give the context of your research through background information Add a clear and precise thesis statement

The thesis statement serves as an anchor for your paper, determining your stance on the subject. Therefore, keep it short and sweet yet communicating the main point coherently.

It consists of all the arguments in support of your thesis statement. For a strong defense, ensure that you line up your undisputed and important ideas first as you move to the least. Some of the alcoholism research paper points to include in your body can be:

• Social effects of alcoholism on students
• How to help people struggling with alcoholism
• Symptoms of alcoholism in teenagers

Arrange the points in an orderly way so that your reader can follow through quickly. Each body paragraph should have a well-stated topic sentence, followed by an elaborate explanation and relevant examples.

Conclusion For Alcoholism Research Paper

After presenting your case on alcoholism and defending it with supporting arguments, it’s time, to sum up, your paper. The conclusion for alcoholism research paper summarizes the discussion in short, clear, and precise sentences.

You should also restate the thesis statement to emphasize your main idea of the paper. In conclusion, the general rule of thumb applies, do not add any new information. Strife to make it as short as possible yet not devoid of meaning.

When writing papers on alcoholism, be sure to use factual arguments, especially for the symptoms, effects, and other related statistics. Remember to be sensitive to the choice of words not to end up stigmatizing your reader.

Whether it’s a paper on addiction or withdrawal symptoms, do not vocabularies that may blur the reader from the article’s full picture.

Below are professionally handpicked alcoholism research paper topics for your inspiration:

Teenage Alcoholism Research Paper Topics

• Why do most teens think drinking alcohol is cool?
• Reasons why most students in college’ want to fit in.’
• Do parents who drink influence the teens also to start the habit?
• Does alcohol make teens feel more comfortable around their friends?
• Can alcohol raise the self-esteem of teens?
• Why many teens opt for alcohol when they feel pressured
• What are the withdrawal symptoms for teens addicted to alcohol?
• How teens can battle anxiety and depression without taking alcohol

Topics For Research Paper on Alcoholism and Family

• How alcohol makes parents neglect their essential duties
• Why forgetfulness as a result of alcoholism may disrupt family relationships
• Domestic violence as a result of excessive alcohol drinking
• Financial instability in families with alcohol addicts
• Can parents who drink alcohol help their children with homework?
• Why do children from families where parents drink alcohol suffer depression?
• Difficulty with intimate relationships among adults who drink alcohol
• Mental and physical health issues as a result of alcoholism in the family

Topics on Risks of Alcoholism

• Motor vehicle accidents arising from drinking and driving
• Why cases of homicide are on the rise among those who drink
• What causes alcohol poisoning?
• Risky sexual behaviors as a result of irresponsible drinking
• How mothers can experience miscarriage if they take excessive alcohol consumption
• Why do alcohol drinking people develop high blood pressure?
• Learning and memory difficulties as a result of alcoholism
• Why you risk losing your job if you continue drinking

Topics on Alcoholism as a Disease

• Can we classify alcoholism as a curable disease?
• The pre-alcoholic phase of alcoholism as a disease
• What is the relationship between increased heart rate and alcoholism?
• How effective is the Intensive Outpatient alcoholism treatment Program?
• Causes of relapse among patients recovering from alcoholism
• Aftercare support programs for patients dealing with alcoholism
• How scary is a diagnosis of alcoholism?
• Medical treatment options for people struggling with alcohol addiction

Alcohol Abuse Research Paper Topics

• The impact of alcohol abuse on relationships
• How alcohol abuse can cause harm or injury
• How alcohol abuse can harm the quality of your life
• Sexual dysfunction complications as a result of alcohol abuse
• Recommended ways of controlling alcohol abuse
• Medications to reduce the symptoms of withdrawal among addicts
• The role of support groups in reducing alcohol abuse
• Warning signs that you are abusing alcohol

Addiction Research Paper Topics

• Why is the youthful population the most affected with alcohol addiction?
• Best approaches to dealing with alcohol addiction among adults
• How drug addiction has led to increased crime rates in society
• Does counseling help to deal with the problem of drug addiction?
• Compare and contrast drug addiction between first and third world countries
• What measures can the government institute curb drug addiction?
• How drug addictions contribute to marriage breakups
• Why most drug addicts cannot have gainful employment opportunities
• How alcohol addiction impacts human health
• Why are the majority of street children drug and substance addicts?
• What are the policies legislating against drug addiction?
• Why are more men drug addicts than women?
• Rehabilitation systems of helping drug addicts
• Sociological perspectives of drug addiction
• A step by step approach to helping adolescents in drug addiction

In case the topics are not enough for you, we have professional research paper writing help for college students. Using our services will ensure that you attain that much-coveted A+.

Give it a try now!

1 Exploring Alcoholism: Signs, Symptoms, and Consequences

Introduction: Alcoholism is a prevalent disease that occurs around the world and comes with a price to pay. It is the repetitive pattern of misusing alcohol as an antidepressant and creating habits of drinking tolerance and withdrawals. More so, it is the act of being considered an alcoholic; however, it does not start or stop […]

2 Exploring the Unveiled Reality: Alcoholism in Iron Man Comics

When you think about your day-to-day activity, for example, a simple dinner at a restaurant, how many people do you notice enjoying alcohol to take off the edge? Do you ever stop to think how many drinks someone has had? Our society is so used to the consumption of alcohol that we don’t notice how […]

3 Alcoholism: Impact on Health, Family, and Well-being

The Underlying Devastation of Alcoholism Around 88,400 people die each year due to alcohol-related causes in the United States alone. An alcoholic drink contains ethanol; it is a colorless, flammable liquid that is produced by the natural fermentation of various types of sugar. Alcohol is a depressant drug that slows down sections of our brain […]

Get Qualified Writing Assistance and an Original Paper.

A qualified writer will create a clear, plagiarism-free essay for you!

4 The Impact of Alcoholics Anonymous Meetings on Recovery from Alcoholism

Attending an Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting The self-help group that I decided to go to was an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. I decided to go to this type of meeting because I have people in my extended family who struggle with alcoholism, and I wanted to learn more about this disease. I went to a meeting called […]

5 Exploring Treatment Approaches for Alcoholism: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Alcoholism and the Need for Support Many people suffer from alcoholism, but sometimes, they do not choose to reach out. Instead, they try to remain sober alone. Unfortunately, this does not help the addict move forward in any way. In Jeannette Walls’s memoir, she learns that an alcohol abuser’s addiction affects not only the abuser […]

Home — Essay Samples — Nursing & Health — Addictions — Alcoholism

Alcoholism Essay Examples

When it comes to writing an essay on alcoholism, choosing the right topic is crucial. The chosen topic will determine the direction of the essay and the depth of research required. It is important to select a topic that is not only interesting but also relevant and meaningful.

Alcoholism is a serious issue that affects millions of people worldwide. Writing an essay on this topic provides an opportunity to raise awareness and educate others about the dangers of alcoholism. It can also shed light on the various causes, effects, and treatment options available. By choosing the right topic, one can make a significant impact in addressing this issue.

When choosing a topic for an alcoholism essay, it is important to consider the target audience and the purpose of the essay. It is also crucial to select a topic that is well-researched and has sufficient information available to support the arguments. Additionally, selecting a topic that is relevant and timely can make the essay more engaging and impactful.

Below is a list of recommended alcoholism essay topics, categorized for ease of reference:

Causes of Alcoholism

• The role of genetics in predisposing individuals to alcoholism
• The impact of family and upbringing on the development of alcoholism
• The influence of peer pressure and social environment on alcoholism
• The genetic predisposition to alcoholism
• The correlation between childhood trauma and alcoholism
• The impact of mental health disorders on alcoholism

Effects of Alcoholism

• The physical health effects of long-term alcohol abuse
• The psychological and emotional impact of alcoholism on individuals and families
• The societal and economic consequences of alcoholism
• The mental health effects of alcoholism
• The impact of alcoholism on family dynamics
• The economic impact of alcoholism on society
• The correlation between alcoholism and crime

Treatment and Recovery

• The effectiveness of different treatment options for alcoholism
• The role of support groups and counseling in the recovery process
• The challenges and successes of alcoholism recovery programs

Prevention and Education

• The role of education and awareness in preventing alcoholism
• The impact of alcohol advertising and marketing on alcoholism rates
• The effectiveness of government policies and regulations in addressing alcoholism
• The importance of early intervention in preventing alcoholism
• The correlation between alcoholism and underage drinking

Special Populations

• Alcoholism among adolescents and young adults
• Alcoholism in the elderly population
• Alcoholism in specific cultural or ethnic groups

Alcoholism and Co-Occurring Disorders

• The relationship between alcoholism and mental health disorders
• The connection between alcoholism and substance abuse
• The impact of alcoholism on individuals with chronic health conditions

Social and Cultural Aspects

• The portrayal of alcoholism in the media
• The stigma associated with alcoholism
• The impact of cultural norms on alcoholism
• The role of alcohol in social gatherings and events
• The correlation between alcoholism and gender

By choosing a topic from the above categories, writers can explore different aspects of alcoholism and contribute to the ongoing conversation about this important issue.

Addictions: a Multifaceted Challenge in Modern Society

The issues of alcoholism and its effects in society, made-to-order essay as fast as you need it.

Each essay is customized to cater to your unique preferences

+ experts online

Understanding The Influences Behind Alcohol Dependence

The issue of teenage alcoholism and its specialized treatment, study on the rate of alcoholism in united states, canada and ireland, the relationship between depression and alcoholism and its treatment, let us write you an essay from scratch.

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Discussion on The Alcoholism and Why Alcohol Should Be Illegal

The theme of alcoholism in "the lonely passion" of judith hearne, the impact of alcoholism on insomnia and other sleep disturbances, diagnostic criteria for alcohol withdrawal symptoms, get a personalized essay in under 3 hours.

Expert-written essays crafted with your exact needs in mind

Alcohol Consumption and Why It Should not Be Available after 11pm

Health and wellness for alcoholics in treatment, a reflection on my experience visiting open aa meetings, aa meeting: a reflection paper, treatment of alcohol and drug addicts, case study: an individual whose addiction has adversely affected his life, the effects of alcohol-related content of social media on society, the story of bill wilson, co-founder of alcoholics anonymous (aa), how cocaethylene impacts the development of psychosis, how the drug enforcement commission (dec) cope with the problem of alcohol & drugs abuse among zambian children, a critical reflection on visiting aa meetings, group observation report: aa meeting, advertisements related to alcohol or tobacco, relationships between social control, psychedelics and alcohol, discussing the causes of alcoholism in teenagers, review of risks of moderate drinking, applying the social cognitive theory as intervention for alcohol abuse, america's drinking problem: the impact of alcohol consumption, alcoholism: a complex issue, reflection paper on an aa meeting.

Not planning to discuss the poetic words of Omar Khayyam when speaking of wine and wisdom, we can say that the problem of alcoholism has always been a menacing part of civilization. It can be approached as the side of culture, yet at the same time, it is a dumb side of human life where aggression, drunk behavior, drunk driving, and grief reflect in many sides of life. When a college student plans to discuss the topic of alcoholism, it becomes an important social issue where a person tries to find the causes like poverty or access to luxury, which seems to plaque both sides of our complex equation.

Of course, the topic of drinking has always been a part of history through decades and generations. It must be noted that even if we approach this problem as the history or anthropology specialists by taking the United States or any other country, we can see that the art of drinking has been dimmed negatively. Is drinking a good practice? It is seen as a form of alcoholism even through the feasts and celebrations. Speaking of our modern times, we can see that this problem is more persistent than ever because we have greater access to alcoholic drinks even among the younger generation. One can take the drinking bans throughout history or research the present times, yet in both cases, we can see that there is no recreational drinking or any apologetics.

We can see many people who have battled drinking in the past. There are such personalities as Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame, Ben Affleck, Michael Phelps, Tim McGraw, and many others. We can also add Naomi Campbell and Jessica Simpson as famous female persons. It should be added that all these celebrities came out to talk that alcoholism is often a problem that is brought beneath the carpet to hide and ignore. Just like drug addiction, this problem should not be silenced because it requires help and guidance. It is also one of those topics that a college student should approach to find a solution and provide educational norms to make a positive change.

• As we think about why do people drink, we can see some argument that it helps to relax
• It leads to a mental breakdown.
• It is an addiction that distorts your physical image.
• It is a mind-altering substance that makes a person lost and tortured.
• It takes away the life of a person and the lives of those who are around.
• It often resorts to violence and anger.

The pains of alcoholism can only be battled with the help of a different culture, social work, and education. As many modern students grew up in alcoholic households or saw their friends grow up in one, we all have some story to tell. It is sufficient to say that the problem of alcoholism must be addressed from helping the addicts to educating young people about the dangers. For example, by choosing this topic an average student can create a social program that would help people in the local community. Likewise, you can write about the economical side of alcoholism since it also helps certain people earn by promoting alcohol in ads and the mass culture.

It will always depend on your initial subject. You can write about the causes of alcoholism and notice that both poor and rich people can become trapped in this unfortunate circumstance. Your college essay can be reflective by telling about your experience or tell about how dangerous it is to drive drunk after a college party. You can take a look at our free samples that relate to alcoholism as you think about some good subjects. The most important is to provide statistics and keep your writing argumentative to make your alcoholism paper reliable!

It can be approached with the help of special educational projects and studying the shelters for alcoholics. At the same time, your college professor may ask you to write about alcoholism in the 1970s when compared to the present times. It is important to see how American society approached alcohol in the past. An important aspect is seeing how the same methods still remain helpful, including education, talks at school, and the family culture. Uniting various techniques that take root in Psychology, Healthcare, and Education, any student can make a positive change in battling alcoholism.

Relevant topics

• Alcohol Abuse
• Eating Disorders
• Mental Health

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Bibliography

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

Writing Thesis Statements for Argumentative Essays

Read the article below (on the left) about thesis statements and then do the interactive quiz on the right. write only one word in each space..

Show all questions

• In which paragraph is the thesis statement normally found? Check Hint Show answer
• What is another word for 'argumentative'? Check Hint Show answer
• The first step before writing a thesis statement is to _________ expert, academic articles to gather background information. Check Hint Show answer
• When you __________ the arguments and findings of academic articles on the issue that you will write about, you will begin to choose those that are most credible and persuasive. Check Hint Show answer
• Reading academic articles on the issue that you will write about will help you decide your __________. Check Hint Show answer
• The first main point to remember about writing a thesis statement is to make it ___________. Check Hint Show answer
• A good thesis statement should always leave room for _________. Check Hint Show answer
• Another main point is that thesis statements need to be ___________. They should not be too broad or general. Check Hint Show answer
• Writing specific thesis statements helps to narrow the possibilities that the writer will write about and provide _________ to the essay. Check Hint Show answer
• A good thesis statement should not have more than ___________ controlling argument. Check Hint Show answer
• ____________ details should be discussed in the body paragraphs that follow the introduction. Check Hint Show answer
• Another key idea is that a thesis statement should always be very ___________ so that readers can identify the writer's position on the issue. Check Hint Show answer
• A thesis statement should also always be as ____________ as possible. Using too many words may confuse or annoy readers. Check Hint Show answer
• If an introduction has a clear, concise and debatable thesis statement with only one controlling idea, readers will be able to identify the writer's point of view and know exactly what to __________ from the essay before they read its body paragraphs. Check Hint Show answer

• Dissertation
• PowerPoint Presentation
• Book Report/Review
• Research Proposal
• Math Problems
• Proofreading
• Movie Review
• Cover Letter Writing
• Personal Statement
• Nursing Paper
• Argumentative Essay
• Research Paper
• Discussion Board Post

How To Write Your Best Alcoholism Essay?

Table of Contents

To start off, alcoholism is a physical and psychological disease characterized by regular consumption of high qualities of alcohol and troubles with giving up drinking.

It is a well-known fact that alcoholism is quite an issue nowadays. It breaks the lives of people, their families, and the whole society. According to WHO (World Health Organization), excessive use of alcohol causes 5.3% of deaths yearly, which makes a total of 3 million deaths.

The topic is quite vast, so it won’t be hard to find a thrilling aspect to cover in your essay.

6 facts for your alcoholism essay

The main goal of writing an essay on alcoholism is to highlight the problem, it’s causes, reasons, and outcomes.

Keep things simple, precise and informative. Use only credible sources in references. Try visiting official websites of WHO, Medical News Today (website specialized on medical information), ASAM (American Society of Addiction Medicine, on different addictions), etc.

Also, here are several facts for you to start off somewhere.

• Alcoholism is not only a disease but also an addiction. This may seem obvious. Therapists state that it can be as dangerous as drug addiction since a person gets used to it not only on a mental level but also on a physical. As a result, there are loads of difficulties when giving up.
• Alcoholism shouldn’t be regarded as a personal choice. Like any other addiction, it differs from person to person. Usually, people can’t notice that something is wrong before they actually try to stop drinking.
• Except for being a disease itself, alcoholism leads to health and social issues. Doctors claim that alcoholism results in liver disease, pancreatitis, cancers, brain damages, and others. Moreover, it leads to socialization problems as alcoholics can be depressed, aggressive and struggle from a negative attitude of society.
• Alcoholism has a genetic complex. It is stated that children of alcoholics are 4 times more predisposed to alcoholism. Scientists claim that alcohol and drug addiction usually starts with families.
• There are more men alcoholics than women. The research shows that men are more likely to become alcoholics than women. Investigation can’t actually explain this fact, but the main reason is considered to be the fact that men drink more alcohol overall.
• Alcohol makes people feel worse. Some may say that they drink to “drown sorrows,” but it doesn’t work in a long-term perspective. Actually, alcohol is a depressant.

How to structure the essay on alcoholism?

A good structure is essential for any writing. As a rule, the essay is divided into three parts: introduction, main body, and conclusion.

You might also want to write an outline for your work. Here are some easy instructions to follow:

Outline. Basically, it is a table of contents. You briefly plan your essay and organize your thoughts. Write down the statement you are about to use in the introduction, note several arguments supporting your statement and think of how to summarize these thoughts in conclusion .

Introduction. Here you need to provide the reader with some basic information on the topic. It may include the definition of alcoholism, statistics, and rates of how many alcoholics are out there, the yearly amount of deaths, age statistics, and so on. Include a thesis explaining the main idea of your essay and your standpoint. It shouldn’t be longer than 1 sentence.

The Main Body. Explain your standpoint step by step. Add arguments gradually. Each supporting statement takes 1 paragraph and is accompanied by a brief explanation . Put them in a logical order.

Conclusion. Sum up everything you said before and confirm the thesis. Do not add new ideas , statements, or facts. Here, in the alcoholism essay conclusion, you may express your own vision of the problem.

Causes and effects of alcoholism essay: what to cover?

Each case of alcoholism is unique and has its own set of reasons and consequences. Thus, you may need to know some general statistics and information on the causes and effects of alcoholism. Here are several prompts.

Causes of alcoholism essay:

• A stressful environment that enforces the person to seek consolation.
• Drinking at an early age.
• Mental issues (like depression, apathy, etc.).
• Genetics and family history.
• Mixing alcohol with medicine: possible outcomes.
• The experience of trauma.
• Bad influence of the company.
• Lack of family care.
• Power of the mass media.
• No awareness of the possible psychological problems.

Effects of alcoholism essay:

• Health problems, like heart and liver diseases, brain damage, low immunity, cancer, etc.
• Depression, apathy, suicidal thoughts.
• Slurred speech, confusion, trouble remembering things.
• Concentration issues.
• Bad academic performance.
• Increased chance of committing a crime.
• Domestic violence.
• Adverse effect on children.
• Loss of job and financial troubles.
• Mood swings.

Alcoholism is quite an issue in modern society. Essays, exploring this topic, are needed to spread the awareness of the risks we all encounter.

No time to write your essay on alcoholism? We have some! Order your perfect essay from one of our professionals and save the evening to yourself. Pssst, it’s completely confidential…

Why Abortion Should Be Legal – Essay Writing Tips & Tricks

Pop Culture Essay – Thoughts on Writing

10 College Tips for Sophomore Students

We use cookies to enhance our website for you. Proceed if you agree to this policy or learn more about it.

• Essay Database >
• Essays Samples >
• Essay Types >
• Thesis Example

Alcoholism Theses Samples For Students

12 samples of this type

Do you feel the need to examine some previously written Theses on Alcoholism before you start writing an own piece? In this open-access database of Alcoholism Thesis examples, you are granted a thrilling opportunity to explore meaningful topics, content structuring techniques, text flow, formatting styles, and other academically acclaimed writing practices. Using them while crafting your own Alcoholism Thesis will definitely allow you to finalize the piece faster.

Presenting high-quality samples isn't the only way our free essays service can aid students in their writing ventures – our experts can also compose from scratch a fully customized Thesis on Alcoholism that would make a strong basis for your own academic work.

The Voss Foundation Projects In Kenya Thesis

Introduction:, free academic thesis on fracking regulation and agenda setting, an analysis of the formulation of california senate bill 4, free thesis on iki vb entering the polish market.

Don't waste your time searching for a sample.

Get your thesis done by professional writers!

Just from $10/page

Domestic Violence: Discussions Theses Example

(Institute)

Domestic Violence

The language of anne sexton in anne seton poem thesis sample, “the addict”, example of thesis on purpose: to compare small incision surgery to traditional incision surgery in the.

Background: Gluteal muscle contracture (GMC) is a clinical syndrome characterized by limited hip movements.

Overconsumption Of Sucrose And Fructose May Contribute To Certain Types Of Cancer Thesis Sample

Good thesis on california fracking regulation and agenda setting, free california fracking regulation and agenda setting thesis example, free thesis about geothermal energy.

Supervised Asst. Prof. Fusun Tut Haklidir

Energy Systems Enginering

Istanbul Bilgi University 2014

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES LIST OF SYMBOLS/ABBREVIATIONS 1. Introduction 3 1.1. Goal of the Study 3 1.2. Renewable Energy Sources 3 1.3. Geothermal Energy 3 1.3.1. What is Geothermal Energy? 3 1.3.2 Geothermal Reservoirs 4 1.3.3 Present Status of Geothermal Energy 7 1.4 Geothermal Applications around the World 7 1.4.1Geothermal Applications in Turkey 8

Flash steam power plants 10

Good main theme thesis example.

Presentation and Analysis of scientific evolution and history – Analysis and emphasis on two basic issues of scientific evolution as derived from the two following questions addressed within the set environment of researching into the field of History of Science – Reflections drawn upon the belief of David C. Lindberg as far as the scientific evolution and progress during Medieval years is concerned – Reflections drawn upon the evolution of the scientific field of cosmology and the revolution performed in this field leading to the breakdown of Aristotelian and Ptolemaic theories of cosmology [The author’s name]

Thesis statement

Person-centred counselling thesis.

Person centered therapy focuses at helping clients in the growth process so that they can better cope with the difficulties they are facing and with future difficulties. A person centered counsellor will help a depressed client by creating a helping relationship that helps the client explore ares of their life that are distorted (McLeod, 1998)

Case Study of Billy

Password recovery email has been sent to [email protected]

Use your new password to log in

You are not register!

By clicking Register, you agree to our Terms of Service and that you have read our Privacy Policy .

Now you can download documents directly to your device!

Check your email! An email with your password has already been sent to you! Now you can download documents directly to your device.

or Use the QR code to Save this Paper to Your Phone

The sample is NOT original!

Short on a deadline?

Don't waste time. Get help with 11% off using code - GETWOWED

No, thanks! I'm fine with missing my deadline

303 Alcohol Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best alcohol topics for essays, 👍 good topics for alcoholism essays, 🎓 simple & easy alcohol research titles, 💡 most interesting alcohol topics to write about, 📌 interesting topics to write about alcohol, 📑 good research topics about alcohol, ❓ research questions about alcohol.

• Drug and Alcohol Abuse For along time now, drug and alcohol abuse in the society has been a problem that affects the youth and the society at large. This paper highlights the problems of drug abuse and alcohol drinking […]
• Reaction to Attending Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting The mentor and organizer started the meeting with a short introduction, greeting and thanking the participants for their persistence to inspire the conversation that followed.
• Alcoholic Anonymous: Advantages and Disadvantages of the Programs In addition to this, the merits and demerits of AA in the fight against alcohol abuse will be articulated so as to demonstrate the effectiveness of AA in helping Alcoholics recover.
• Alcoholism as a Social Problem The first attempt to tackle the problem was in the 1920s when the government passed the prohibition Act. This may cause them to turn to alcohol as a way of neutralizing the problem.
• Effects of Alcohol Consumption The duration in which a person consumes alcohol determines the intensity of the negative effects of alcohol on the person. Alcohol consumption is regarded as a risk factor in causing colon cancer because it causes […]
• Alcoholism and Sociological Imagination In the context of the alcoholism social problem, it is possible to use the concept of sociological imagination to unify individual characteristics of the alcoholic and historical contexts of the problem to illuminate the dynamics […]
• Alcohol and Drugs Effects on High School Students According to Martin, “society also advertises the image of individual and social happiness for alcohol and drug users; this misconception results in the societal decrease of achievement, especially, of high school age students”.
• Alcoholism Causes and Curing In addition, professional counseling is equally important as the specialist can be able to access the level of alcoholism in the patient, how dependant that person is on alcohol and such information which would help […]
• Non-Alcoholic Beverage Company’ SWOT Analysis For instance, recent data on the progress of Coca-Cola shows that the organization gained the total of $67,749,000,000 in the target market.
• Underage Drinking and Teen Alcohol Abuse However, due to low legal driving age in America, many teenagers are prone to the risk of driving under the influence of alcohol than in other countries.
• Cigarette and Alcohol Consumption Alcohol and smoking have changed the way people act, and this reflects the behaviors of all characters in the three videos.
• Ban on All Advertising of Alcohol To make matters even worse, most of the alcohol adverts tend to neglect references to the bad effects associated with the consumption making it look like an alternative to soft drinks.
• Age Restrictions on Alcohol Consumption In my opinion, the average minimum drinking age should be lowered to eighteen years of age because various sources have shown that drinking alcohol for many youths begins as early as the age of eleven […]
• Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Causes and Consequences Scientists have not yet found out, if the volume of alcohol taken, the frequency of taking, or the time the alcohol is taken during pregnancy, is connected to a variation in the degree of injury […]
• The Side Effects of Drinking Alcohol It is thus of essence that before a discussion of the side effects of alcohol consumption, a detailed analysis of the causes of addiction to alcohol be conducted.
• Drug and Alcohol Abuse Among Young People It is evident among drinkers that, when the BACs are low they develop a feeling of elation and when it rises, a feeling of friendliness begins to develop.
• Alcoholic Anonymous Meeting as Group Therapy The AA meeting allows the participants to feel a sense of belonging. Describe the observations of the social milieu in an AA meeting.
• Without Alcohol, The World Would Be a Better Place While the author accomplishes the ultimate goal of persuading the readers, the extensive use of Pathos harms the cohesion of the text as well as the credibility of the argumentation.
• Alcohol, Violence, and Sex Content in Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye” For example, The Catcher in the Rye is a book that appeals to the majority of adults while the representatives of the younger generation often turn out to be not able to come to the […]
• Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol One of the implications of the adolescent and adult driving while intoxicated is enduring the life after the occurrence of breaking the law.
• Alcohol Industry and Business Ethics At the same time, Crane and Matten state that alcohol companies can be ethical citizens as they use numerous methods to make people aware of the harm associated with the use of alcohol.
• Social Article About Alcoholism Problem by Sanders Russell In his story “Under the Influence: Paying the Price of My Father’s Booze,” author Sanders Russell gives a deeply personal account of the effects of alcoholism in his family as he was growing up. Russell […]
• Alcoholic Industry: Beam Suntory and Diageo Companies In the United States, the beverage industry continues growing: more than 60% of all revenues in the industry are made of the revenues of alcoholic beverages.
• Teratogen Alcohol Exposure in Pregnant Women However, the extent of damage by this teratogen to the fetus is dependent on the amount, pattern, timing of exposure, and genetic makeup.
• History of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) Wilson and Smith went to the Oxford Group to learn the Oxford Group’s techniques of prayer, for example: surrender, guidance, and moral principles.
• Analysis of Alcoholic Products Market in Ireland One of the major threats to the alcoholic drinks industry in Ireland is the increase in the number of coffee shops on the high street.
• Alcoholic Anonymous Reaction Essay The understanding of alcohol abuse and the current resources that exist to curb it, such as AA, is fundamental to understanding the challenge on a medical level.
• Alcoholism and Treatment Options Even though alcohol has been inappropriately abused recently, it is safe to say that the consumption of alcohol is both a tonic and poison, depending on the dose. In India, several states prohibit the sale […]
• Alcohol Use Disorder: Addictive Behaviors Alcohol use disorder is a chronic relapsing brain disease characterized by the following: Compulsive alcohol use Loss of control over alcohol intake Negative emotional state when not using alcohol.
• Understanding and Addressing Alcohol Dependence Alcohol dependence is a chronic condition involving a past or present record of excessive drinking, unending craving for alcohol, and persistent, recurring problems associated with the inability to decide when to use the chemical.
• Pathophysiology of Stress, Processed Foods, and Risky Alcohol Consumption The body starts to see the fats, sugars, and salt in ultra-processed foods as rewards, which leads to increased cravings and overeating.
• Drug and Alcohol Abuse Among Teenagers The thesis statement is: “Conviction is a better way to reduce drug and alcohol addiction among teenagers in the United States”.
• Alcohol and Drug Abuse in Canada Therefore, it contributes as a central factor in the essence of the character, and it is crucial to understand the core definition and the elements that foster the ideology.
• When Alcohol Use Becomes Substance Use Disorder Patients suffering from AUD believe they cannot restrict their alcohol use; however, others who consume alcohol may alter the limit since they are not addicted to the drug.
• Awareness on Alcoholism: What Is It and How to Cope? The availability of these products is a major driver of individual and family problems that many people face. Alcoholism is a form of physical and mental addiction to drinks containing alcohol.
• Comorbid Gambling Disorder and Alcohol Dependence The patient was alert and oriented to the event, time, and place and appropriately dressed for the occasion, season, and weather.
• Alcohol Abuse: Causes, Symptoms, Prevention, and Treatment Alcohol can additionally be the cause of brain damage manifested in the form of impairments in executive functioning, for example, weakening of visuospatial function and working memory.
• Alcohol-Based Sanitizers Preventing Nosocomial Infections Namely, the research papers examine the most prominent strains in the healthcare setting, compare alcohol-based and alcohol-free sanitizers, and prove the effectiveness of the intervention.
• Alcohol Consumption Impact on Graduation Rates One of the most acute problems of our time is the increasingly frequent use of alcohol by minors. Alcohol consumption by school students refers to deviant behavior, and this type of behavior of adolescents is […]
• Alcohol Misuse and Its Impact on Young Drinkers The impact of alcohol use can range from severe and rapid results of a single incident of alcohol impairment, including unexpected accidents and deaths, to cumulative and varied implications of a persistent pattern of drinking, […]
• Alcohol and Aggression: Annotated Bibliography The authors conduct an experiment to examine the alcohol-related cues to aggressive thoughts and violent perceptions in the absence of alcohol or using a placebo.
• Screening Alcoholism With AUDIT Evaluation Method This tool, in turn, could provide some extra explanations for Brian’s drinking and help determine whether he was genetically predisposed to the condition. Thus, AUDIT happens to be the most suitable tool for reviewing Johnson’s […]
• Isopropyl Alcohol in Cosmetics and Medicine Isopropyl is synthesized in two steps: through the reaction of propylene with sulfuric acid and the consequent hydrolysis. In the context of isopropyl alternatives as sanitizers, ethyl alcohol serves as a solid option.
• Drug and Alcohol Addiction: Abby’s Case The amounts of money Abby spends weekly on fulfilling her addictive desires and her long history of drug usage imply that she has an addiction problem.
• Alcohol Consumption: The Key Aspects The quantity of alcohol a person’s body can handle is determined by the type of drink, the person’s weight, and the drink’s serving size.
• Aspects of the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome It is not known when alcohol is most harmful to the fetus during pregnancy and whether there is a safe lower limit for alcohol consumption.
• Impaired Control and Alcohol Consumption The study will focus on the relationship between mood/attitude and impaired control in the context of alcohol consumption. The purpose of the study is to identify whether certain moods or attitudes result in a greater […]
• Alcohol-Induced Chronic Pancreatitis: Population Affected, Side Effects, and Treatment The recurrence of acute pancreatitis is linked to the development of chronic pancreatitis, and it is more prevalent in alcoholics who use alcohol often.
• Evidence of the Success of Alcohol Prohibition in the United States in 1920 Consumption of alcoholic beverages considerably declined as a result of the enactment of prohibition in the United States. As a result, there was a considerable decrease in the number of alcohol-related diseases.
• Alcohol Consumption Among Students: Linear Regression and Correlation 0, the p-value is 0. From the correlations results in table 3.
• Alcohol Consumption Among Students However, the study examines the prevalence of alcohol among college students and the neighborhood surrounding since many studies have not focused on the impact of the environment on alcohol consumption among college students.
• Narcotic Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous Groups The desire to change one’s life for the better and look at the world soberly is what many people come to with time, and all of them are united by the desire to return to […]
• Alcohol and Narcotic Anonymous’ Recovery I was impressed by the fact that at the beginning of the meetings the group finds a volunteer who reads an excerpt from the book as a prayer, and the discussion of personal experiences begins.
• Substance Abuse: Drug and Alcohol Treatment National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers: Concentrates on ethical interventions Provides integrated treatment approach Offers cognitive-behavioral methods Reinforces the value of family support Recognizes addiction as a complex issue Prohibits discrimination
• Alcoholism Issue in Miami Gardens The new data also matches tendencies from the summer of 2020, when the coronavirus struck, when many Floridians resorted to alcohol and other narcotics in the face of unpredictable circumstances.
• Alcoholics Anonymous Program Evaluation Program evaluation also assesses the organization’s quality, the efficiency of its methods and identifies aspects of the procedures that can be improved.
• Alcohol Usage Should Be Controlled As such, the current landscape of alcohol production and marketing requires heavier regulation in the form of a number of policy changes.
• The Effects of Drinking Alcohol While Pregnant However, the study revealed an unexpected association between the two conditions and improved awareness of the devastating impact of protean on development and health. The study evaluated the neuropsychological and alcohol exposure parameter as well […]
• Effectiveness of SBIRT for Alcohol Use Disorders in the Emergency Department In this stage, the health practitioner asks the patient three questions regarding the quantity and frequency of alcohol use by employing the AUDIT-C tool.
• Alcoholism Causes: Where Science and Religion Converge Although it is difficult to pinpoint a single cause of alcoholism, it is clear that many internal and external factors serve as raw material in the making of an alcoholic.
• The Cost-Effectiveness of Alcohol Screening, and Brief Intervention Miami is a highly-populated area; According to statistics, 463,347 people reside in it; Approximately 25% of the population suffer from different forms of addiction and alcohol abuse is one of the leading problems on […]
• Alcohol Abuse and Effective Prevention Technique The original presentation and this extended exploration for it discuss the community structure, the essence of the problem and the theory and practice behind the SBIRT approach.
• Media Influence on Alcohol Abuse Consequently, many people are likely to watch the advert, and the ad can increase consumption of the product and limit the fight against alcohol problems.
• Alcohol Addiction: Biological & Social Perspective At the same time, the UK is one of the most drinking countries, as the average number of liters of alcohol per person there was 11. In addition, taking acetaldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitors allows to break […]
• Alcoholics Anonymous Overview When I attended the third meeting, I was among the people who largely contributed to how it is easy to stop taking alcohol.
• Addressing Drug and Alcohol Addiction in Baltimore While a lot of the violence in Baltimore is related to the drug trade, the drugs themselves killed at least 180 more people than homicides in the city as of 2019.
• Alcohol Addiction and the Role of a Community New Horizons Group of Alcoholics Anonymous is a local fellowship to support men and women with alcoholic problems in Miami Springs.
• The Research in the Field of Alcohol Consumption by Adolescents Therefore, at this stage of the discussion, it is important to consider the role of the theory in the five approaches to qualitative research with the purpose to underline the role of theory in our […]
• Alcoholism, Domestic Violence and Drug Abuse Kaur and Ajinkya researched to investigate the “psychological impact of adult alcoholism on spouses and children”. The work of Kaur and Ajinkya, reveals a link between chronic alcoholism and emotional problems on the spouse and […]
• Alcoholic Anonymous Meeting and Impact on Treatment As the name suggests, the meeting was open to alcohol addicts and those who have recovered, members of the public, media, and professionals in different fields.
• Alcohol Addiction Among Women Women are a population of interest because of the increased mortality rates from alcohol-related health complications and the effect of this substance on childbearing. Similarly, to the previous organization, Alcove is a recovery facility that […]
• Alcoholism Problem Overview Alcoholism is one of the major factors affecting the health of individuals and family relations due to the repercussions of the dependence.
• Nuances of Alcohol Using Addiction Despite the traced co-occurrence of criminal activities and alcohol consumption, people argue that there are many positive aspects of drinking moderately, such as relaxation that is useful in many social environments. Goode argues that “for […]
• Alcohol Use Disorder: SBIRT Alcohol is widely known to be a harmful substance, but many people tend to underestimate its dangers due to the slow and incremental nature of its effects.
• Social Work Related to Alcohol and Substance Abuse The social work of this setting offers services to understand the current point of clients and identify the directions to improve their behaviors.
• Predicting Medium-Term Success Among Alcohol and Opiate Dependents The purpose of this project: to establish establish whether the detoxification facility is an important inclusion in the process of getting addicts off drugs.
• The Alcohol Consumption Relapse Issues In the case of my patient, she is highly willing to improve her life, and she understands that it is the only path to happiness.
• Moderate Alcohol Use Disorder: Treatment Plan The primary tool to help determine the disease’s presence are surveys – CAGE-test, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, usage of DSM 5 criteria, and others.
• Effects of Alcohol. Alcohol-Related Statistics It is also a leading cause of death including both for the chronic drinker and the innocent victims of alcohol-related accidents.
• Pinacol Rearrangement and Alcohol Reactions Lab The purpose of this experiment is to use the researcher’s background knowledge on alcohol reactions to explain more complex reactions. The objective of this reorganization is to generate a ketone.
• Alcoholism: A Female Patient’s Drinking Profile It had changed her perspective of reality and destroyed her family in a way that each of her children had a health problem leading to death of one child at the age of 10 years.
• Moderate Alcohol Abuse as DSM–IV–TR Diagnosis The DSM-IV-TR diagnosis in this case is a moderate alcohol abuse ), which requires a minimum of four symptoms as specified in the DSM.
• The Problem of Co-Morbidity: Alcohol and Tuberculosis The problem of alcohol abuse as one of the main factors for the emergence and amplification of tuberculosis is widely discussed in medical circles and social organizations as well.
• The Use of Alcohol During Pregnancy Since you would like to understand if it is important for you to stop drinking alcohol, I would say that in case you want to prevent the emergence of any complications for the baby, it […]
• Reasons of Alcohol Addiction in Teenagers Given the clinical diagnoses, the wide-spread nature of the problem, and the severe consequences impacting the life and health of millions of people, the in-depth investigation of the causes of the disorder is of critical […]
• Alcohol and Substance Abuse There has been “no definitive treatment strategy for alcohol-related intervention with homeless individuals”. Some of the most successful interventions or programs to help homeless individuals with alcohol and substance abuse include the following: Providing both […]
• Alcoholic Anonymous: Its Purposes and General Topics Another primary objective of AA groups is for the members to provide support to each other in the process of healing from alcoholism.
• Alcoholism in Native Americans Theories suggest that the rate at which alcohol is absorbed in the body of a Native American is different from that of the rest of the U.S.population.
• Alcohol Use: Prevalence and Causal Factors Thus, to understand the issue of alcohol use in Australia, this paper examines the prevalence, causal factors, preventive strategies, and then criticizes the effectiveness of these strategies in curbing the use and abuse of alcohol.
• European Alcohol Beverage Industry Crisis The instability of the euro, as a common exchange medium and the financial crisis in the Eurozone, has caused severe problems to the company and harshly affected the profitability.
• Recall Bias in Alcohol Consumption Epidemiological Studies Recall bias is one of the factors that affect the credibility or validity of the research. The correctness of the answer is usually dependent on the memory of the respondent.
• Public Health. Excessive Alcohol Use in the US According to a recent article published in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, excessive alcohol use in the United States ought to be recognized as a national health problem that is frequently associated with […]
• Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Overview Tait argues that although the level of drinking of the Aboriginal population is higher, findings indicate that many Aboriginals have the ability to abstain from alcohol more than the rest of the Canadian population. Impacting […]
• Reasons People Justify Consumption Drugs and Alcohol The rate of prevalence of drug use is high, and some of the problems that have been quoted in use of these are like high mortality rate and morbidity.
• Excessive Consumption of Alcohol Among Adults The legislation should be targeted at providing funds for federal and state health agencies to operate media campaigns on how to deal with factors mentioned in the lower levels of the socio-ecological model.
• Alcohol Interaction With Medication: Type 2 Diabetes EM is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and the doctor advises him to take the prescribed drugs, but to keep of alcohol, due to its negative reactionary effects with medications.
• Alcoholism Among the Adult Population in Wisconsin Alcohol dependency, which is an offshoot of excessive alcohol consumption, has been noted to lead to behaviours such as child abuse and neglect, poor dietary habits and absenteeism among the adult population in Wisconsin.
• Alcohol Before and After Military Combat Deployment The conclusion of the article addressed the risk in the new-onset of heavy drinking, binge drinking and the alcohol-related crises among the soldiers who return from war.
• Alcohol Advertising and Youth This has been achieved by analyzing the relationship graphs of alcohol consumption versus advertising, as well as bans on advertising. One of them is that it only focuses on advertising as the only influencer of […]
• Abdominal Pain Caused by Excessive Alcohol Consumption Alcohol can alter the metabolism of various drugs, hence narrowing the choice of drugs that can be used on the patient and this should be explained. The possibility of recurrence should be mentioned and the […]
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives The mission of this agency is to protect the U.S.from the illegal use of firearms and explosives as well as the trafficking of tobacco and alcohol products.
• Alcoholic Cirrhosis: Symptoms and Treatment The onset of alcoholic cirrhosis is proportional to the amount and period of ethanol intake. Alcohol breakdown in the body occurs in the liver and partly in the alimentary canal.
• Alcohol or Substance Abuse: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Criteria one deals with tolerance which states that tolerance is a need to consume large amounts of alcohol in order to achieve intoxication, and it is the diminished effect that the substance abuser experiences with […]
• Alcohol Consumption and Pregnancy This is not true and medical research show that all beers and wine do contain alcohol and the difference is the alcohol content in the drink and the amount of drink consumed by the pregnant […]
• Alcoholism and Depression: Intervention Strategies The intention of the research paper is to assess if indeed there is an association between alcoholism as manifested by Jackson, and a case of depression.
• Alcohol Related Fatal Crashes: The Impact of Tennessee’s Emergency Cellular Telephone Program The author of the article used the data that was collected from the cases that were recorded previously over a period of time.
• Examples of Court Cases Involving Alcohol On the day the deed was executed, the plaintiff was driven in an automobile from his farm to Reno, Nevada for the purpose of the plaintiff and defendant being married in said city.
• Teenage Depression and Alcoholism There also has been a demonstrated connection between alcoholism and depression in all ages; as such, people engage in alcoholism as a method of self medication to dull the feelings of depression, hopelessness and lack […]
• Alcohol Abuse, Behaviour, and Types of Personalities Personality type is a process that assists in the determination of people’s behavior; it however assists in the classification of people into distinct category types.
• Social Media Efficiency in Decreasing Youth Alcohol Consumption The purpose of this paper is to discuss the effects and efficiency of social media in raising awareness of alcohol as a health risk factor and decreasing alcohol consumption among youth.
• The Main Problems of Alcoholism Despite the overall advance in treatment, alcoholism is still a challenge due to the lack of successful drug efficacy appraisals and pharmacotherapy personalization in patients with AUD.
• Impact of Alcohol Use Disorder Social workers play a vital role in addressing alcohol use disorder as they can identify people who are at risk of developing it or fit the diagnostic criteria already and refer them to mental health […]
• Prohibition Period in the USA History: Why the Government Was Trying to Ban Alcohol Prohibition was a momentous period in the history of the USA, during which the government was trying to ban alcohol. Naturally, the producers of liquor and owners of saloons protested, but it was surprising to […]
• Advancing Alcohol Research and Treatment: Case Analysis Additionally, in the first stages of the assessment, it became apparent that O.K.is not aware of the causes of her alcohol abuse and lacks the motivation to address the problem.
• The Risks of Maternal Alcohol Consumption During Pregnancy Certainly, the risk of abnormal development of the fetus depends on the number of alcoholic beverages and the frequency of their use.
• Alcoholism and Schizophrenia: Interconnection In addition to its physical effects on the chronic drinker’s body, alcohol is associated with a variety of mental impairments. Alcoholic dementia and Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome are among the most prominent concerns in the matter. The former is a blanket term for a variety of cognitive deficiencies caused by the substance. The latter is a two-stage […]
• Alcoholic Anonymous Organization Fighting Addiction By accepting the problem and causes, a participant can try to resolve. In the program, participants have to admit their past wrongs and errors to a group and receive support to change.
• A Workaholic and an Alcoholic This happens due to the fact that workaholics and alcoholics both tend to neglect their responsibilities at the family level in favor of their engagements.
• Maternal Consumption of Alcohol During Pregnancy Should Be Unlawful in Canada Supporting the assumption to make maternal alcohol consumption illegal in Canada, it is appropriate to review corresponding articles that are associated with health and women’s rights.
• Personality Issues Among Male People With Alcoholism The main message of the authors is that the personality degradation occurring during alcoholism is directly caused by problems of a socio-psychological nature.
• Counseling Theories in the Management of Alcoholics The amount of alcohol he needs to get drunk has been increasing over the years and he spends much of his income on alcohol.
• Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting After the analysis of a series of data collected over a fixed six months period, by the concerned members globally, in connection to that, 15% of accidents, 36% of deaths due to fire, and 26% […]
• Managing Business Ethics: Alcohol and Marketing The promotion of alcoholic beverages is one of the “highly regulated” form of marketing, and in some countries of the World the direct marketing of alcoholic beverages are completely banned.
• Alcohol and Smoking Abuse: Negative Physical and Mental Effects The following is a range of effects of heavy alcohol intake as shown by Lacoste, they include: Neuropsychiatric or neurological impairment, cardiovascular, disease, liver disease, and neoplasm that is malevolent.
• Alcohol and Domestic Violence in Day-To-Day Social Life My paper will have a comprehensive literature review that will seek to analyze the above topic in order to assist the reader understand the alcohol contributions in the domestic and social violence in our society.
• Should Alcoholic Beverages Be Legalized for All Ages? Alcohol expectations vary across different cultures and this affects the mode of consumption and the age limit to which alcohol is taken. The loopholes in the law should also be amended to prevent any consumption […]
• The Dram Shop Act and Alcohol Consumption Laws were put in place for the accountability to establishments arising out of the self-service retailing of alcohol beverages to clearly drunk patrons or minors. It is clear that the dram act was put in […]
• Alcoholism: Insights from Peer-Reviewed Journals The main issues which are commonly focused on in this article are the criminal justice system on the drugs, overview of both national and international policies concerning alcohol and drugs, the patterns of the drug […]
• Alcohol and Tobacco Advertising History in the American Media This is the promotion of tobacco products by the tobacco industry in the media. In the 1970s the development of color lithography was a boost to the tobacco advisement in the U.S.media.
• Alcoholism as a Psychiatric and Medical Disorder He meets criteria A since he is unwilling to admit that he needs help to fight his dependence, which means that he requires the assistance of an expert to recognize the issue and, therefore, manage […]
• Alcohol and Sexual Assault, Health Problems and Alcohol Among Adolescents The reports of the various studies say that 50% of the sexual assault among adolescents is due to the influence of alcohol.
• Genetic Predisposition to Alcohol: The Appreciation and Therapy for Alcoholism Through family studies it has been established that the likelihood of alcohol dependence and similar complications happening is more in the families of the individuals who have been affected as compared to in the people […]
• Alcoholism: The Disease Is Often Progressive and Fatal According to the definition, the disease is a problem in society, but Colchado argues that if alcoholism is a problem, it cannot be considered a disease.
• How Teenagers Can Avoid Becoming Alcohol Abusers Drinking a glass of wine or a can or two of beer during a social event is acceptable and does not impair the physical ability and senses of a person.
• Alcohol Consumption Factors Among College Students In general, the purpose of the research was to arrive at evidence-based recommendations for university policy and guidance programs that could more holistically help students avoid binge drinking or alcoholism and systematically cope with the […]
• Effects of Drugs and Alcohol Use on Mental Health This paper is a bibliography listing a selection of works discussing effects of drugs and alcohol use on mental health.
• Alcohol and Crime in the U.K., the United States, and Australia The present paper looks at the issues of alcohol and the part that this liquid plays in violent crimes and offences in three major countries of the world: the U.
• Excessive Alcohol Consumption in Adolescents Dynamisms in the family and peer relationships coupled with alterations in cognition and growth related to puberty play a major role in the onset and escalation of the use of alcohol.
• Drug and Alcohol Abuse: A Comprehensive Research Study First, it is necessary to indentify the age groups, most inclined to drug and alcohol addiction, and ascertain the major reasons for it. The research should discuss the problem of addiction from various standpoints therefore […]
• Alcohol Consumption and Cardiovascular Diseases This is necessary to examine the relationship between individual experience of disease and consumption, and, in the population, is essential to the calculation of attributable risk.
• Drugs and Alcohol Effects and Behaviorism Help The problem of alcohol and drug dependency has increased over the years, fueled by factors such as easy accessibility of drugs, high cost of living, poverty, financial instability, and laxity on the part of authorities […]
• Genetic Basis for Alcoholism Further, Genetic studies will help you to understand more about the heritability of alcohol dependence and which will positively help you to explore the correlation of alcoholism to other disorders like major depression.
• Alcohol Addiction Issue in USA In order to do well in the group of Alcoholics Anonymous, it is better if the individual is talkative and open to conversations, as the main way of psychological therapy is telling stories about their […]
• Critical Issues in Education: Drug Abuse and Alcoholism For this case, the ministry concerned has a very hard task of ensuring there are no critical issues that are left unsolved that relate to education, failure to which will affect the performance of students […]
• An Arbitrary Restriction: Current Minimum Age Limits on the Lawful Consumption of Alcohol Are Unreasonable Voting was almost always restricted to men over the age of 21 if only because of the gravity of the responsibility involved.
• Alcoholism: Its Causes and Effects This is because when the levels of CYP2E1 are high, there is a greater level of lipid peroxidation within the liver, thus a lower ability of the liver to fight against the toxins that have […]
• Cirrhosis: Non- and Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease 27%, is the end result of a hepatocellular injury that leads to both fibrosis and regenerative nodules throughout the liver. The main cause of alcoholic liver disease is the excessive intake of alcohol, whereas the […]
• Single Parents in the Alcoholic Classification In this category, the single parent, either the father or the mother is a chronic alcoholic and heavily uses alcohol and other substances.
• Depression in People With Alcohol Dependence Alcoholic depression in the presence of alcohol dependence is a mood disorder that occurs quite often in the structure of the course of alcohol dependence syndrome during the period of withdrawal syndrome and alcoholic psychoses.
• Alcohol Addiction: Opting for a Correct Referral Method The psychological content of codependency is evidence of the uniqueness of health disorders and personal functioning of a family member as compared with alcohol-related disorders.
• Alcohol Beverage Management Trends This paper aims to review the recent management trends in the alcohol beverage industry that are directed at enhancing the potential of the sector.
• Alcoholic Fermentation and Metabolic Traits Furthermore, researchers intended to investigate the impact of human selection on strains’ food processing in addition to studying both the genetic variability and plasticity of different fermentation products between strains and food processes.
• Alcohol Addiction and Psychological Assistance Smith is a supporter of the Democratic Party like most people in her family and among her friends and colleagues. Smith was asked what goals she wanted to achieve in the course of her treatment.
• Alcohol and Smoking Impact on Cancer Risk The research question is to determine the quantity of the impact that different levels of alcohol ingestion combined with smoking behavioral patterns make on men and women in terms of the risks of cancer.
• Gender and Alcohol Consumption Influence on a Date The third null hypothesis is based on the effect of interaction between the first and second main effects: there is no significant interaction effect between gender and alcohol consumption in terms of the attractiveness of […]
• Reducing the Alcohol Abuse Among the Youth This paper includes a brief discussion of two possible ways to improve the problem and the justification for the use of one of the options.
• Decreasing Overall Alcohol Consumption The long term goal is to eliminate alcohol consumption as part of my list of consumables. One major benefit that one gets from a lack of consumption of alcohol is the reduced chances of contracting […]
• The Problem of Taking Alcohol I had a desire to prove that I had attained the natural maturity age as opposed to the prescribed age of the majority as it is put by the constitution.
• Alcohol Abusers and Their Psychological Treatment The aim of these sessions is to resolve the internal conflict within the clients in order to assist in the making of informed decisions by these individuals concerning their behavior.
• Alcoholic Drinks Market Analysis
• Alcoholism and Related Issues: Treatment Plan
• Alcohol and It Effects on Brain Functioning
• Alcohol & Substance Abuse and Medication Treatment
• Alcohol Marketing Regulation and Its Effectiveness
• Treatments for Alcohol Abuse in the Military
• Restriction of the Alcohol Sale at Outdoor Music Events
• Health Services for Drug and Alcohol Treatment
• Alcoholics Anonymous Observation and Group Therapy
• Alcohol Abuse for Military-Connected
• Pocket Guide for Alcohol Screening
• Prevention of Alcohol Consumption Among Youth
• Child Abuse and Neglect: Drug and Alcohol Problems
• Alcohol as the Most Common Depressant on Earth
• Alcoholism as a Social Issue and Its Effect on Families
• Disease Concept of Alcoholism
• Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Regulation
• Alcohol Effects on College Learners
• Alcoholics Anonymous Meetings as Community Agency
• Neural Development and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
• Should Marijuana Be Treated Like Alcohol?
• Economic Tools: The Alcohol Abuse Problem Solving
• Stereotype of Aboriginals and Alcohol in Canada
• Taxes on Alcohol and Cigarettes as a Healthcare Costs
• Alcohol and Drugs in Fatally Injured Drivers
• Alcohol Effect on Teenagers Health
• Straight Edge Subculture: Hardcore Punk Music and Abstinence From Alcohol
• Alcohol Consumption in the UK
• Alcohol Consumption in Adolescence
• College Students Alcohol Drinking Effects
• Healthcare: Excessive Alcohol Consumption Among Adults
• Drinking Alcohol at Arizona State University
• Alcohol Harmful Effects: Are There Any Benefits?
• The Facts About Alcoholism
• Substance-Use Disorder at the Workplace: Alcohol Dependence
• Under the Influence of Alcohol
• Should Abstinence Be the Goal for Treating People With Alcohol Problems?
• Predictors of Adolescent Drug and Alcohol Use
• The Genetics of Alcohol Dependence
• Do Alcoholic People Interact Differently?
• Alcohol Abuse by Quentin McCarthy
• Integrated Advertising: America Alcohol Industry Case
• Dangerous Effects of Alcohol and Cannabis
• Alcohol Abuse Among Elderly
• Reducing Drug and Alcohol Abuse: Europe vs. USA
• The American Image of Alcohol
• Concept and Treatment of Alcohol Abuse
• Minimum Price for Alcohol
• The Effects of Energy Drinks and Alcohol on Neuropsychological Functioning
• Ethical and Social Responsibility of the Alcohol Industry in the UK?
• The Effects of Alcohol Use on Academic Achievement in High School
• A New Alcohol and Drug-Abuse Rehabilitation Center in Liverpool Hospital, Sydney
• Women, Alcohol, Self-Concept, and Self-Esteem: A Qualitative Study of the Experience of Person-Centred Counselling
• Effects of Alcohol Abuse on Women
• The Effectiveness of Alcohol Marketing, Regulation and How It Is Can Protect the Consumer From Fake Products
• Definition of Alcohol Misuse (Alcohol Abuse and Addiction) in Youth Population Age 18-29
• Social Observation and Analysis of Alcohol Drinking
• Non-Alcoholic Beverage Industry
• Social Influences on Behavior: Towards Understanding Depression and Alcoholism Based on Social Situations
• Problem of Excess Alcohol Drinking in Society
• Motivational Program and Alcoholics Anonymous
• Alcohol Abuse and the Contribution of Economists to Solving This Issue
• Abuse in Childhood Common Among Alcohol Addicts
• Understanding Drug & Alcohol Addiction
• Alcoholism and the Impact Colonization Has Had on Aboriginals
• Effects of Alcohol on African American Teens
• Diseases Caused by Alcohol Abuse and Its Preventions
• How Drugs and Alcohol Affect Pregnancy and a Developing Child
• Alcoholism-Nature vs. Nurture Debate
• Alcoholism: The Rough Road
• Developmental Issues With Adolescents Due to Alcohol Consumption
• Alcohol and Alcohol Dependency
• Feasibility of Introducing Alcohol Made in the U.S. Into the Thai Market
• Alcoholism Disease or Self Will
• Drug and Alcohol Testing
• Why Drinking Alcohol During Pregnancy Occasions Unnecessary Risks to Prenatal Development
• Alcohol: Should the US Lower the Drinking Age to 18?
• Alcohol Problems and Abstinence
• Teenage Alcoholism: Parental Influence and How to Get Rid of Vice
• Should the Government Attempt to Reduce Current Levels of Alcohol Consumption?
• How Does Alcohol Abuse Affect Aging People?
• Should the Legal Alcohol Drinking Age Be Lowered to 18?
• Are Drinking Motives Universal?
• How Has Alcohol Abuse Become Part of the Culture in Many Societies?
• Does Alcohol Use Increase the Risk of Sexual Intercourse Among Adolescents?
• How Does Alcohol Affect the Brain’s Size?
• Is Alcohol Advertising the Cause of Underage Drinking?
• How Does Alcohol and Smoking Affect Erection?
• Does Drinking Location Matter?
• How Does Alcohol Cause Mental and Moral Changes?
• Are Visual Impairments Responsible for Emotion Decoding Deficits in Alcohol-Dependence?
• How Are Drugs and Alcohol Affecting the Teenagers?
• Does Oxidative Stress Induce by Alcohol Consumption Affect Orthodontic Treatment Outcome?
• How Far Will Alcohol Consumption Go?
• Does Repetitive Negative Thinking Influence Alcohol Use?
• How Does Alcohol Depress the Central Nervous System?
• Are Alcohol Excise Taxes Good for Us?
• How Does Alcohol Affect Human Behaviour?
• Do Employers Have the Right to Submit Employees to Drug and Alcohol Testing?
• How Does Alcohol Make You Drunk?
• Can Alcohol Make You Happy?
• How Many People Have Alcohol Use Disorders?
• Does Alcohol Consumption Reduce Human Capital Accumulation?
• How Similar Are Alcohol Drinkers?
• Which Drug Is More Effective in the Treatment of Alcohol Withdrawal?
• How Does Alcohol Affect the Human Body?
• Should Alcohol and Tobacco Advertisement Be Banned?
• How Similar Are Youth and Adult Alcohol Behaviors?
• Should Alcohol Drinking Age Be Decreased or Increased?
• Abuse Research Topics
• Criminal Behavior Essay Topics
• Social Policy Essay Ideas
• Domestic Violence Paper Topics
• Juvenile Delinquency Essay Titles
• Poverty Essay Titles
• Substance Abuse Research Topics
• Government Regulation Titles
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, March 2). 303 Alcohol Essay Topic Ideas & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/alcohol-essay-topics/

"303 Alcohol Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." IvyPanda , 2 Mar. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/alcohol-essay-topics/.

IvyPanda . (2024) '303 Alcohol Essay Topic Ideas & Examples'. 2 March.

IvyPanda . 2024. "303 Alcohol Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." March 2, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/alcohol-essay-topics/.

1. IvyPanda . "303 Alcohol Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." March 2, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/alcohol-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "303 Alcohol Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." March 2, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/alcohol-essay-topics/.

• History & Society
• Science & Tech
• Biographies
• Animals & Nature
• Geography & Travel
• Arts & Culture
• Games & Quizzes
• On This Day
• One Good Fact
• New Articles
• Lifestyles & Social Issues
• Philosophy & Religion
• Politics, Law & Government
• World History
• Health & Medicine
• Browse Biographies
• Birds, Reptiles & Other Vertebrates
• Bugs, Mollusks & Other Invertebrates
• Environment
• Fossils & Geologic Time
• Entertainment & Pop Culture
• Sports & Recreation
• Visual Arts
• Demystified
• Image Galleries
• Infographics
• Top Questions
• Britannica Kids
• Saving Earth
• Space Next 50
• Student Center
• Introduction

Defining alcoholism

• Causes of alcoholism
• Prevalence of alcoholism
• Acute diseases
• Chronic diseases
• Physiological therapies
• Psychological therapies
• Social treatment
• Results of treatment

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

• MedicineNet - Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (Alcohol Use Disorder)
• WebMD - Alcohol Use Disorder
• Verywell Mind - What is Alcoholism?
• Mayo Clinic - Alcoholism
• American Psychological Association - Understanding alcohol use disorders and their treatment
• Healthline - Alcoholism
• Mount Sinai - Alcoholism
• Medicine LibreTexts - Health Consequences of Alcohol Abuse
• Psychology Today - Alcoholism
• Harvard Health Publishing - Alcohol abuse
• Official Website of Alcoholics Anonymous
• alcoholism - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
• Table Of Contents

alcoholism , excessive and repetitive drinking of alcoholic beverages to the extent that the drinker repeatedly is harmed or harms others. The harm may be physical or mental; it may also be social, legal, or economic. Because such use is usually considered to be compulsive and under markedly diminished voluntary control, alcoholism is considered by a majority of, but not all, clinicians as an addiction and a disease .

The concept of inveterate drunkenness as a disease appears to be rooted in antiquity. The Roman philosopher Seneca classified it as a form of insanity . The term alcoholism , however, appeared first in the classical essay “Alcoholismus Chronicus” (1849) by the Swedish physician Magnus Huss. The phrase chronic alcoholism rapidly became a medical term for the condition of habitual inebriety, and the bearer of the “disease” was called an alcoholic or alcoholist (e.g., Italian alcoolisto , French alcoolique , German Alkoholiker , Spanish alcohólico , Swedish alkoholist ).

Alcoholism is a complex, many-sided phenomenon, and its many formal definitions vary according to the point of view of the definer. A simplistic definition calls alcoholism a disease caused by chronic , compulsive drinking. A purely pharmacological-physiological definition of alcoholism classifies it as a drug addiction that requires imbibing increasing doses to produce desired effects and that causes a withdrawal syndrome when drinking is stopped. This definition is inadequate, however, because alcoholics, unlike other drug addicts, do not always need ever-increasing doses of alcohol . Opium addicts, on the other hand, become so adapted to the drug that they can survive more than a hundred times the normal lethal dose, but the increased amounts to which alcoholics become adapted are rarely above the normal single lethal dose. Moreover, the withdrawal syndromes in alcoholism occur inconsistently, sometimes failing to appear in a person who has experienced them before and never occurring in some drinkers whose destructive behaviour is otherwise not distinguishable from that of someone who is pharmacologically dependent on alcohol.

A third definition, behavioral in nature, defines alcoholism as a disorder in which alcohol assumes marked salience in the individual’s life and in which the individual experiences a loss of control over its desired use. In this definition, alcoholism may or may not involve physiological dependence , but invariably it is characterized by alcohol consumption that is sufficiently great to cause regret and repeated physical, mental, social, economic, or legal difficulties. Clinicians call such a behavioral disorder a disease because it persists for years, is strongly hereditary, and is a major cause of death and disability. In addition, alcohol permanently alters the brain’s plasticity with regard to free choice over beginning or stopping drinking episodes. As with other medical diseases but unlike most bad habits, prospective studies demonstrate that willpower per se is of little predictive significance.

An informed minority opinion, especially among sociologists, believes that the medicalization of alcoholism is an error. Unlike most disease symptoms, the loss of control over drinking does not hold true at all times or in all situations. The alcoholic is not always under internal pressure to drink and can sometimes resist the impulse to drink or can drink in a controlled way. The early symptoms of alcoholism vary from culture to culture, and recreational public drunkenness may sometimes be mislabeled alcoholism by the prejudiced observer. In the general population, variation in daily alcohol consumption is distributed along a smooth continuum . This characteristic is inconsistent with the medical model, which implies that alcoholism is either present or absent—as is the case, for example, with pregnancy or a brain tumour. For such reasons, the sociological definition regards alcoholism as merely one symptom of social deviance and believes its diagnosis often lies in the eyes and value system of the beholder. For example, periodic intoxication can cause sickness necessitating days of absence from work. In a modern industrial community , this makes alcoholism similar to a disease. In a rural Andean society, however, the periodic drunkenness that occurs at appointed communal fiestas and results in sickness and suspension of work for several days is normal behaviour. It should be noted that this drunkenness at fiestas is a choice and does not produce regret. If the sociological model were entirely correct, alcoholism should often be expected to disappear with maturation as is the case with many other symptoms of social deviance. This does not occur, however.

Finally, epidemiologists need a definition of alcoholism that enables them to identify alcoholics within a population that may not be available for individual examination. To define alcoholism they may rely on quantity and frequency measurements of reported community drinking and alcohol-related hospitalizations, on a formula based on the frequency of deaths from cirrhosis within the population, or on arrests for alcohol-related misbehaviour.

The Thesis Statement in a Persuasive Text

Alys Avalos-Rivera

In another chapter, we discussed the features of an informational essay. In this chapter, we will guide you to understand the essential elements of a similar type of academic text: the persuasive essay. Although informational and persuasive writing follow similar principles such as an orderly presentation of ideas that should be supported with evidence (e.g. facts, arguments, or examples), their purposes differ. The objective is written to take a stance (specific point of view) with respect to a controversial topic and persuade the audience to adopt the writer’s position. Because of this difference, the thesis statement of the persuasive essay needs to introduce the writer’s position in the controversy featured in the essay. Also, the preview of the essay’s structure should outline the arguments that the author will use to support his/her stance.

Should the US drinking age be lowered?

In the US, drinking alcoholic beverages is illegal for people under 21 years of age (minimum legal drinking age or MLDA). This law has long caused a great deal of disagreement and debates. While some people think it is paradoxical that young people of 18 cannot enter a bar but still go to war, others believe that the law is the best way to keep youth away from irresponsible and heavy drinking episodes (also called binge drinking). The following texts were written by readers of the New York Times” Room for Debate page to express their opinions about the subject. [1]

• Read the comments and underline the readers’ main arguments (reasons to support one position or the other).
• Identify which readers are against lowering the minimum drinking age (CON) and which are in favor (PRO)?
• Which arguments seem the least convincing? Which are the most persuasive? Why?

Content focus: Rating thesis statements

Considering these features, in the following task you will analyze how six college students drafted their thesis statements for a persuasive essay on the MLDA controversy. In the prompt used by the instructor for this assignment, students were required to address the following purposes:

• Present the PROs and CONs of the MLDA to a group of college students’ parents.
• Persuade the parents to vote in favor of lowering the MLDA to 18 years of age.

In other words, the writers need to take a stance on the issue. Read the Thesis Statement and assess how well each one fulfills the purposes given above and to what extent. Rate the Thesis Statement using a scale from 1 to 6, where 6 will stand for the best Thesis Statement and 1 will be given to the poorest. Be prepared to explain the reasons you have to support your rating.

a. The United States has more accidents caused by drivers under the influence of alcohol than other countries where there is no MLDA (        )

b. Young people should be allowed to drink without legal restrictions based on their age, which is ridiculous (        )

c. Parents should teach their children how to drink alcohol in moderation.  (        )

d. Lowering the MLDA will allow parents to introduce their children to alcohol use under the supervision and reduce the rate of accidents caused by drunken drivers (        )

e. A reduction in the MLDA will help neutralize teenagers’ obsession with drinking, allow parents to monitor their children first encounters with alcohol, and reduce the rate of accidents caused by irresponsible drinking.   (        )

f. Having the MLDA fixed at 21 is only increasing young people’s fascination with drinking in unsafe environments and using false IDs.     (        )

Guidelines for a thesis statement

What should be considered when drafting a thesis statement for an essay that aims to persuade the audience to take a stand in a controversial issue? Think of some possible guidelines to write an effective persuasive TS taking into account the following:

• How should you address your audience?
• Where in your text should you introduce your stance?
• What language features (words, phrases) could be useful?
• How can you connect your TS with the main arguments you will use in your essay?

Write your guidelines below and discuss them with your colleagues and your instructor:

In some of the thesis statements listed above, the writers use modal verbs such as will and should . The first one ( will ) is used to predict the results that could be achieved if the authorities follow a specific course of action regarding the MLDA. The second one ( should ) is used to recommend what should be done with respect to the MLDA. These and other modal verbs that express advice, convey an obligation, or predict an outcome are often used to introduce the writer’s stance because they are useful to express the speaker’s desires, or his/her ideas of how the world should be. Other modal verbs that are also used with these purposes are: must, can, could, ought to, and also the semi-modal have to .

When using modal verbs to compose your thesis statement, however, you should be careful to select the one that best represents your purpose. The meaning of your thesis statement can change a great deal if you use one or the other. Read the following examples and explain how the meaning has changed with each modal (in bold):

*Although ought to and must are accepted as standard forms, they are not used in Academic English very often because they imply a strong and categorical position. Scientists usually abstain from categorical statements because these expressions do not convey that the writer remains open to new possibilities. Scientist prefer to maintain a more open attitude in their writing in case new evidence is discovered in the future that can change their points of view about the world.

Although the participants in the Room for Debate’s and Star Wars pages hold different points of view regarding very different topics, they all engaged in their online discussions with a common purpose: persuading their audience of their point of view. They do so in a succinct fashion because their audience does not usually invest much time in reading blog posts that are too long and complex. Therefore, effective blog/forum posters try to be direct and present one single point per post. On the contrary, academic persuasive writing needs to be more detailed and provide the audience with more than just the author’s point of view.

• https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/02/10/you-must-be-21-to-drink ↵

The Thesis Statement in a Persuasive Text Copyright © 2020 by Alys Avalos-Rivera is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• HHS Author Manuscripts

Theoretical Frameworks and Mechanistic Aspects of Alcohol Addiction: Alcohol Addiction as a Reward Deficit Disorder

George f. koob.

Committee on the Neurobiology of Addictive Disorders, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, SP30-2400, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA

Alcoholism can be defined by a compulsion to seek and take drug, loss of control in limiting intake, and the emergence of a negative emotional state when access to the drug is prevented. Alcoholism impacts multiple motivational mechanisms and can be conceptualized as a disorder that includes a progression from impulsivity (positive reinforcement) to compulsivity (negative reinforcement). The compulsive drug seeking associated with alcoholism can be derived from multiple neuroadaptations, but the thesis argued here is that a key component involves the construct of negative reinforcement. Negative reinforcement is defined as drug taking that alleviates a negative emotional state. The negative emotional state that drives such negative reinforcement is hypothesized to derive from dysregulation of specific neurochemical elements involved in reward and stress within the basal forebrain structures involving the ventral striatum and extended amygdala, respectively. Specific neurochemical elements in these structures include not only decreases in reward neurotransmission, such as decreased dopamine and γ -aminobutyric acid function in the ventral striatum, but also recruitment of brain stress systems, such as corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), in the extended amygdala. Acute withdrawal from chronic alcohol, sufficient to produce dependence, increases reward thresholds, increases anxiety-like responses, decreases dopamine system function, and increases extracellular levels of CRF in the central nucleus of the amygdala. CRF receptor antagonists also block excessive drug intake produced by dependence. A brain stress response system is hypothesized to be activated by acute excessive drug intake, to be sensitized during repeated withdrawal, to persist into protracted abstinence, and to contribute to the compulsivity of alcoholism. Other components of brain stress systems in the extended amygdala that interact with CRF and that may contribute to the negative motivational state of withdrawal include norepinephrine, dynorphin, and neuropeptide Y. The combination of loss of reward function and recruitment of brain stress systems provides a powerful neurochemical basis for a negative emotional state that is responsible for the negative reinforcement driving, at least partially, the compulsivity of alcoholism.

1 Definitions and Conceptual Framework for Reward Deficit in Alcoholism

Alcoholism has many definitions that vary from social frameworks to a psychiatric framework embedded in the diagnosis of Substance Dependence on Alcohol defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, 4th edition (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association 1994 ). Alcoholism, and more generically drug addiction, can be defined as a chronically relapsing disorder characterized by (i) compulsion to seek and take the drug (alcohol), (ii) loss of control in limiting (alcohol) intake, and (iii) emergence of a negative emotional state (e.g., dysphoria, anxiety and irritability) reflecting a motivational withdrawal syndrome when access to the drug (alcohol) is prevented (defined here as dependence: Koob and Le Moal 1997 ). Clinically and in animal models, the occasional but limited use of alcohol with the potential for abuse or dependence is distinct from escalated alcohol intake and the emergence of a chronic alcohol-dependent state. The thesis argued in the present synthesis is that alcoholism, similar to drug addiction, is a reward deficit disorder, and the “emergence of a negative emotional state” plays an important role in defining and perpetuating alcoholism. Alcoholism also involves substantial neuroadaptations that persist beyond acute withdrawal and trigger relapse and deficits in cognitive function that can also fuel compulsive drinking. However, the argument here is that the core deficit that sets up vulnerability to relapse in alcoholism, and possibly even deficits in cognitive function, is in fact decreased reward function.

To support this hypothesis, a holistic view of alcoholism will be presented with the following arguments. A negative emotional state is a common presentation in most alcoholics during withdrawal and protracted abstinence. Compulsivity observed in alcoholism has an important negative reinforcement component that perpetuates alcoholism. Such negative emotional states become sensitized over time and set up an allostatic state that perpetuates dependence. Negative emotional states set up a powerful motivational state for relapse. Finally, the neurobiological substrates underlying the motivation to seek alcohol will be reviewed, and an argument will be presented that it is loss of reward function and gain of brain stress function that mediate the negative emotional state outlined as key to alcoholism.

Drug addiction has generally been conceptualized as a disorder that involves elements of both impulsivity and compulsivity, in which impulsivity can be defined behaviorally as “a predisposition toward rapid, unplanned reactions to internal and external stimuli without regard for the negative consequences of these reactions to themselves or others” ( Moeller et al. 2001 ). Impulsivity is measured in two domains: the choice of a smaller, immediate reward over a larger, delayed reward ( Rachlin and Green 1972 ) or the inability to inhibit behavior by changing the course of action or to stop a response once it is initiated ( Logan et al. 1997 ). Impulsivity is a core deficit in substance abuse disorders ( Allen et al. 1998 ) and neuropsychiatric disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Operationally, delay-to-gratification tasks (delayed discounting tasks; impulsive choice) and the stop-signal or go/no-go task (behavioral impulsivity) have been used as measures of impulsivity ( Fillmore and Rush 2002 ; Green et al. 1994 ). Compulsivity can be defined as elements of behavior that result in perseveration of responding in the face of adverse consequences or perseveration in the face of incorrect responses in choice situations (e.g., operationally, responding for a drug or alcohol in the face of adverse consequences ( Wolffgramm and Heyne 1995 ) or responding for a drug or alcohol on a progressive-ratio schedule of reinforcement ( Walker et al. 2008 )). Compulsivity is analogous to the symptoms of Substance Dependence outlined by the American Psychiatric Association: continued substance use despite knowledge of having had a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem and a great deal of time spent in activities necessary to obtain the substance ( American Psychiatric Association 2000 ).

Collapsing the cycles of impulsivity and compulsivity yields a composite addiction cycle comprising three stages— preoccupation/anticipation, binge/intoxication, and withdrawal/negative affect —in which impulsivity often dominates at the early stages and compulsivity dominates at terminal stages ( Fig. 1 ). As an individual moves from impulsivity to compulsivity, a shift occurs from positive reinforcement driving the motivated behavior to negative reinforcement driving the motivated behavior ( Koob 2004 ). Negative reinforcement can be defined as the process by which removal of an aversive stimulus (e.g., negative emotional state of drug withdrawal) increases the probability of a response (e.g., dependence-induced drug intake to relieve the negative emotional state). Note that negative reinforcement is not punishment, although both involve an aversive stimulus. In punishment, the aversive stimulus suppresses behavior, including drug taking (e.g., disulfiram [Antabuse]). Negative reinforcement can be perhaps described in lay terms as reward via relief (i.e., relief reward), such as removal of pain or in the case of alcoholism removal of the negative emotional state of acute withdrawal or protracted abstinence. The three stages are conceptualized as interacting with each other, becoming more intense, and ultimately leading to the pathological state known as addiction ( Koob and Le Moal 1997 ) ( Fig. 1 ).

(Top left) Diagram showing the stages of impulse control disorder and compulsive disorder cycles related to the sources of reinforcement. In impulse control disorders, an increasing tension and arousal occurs before the impulsive act, with pleasure, gratification, or relief during the act. Following the act, there may or may not be regret or guilt. In compulsive disorders, there are recurrent and persistent thoughts (obsessions) that cause marked anxiety and stress followed by repetitive behaviors (compulsions) that are aimed at preventing or reducing distress ( American Psychiatric Association 1994 ). Positive reinforcement (pleasure/gratification) is more closely associated with impulse control disorders. Negative reinforcement (relief of anxiety or relief of stress) is more closely associated with compulsive disorders. (Top right) Collapsing the cycles of impulsivity and compulsivity results in the addiction cycle, conceptualized as three major components: preoccupation/anticipation, binge/intoxication, and withdrawal/negative affect (Taken with permission from Koob 2008b .) (Bottom) Change in the relative contribution of positive and negative reinforcement constructs during the development of substance dependence on alcohol

In alcohol addiction, or alcoholism, a pattern of oral drug taking evolves that is often characterized by binges of alcohol intake that can be daily episodes or prolonged days of heavy drinking and is characterized by a severe emotional and somatic withdrawal syndrome. Many alcoholics continue with such a binge/withdrawal pattern for extended periods of time, but some individuals can evolve into an opioid-like situation in which they must have alcohol available at all times to avoid the negative consequences of abstinence. Here, intense preoccupation with obtaining alcohol (craving) develops that is linked not only to stimuli associated with obtaining the drug but also to stimuli associated with withdrawal and the aversive motivational state. A pattern develops in which the drug must be obtained to avoid the severe dysphoria and discomfort of abstinence.

The pattern of alcohol addiction, related to reward dysfunction, can be amply illustrated by excerpts from two case histories from Knapp (1996) and Goodwin (1981) . In the first representative case history, an individual progresses from the state where they stated, “I drank when I was happy and I drank when I was anxious and I drank when I was bored and I drank when I was depressed, which was often,” to, “I loved the way drink made me feel, and I loved its special power of deflection, its ability to shift my focus away from my own awareness of self and onto something else, something less painful than my own feelings,” and, “There’s a sense of deep need, and the response is a grabbiness, a compulsion to latch on to something outside yourself in order to assuage some deep discomfort” ( Knapp 1996 ). Similarly, in a second representative case history, “Alcohol seemed to satisfy some specific need I had, which I can’t describe,” and, “There were always reasons to drink. I was low, tense, tired, mad, happy,” and, “The goal, always, was to maintain a glow, not enough, I hoped, that people would notice, but a glow,” and, “By now I was hooked and knew it, but desperately did not want others to know it. I had been sneaking drinks for years—slipping out to the kitchen during parties and such—but now I began hiding alcohol, in my desk, bedroom, car glove compartment, so it would never be far away, ever. I grew panicky even thinking I might not have alcohol when I needed it, which was just about always, “ and, “ I loathed myself. I was waking early and thinking what a mess I was, how I had hurt so many others and myself. The words ‘guilty’ and ‘depression’ sound superficial in trying to describe how I felt. The loathing was almost physical—a dead weight that could be lifted in only one way, and that was by having a drink” ( Goodwin 1981 ; see Koob and Le Moal 2006 , Appendix, for full quotations).

These case histories illustrate numerous key points regarding the present treatise, but the main point to be further discussed below is the transition from drinking to feel good to drinking to avoid feeling bad. To some extent, this transition is facilitated by personality differences, presumably shaped not only by genetics but also by developmental and even social factors. As Khantzian (1997) cogently argued, addiction can be considered a type of chronic emotional distress syndrome that varies with the individual from physical and emotional pain to chronic dysphoria to stress and anxiety to interpersonal difficulties for which drugs can be argued to be sources of self-medication for such negative emotional states. Additionally, he argued that self-medication may be drug-specific—patients may have a preferential use of drugs that fits with the nature of the painful feeling states that they are self-medicating (e.g., opiates to counter intense anger and rage, stimulants as augmenting agents for high-energy individuals, energizing agents for low-energy individuals, and depressants [e.g., alcohol] for individuals who are tense and anxious). The common element argued by Khantzian is that each class of drugs serves as antidotes or correctives to dysphoric states and acts as a “replacement for a defect in the psychological structure” ( Kohut 1971 , p. 46) of such individuals ( Khantzian 2003 ).

1.1 Theoretical Framework: Motivation, Withdrawal, and Opponent Process

Motivation is a state that can be defined as a “tendency of the whole animal to produce organized activity” ( Hebb 1972 ), and such motivational states are not constant but rather vary over time. Early work by Wikler stressed the role of changes in drive states associated with dependence. Subjects described changes in withdrawal as a “hunger” or primary need and the effects of morphine on such a state as “satiation” or gratification of the primary need ( Wikler 1952 ). Although Wikler argued that positive reinforcement was retained even in heavily dependent subjects (thrill of the intravenous opioid injection), dependence produced a new source of gratification, that of negative reinforcement (see above).

The concept of motivation in addiction was inextricably linked with hedonic, affective, or emotional states in the context of temporal dynamics by Solomon’s opponent process theory of motivation. Solomon and Corbit (1974) postulated that hedonic, affective, or emotional states, once initiated by drugs, are automatically modulated by the central nervous system with mechanisms that reduce the intensity of hedonic feelings. The a-process includes affective or hedonic habituation (or tolerance), and the b-process includes affective or hedonic withdrawal (abstinence). The a-process in drug use consists of positive hedonic responses, occurs shortly after presentation of a stimulus, correlates closely with the intensity, quality, and duration of the reinforcer, and shows tolerance. In contrast, the b-process in drug use appears after the a-process has terminated, consists of negative hedonic responses, and is sluggish in onset, slow to build up to an asymptote, slow to decay, and gets larger with repeated exposure. The thesis here is that opponent processes begin early in drug taking, reflect changes in the brain reward and stress systems, and later form one of the major motivations for compulsivity in drug taking.

Thus, dependence or manifestation of a withdrawal syndrome after removal of chronic drug administration is defined in terms of motivational aspects of dependence, such as emergence of a negative emotional state (e.g., dysphoria, anxiety and irritability) when access to the drug is prevented ( Koob and Le Moal 2001 ), rather than on the physical , signs of dependence. Indeed, some have argued that the development of such a negative affective state can define dependence as it relates to addiction:

The notion of dependence on a drug, object, role, activity or any other stimulus-source requires the crucial feature of negative affect experienced in its absence. The degree of dependence can be equated with the amount of this negative affect, which may range from mild discomfort to extreme distress, or it may be equated with the amount of difficulty or effort required to do without the drug, object, etc ( Russell 1976 ).

Alcoholics show dramatic evidence of dysphoric states during acute withdrawal that persist into protracted abstinence. Alcohol withdrawal in humans produces well documented physical (somatic) symptoms, such as tremor, autonomic hyperactivity, nausea, vomiting, and seizures, but more importantly produces significant affective symptoms of anxiety, dysphoria, and depression-like symptoms. Acute withdrawal (i.e., the first week post-alcohol) is characterized by Beck Depression Inventory scores of approximately 20, which is categorized within the range of moderate depression ( Potokar et al. 21997 ; 15–30), and Hamilton Depression Scores of 18, which is close to 20 (the cutoff for antidepressant medication in affective disorder; Brown and Schuckit 1988 ). Depression scores decline during subsequent weeks of treatment but remain at close to 10 for Hamilton Depression Scores for up to 4 weeks of an inpatient treatment program ( Brown and Schuckit 1988 ). In another study of inpatient alcoholics during withdrawal, the Beck Depression Inventory score was at 15 at withdrawal and remained at 12.8 two days into withdrawal and at 9.4 two weeks post-withdrawal ( de Timary et al. 2008 ). Similar results were obtained for anxiety measures ( Potokar et al. 1997 ; de Timary et al. 2008 ). In another study with a long-term follow-up of 6 months after a 4-week inpatient detoxification. Beck Depression Inventory scores remained at approximately 6, and trait anxiety scores (STAI-X2) remained above 33 even in subjects without comorbid anxiety or depression ( Driessen et al. 2001 ). Independent of comorbidity status, individuals who relapsed had higher trait anxiety scores than those who abstained ( Driessen et al. 2001 ). Thus, although alcoholics show significant decreases in measures of depression and anxiety during withdrawal, there is a measurable level of depression-like symptoms that persist long after acute withdrawal into protracted abstinence that may be clinically (treatment) relevant.

More compelling for the present thesis, during a 2-week inpatient withdrawal study, alexithymia (defined as a state of deficiency in understanding, processing, or describing emotions: from the Greek a for “lack.” lexis for “word,” and thymos for “emotion”; Sifneos 1973 ; Taylor and Bagby 2000 ), which results in poor emotional regulation and stress management abilities, remained high and stable during the 2-week period ( de Timary et al. 2008 ). Alexithymia scores did not decline between the 0 and 2 day time-points but remained high at a score of 57 and declined only to 53 at the 3-week time-point ( de Timary et al. 2008 ). The authors argued that alexithymia is a stable personality trait in alcoholics rather than a state-dependent phenomenon, providing support for the self-medication hypothesis outlined above.

Animal models can also be used to test the hypothesis that there are opponent process-like motivational changes associated with the development of alcohol dependence. Electrical brain stimulation reward or intracranial self-stimulation has a long history as a measure of activity of the brain reward system and of the acute reinforcing effects of drugs of abuse. All drugs of abuse, when administered acutely, decrease brain stimulation reward thresholds ( Kornetsky and Esposito 1979 ) and when administered chronically increase reward thresholds during withdrawal (see above). Brain stimulation reward involves widespread neurocircuitry in the brain, but the most sensitive sites defined by the lowest thresholds involve the trajectory of the medial forebrain bundle that connects the ventral tegmental area with the basal forebrain ( Olds and Milner 1954 ; Koob et al. 1977 ). Although much emphasis was focussed initially on the role of the ascending monoamine systems in the medial forebrain bundle in brain stimulation reward, other nondopaminergic systems in the medial forebrain bundle clearly play a key role ( Hernandez et al. 2006 ).

Rats made dependent using chronic ethanol vapor exposure at blood alcohol levels sufficient to drive excessive drinking showed an increase in brain reward thresholds during withdrawal that lasted up to 3 days post-withdrawal ( Schulteis et al. 1995 ). However, data suggest that, similar to other drugs of abuse, such opponent-like processes can begin with a single dosing ( Fig. 2 ).

a Withdrawal from a single boul of acute ethanol intoxication (week 1) resulted in a significant but transient increase in brain reward threshold only with the highest dose of ethanol tested (2.0 g/kg: a P < 0.05, compared with vehicle controls at given time-point post-injection). The effect was significant at 6 hours, a time when blood alcohol levels had declined to virtually undetectable levels following this dose of ethanol. Repeated treatment with this dose for two additional weeks resulted in a progressive broadening of the duration of significant threshold elevations. By comparison, treatment with 1.5 g/kg ethanol resulted in significant but transient elevations only after three repeated bouts of intoxication/withdrawal, and no statistically reliable changes were seen after one or two treatments (data not shown). Treatment with 1.0 g/kg did not produce any statistically reliable threshold changes regardless of treatment week (data not shown). Data are expressed as mean ± SEM percentage of baseline threshold, n = 8–10 per dose group. [Taken with permission from Schulteis and Liu 2006 .] b Time-dependent elevation of intracranial self-stimulation thresholds during ethanol withdrawal. Mean blood alcohol levels were 197.29 mg%, Data are expressed as mean ± SEM percentage of baseline threshold, a p < 0.05, thresholds that were significantly elevated above control levels at 2–48 hours post-ethanol. Open circles indicate the control condition. Closed circles indicate the ethanol withdrawal condition. [Taken with permission from Schulteis et al. 1995 .]

An acute elevation in brain reward thresholds was observed during repeated acute withdrawal from ethanol, bearing a striking resemblance to human subjective reports ( Schulteis and Liu 2006 ) ( Fig. 2 ). These results demonstrate that the elevation in brain reward thresholds following prolonged access to alcohol may fail to return to baseline levels between repeated and prolonged exposure to alcohol self-administration (i.e., a residual reward deficit), thus creating the greater elevation in reward thresholds observed during withdrawal from chronic ethanol. Rapid acute tolerance and opponent process-like effects in response to the hedonic effects of alcohol have been reported in human studies using the alcohol clamp procedure ( Morzorati et al. 2002 ). These data provide compelling evidence for brain reward dysfunction with chronic alcohol, which provides strong support for a hedonic allostasis model of alcoholism ( Koob 2003 ).

The dysregulation of brain reward function associated with withdrawal from chronic administration of drugs of abuse is a common element of all drugs of abuse. Withdrawal from chronic cocaine ( Markou and Koob 1991 ), amphetamine ( Paterson et al. 2000 ), opioids ( Schulteis et al. 1994 ), cannabinoids ( Gardner and Vorel 1998 ), nicotine ( Epping-Jordan et al. 1998 ), and ethanol ( Schulteis et al. 1995 ) leads to increases in reward thresholds during acute abstinence, and some of these elevations in threshold can last for up to 1 week. These observations lend credence to the hypothesis that opponent processes can set the stage for one aspect of compulsivity in which negative reinforcement mechanisms are engaged.

More recently, the opponent process theory has been expanded into the domains of the neurobiology of drug addiction from a neurocircuitry perspective. An allostatic model of the brain motivational systems has been proposed to explain the persistent changes in motivation that are associated with dependence in addiction ( Koob and Le Moal 2001 , 2008 ). In this formulation, addiction is conceptualized as a cycle of increasing dysregulation of brain reward/anti-reward mechanisms that results in a negative emotional state contributing to the compulsive use of drugs. Counteradaptive processes that are part of the normal homeostatic limitation of reward function fail to return within the normal homeostatic range. These counteradaptive processes are hypothesized to be mediated by two mechanisms: within-system neuroadaptations and between-system neuroadaptations ( Koob and Bloom 1988 ).

In a within-system neuroadaptation. “the primary cellular response element to the drug would itself adapt to neutralize the drug’s effects: persistence of the opposing effects after the drug disappears would produce the withdrawal response” ( Koob and Bloom 1988 ). Thus, a within-system neuroadaptation is a molecular or cellular change within a given reward circuit to accommodate overactivity of hedonic processing associated with addiction resulting in a decrease in reward function.

The emotional dysregulation associated with the withdrawal/negative affect stage may also involve between-system neuroadaptations in which neurochemical systems other than those involved in the positive rewarding effects of drugs of abuse are recruited or dysregulated by chronic activation of the reward system. “In the between-systems opposing process, a different cellular system and separable molecular apparatus would be triggered by the changes in the primary drug response neurons and would produce the adaptation and tolerance” ( Koob and Bloom 1988 ). Thus, a between-system neuroadaptation is a circuitry change in which another different circuit (anti-reward circuit) is activated by the reward circuit and has opposing actions, again limiting reward function. The remainder of this review explores the neuroadaptational changes that occur in the brain emotional systems to account for the neurocircuitry changes that produce opponent processes and are hypothesized to play a key role in the compulsivity of addiction.

2 Animal Models for Compulsive Alcohol Seeking

Methods of inducing binge-like drinking with alcohol range from having animals drink alcohol solutions that are made more palatable with the addition of a sweetener ( Ji et al. 2008 ) to restricting intake to specific periods of the dark cycle (drinking in the dark; Rhodes et al. 2005 ) to models involving alcohol dependence in animals such as alcohol vapor inhalation, intragastric alcohol infusion, and alcohol-liquid diet. The compulsive use of alcohol derives from multiple sources of reinforcement, and animal models have been developed not only for the acute positive reinforcing effects of ethanol, but also for the negative reinforcing effects associated with removal of the aversive effects of ethanol withdrawal or an existing aversive state (i.e., self-medication of the aversive effects of abstinence from chronic ethanol or self-medication of a pre-existing negative affective state; Koob and Le Moal 1997 ). A major early breakthrough was the development of a training procedure involving access to a sweetened solution and a subsequent fading in of ethanol to avoid the aversiveness of the ethanol taste (for review, see Samson 1987 ). Subsequent work extended these procedures to measures of self-administration in dependent rats and post-dependent rats ( Roberts et al. 1996 ; O’Dell et al. 2004 ).

High doses of alcohol solution will be self-administered intragastrically after animals are made dependent via passive intragastric infusion, and rats will self-infuse 4–7 g/kg per day of ethanol ( Fidler et al. 2006 ). Here, blood alcohol levels average 0.12 g%, measured 30 min after the start of a bout in which rats infuse 1.5 g/kg per 30 min.

In an alcohol-liquid diet procedure, the diet is typically the sole source of calories available to rats (for example, see Moy et al. 1997 ), thereby forcing rats to consume the alcohol. Typically, rats are provided a palatable liquid diet containing 5–8.7% v/v ethanol as their sole source of calories sufficient to produce dependence and maintain blood alcohol levels of 100–130 mg% during the dark (active drinking) cycle ( Schulteis et al. 1996 ; Brown et al. 1998 ; Valdez et al. 2004). High responders during withdrawal from liquid diet will reach blood alcohol levels of approximately 80–100 mg% ( Schulteis et al. 1996 ; Gilpin et al. 2009 ).

Reliable self-administration of ethanol in dependent animals using ethanol vapor exposure has been extensively characterized in rats, in which animals obtain blood alcohol levels in the 100–150 mg% range ( Roberts et al. 1999 , 2000 ). Similarly, rats with a history of alcohol dependence show increased self-administration of ethanol, even weeks after acute withdrawal ( Roberts et al. 2000 ). In a variant of alcohol vapor exposure with more face validity, intermittent exposure to chronic ethanol using alcohol vapor chambers (14 h on/10 h off) produces more rapid escalation to increased ethanol intake and higher amounts of intake ( O’Dell et al. 2004 ; Rimondini et al. 2002 ), and blood alcohol levels are reliably above 140 mg% after a 30 min session of self-administration in dependent animals ( Richardson et al. 2008 ). In both the liquid diet and ethanol vapor procedures, alcohol intake is directly related to the blood alcohol range and the pattern of intermittent high-dose alcohol exposure ( Gilpin et al. 2009 ). Although the alcohol vapor model may have limited face validity, considering that alcohol is passively administered to animals, numerous studies demonstrated that it also has robust predictive validity for alcohol addiction ( Heilig and Koob 2007 ; Koob et al. 2009 ).

A similar procedure has been developed for mice and produces reliable increases in ethanol self-administration during withdrawal. Now termed chronic intermittent exposure (CIE), C57BL/6 mice are exposed to intermittent durations of ethanol vapor (three cycles of 16 h of vapor and 8 h of air) and then tested in a 2 h limited access ethanol preference drinking test during the circadian dark period ( Becker and Lopez 2004 ; Lopez and Becker 2005 ; Finn et al. 2007 ). Intermittent ethanol vapor exposure significantly increased 15% (v/v) ethanol intake by 30–50% in the post-vapor period, usually after multiple cycles and usually after 24 h of withdrawal ( Finn et al. 2007 ). Similar results have been reported using an operant response in mice in 60 min test sessions for 10% (w/v) ethanol with intermittent vapor exposure of 14 h on/10 h off ( Chu et al. 2007 ).

3 Neural Substrates for the Negative Emotional State Associated with Alcoholism

3.1 within-system neuroadaptations that contribute to the compulsivity associated with the dark side of alcoholism.

Within-system neuroadaptations to chronic drug exposure include decreases in function of the same neurotransmitter systems in the same neurocircuits implicated in the acute reinforcing effects of drugs of abuse. One prominent hypothesis is that dopamine systems are compromised in crucial phases of the addiction cycle, such as withdrawal and protracted abstinence. This decrease in dopamine function is hypothesized to lead to decreased motivation for non-drug-related stimuli and increased sensitivity to the abused drug ( Melis et al. 2005 ). Activation of the mesolimbic dopamine system has long been known to be critical for the acute rewarding properties of psychostimulant drugs and to be associated with the acute reinforcing effects of alcohol ( Koob 1992 ; McBride and Li 1998 ; Nestler 2005 ). However, the magnitude of the increase in dopaminergic activity produced by alcohol pales in comparison to that of psychostimulant “intoxication.” For example, intravenous cocaine self-administration produces a 200% increase in extracellular dopamine ( Weiss et al. 1992b ) compared with ethanol which produces a 20% increase in extracellular dopamine in the nucleus accumbens ( Doyon et al. 2003 ) and heroin (which does not increase extracellular dopamine in the nucleus accumbens) ( Table 1 ). Such a relationship changes with the development of dependence and may change with genetic background (see Ramachandani et al. 2010 , who demonstrated a nearly 200% increase with alcohol in animals that carried the OPRM1 118G variant).

Effects of intravenous self-administration of D-amphetamine, cocaine, and heroin and oral self-administration of alcohol on extracellular dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens using in vivo microdialysis

More compelling in the mesolimbic dopamine domain are the decreases in activity of the mesolimbic dopamine system and decreases in serotonergic neurotransmission in the nucleus accumbens that occur during alcohol withdrawal in animal studies ( Rossetti et al. 1992 ; Weiss et al. 1992a , 1996 ). In dependent male Wistar rats trained to self-administer ethanol during withdrawal, the release of dopamine and serotonin was monitored by microdialysis in the nucleus accumbens at the end of a 3–5 week ethanol (8.7% w/v) liquid diet regimen, during 8 h of withdrawal, and during renewed availability of ethanol involving the opportunity to operantly self-administer ethanol (10% w/v) for 60 min, followed by unlimited access to the ethanol liquid diet. In nondependent rats, operant ethanol self-administration increased both dopamine and serotonin release in the nucleus accumbens. Withdrawal from the chronic ethanol diet produced a progressive suppression in the release of these transmitters over the 8 h withdrawal period. Self-administration of ethanol reinstated and maintained dopamine release at pre-withdrawal levels but failed to completely restore serotonin efflux. These findings suggested that deficits in nucleus accumbens monoamine release may contribute to the negative affective consequences of ethanol withdrawal and thereby motivate ethanol-seeking behavior in dependent subjects ( Weiss et al. 1996 ). Similar dramatic decreases in extracellular dopamine in the nucleus accumbens, measured by microdialysis, were found in a study in which animals were tested for 8 h into ethanol withdrawal produced by chronic repeated ethanol injections of up to 5 g/kg every 6 h for six consecutive days using the Majchrowicz procedure ( Majchrowicz 1975 ; Rossetti et al. 1999 ). Thus, as a result, ethanol-dependent animals may show a much greater percentage increase in dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens during ethanol self-administration during withdrawal because baseline levels of dopamine are so low during withdrawal ( Weiss et al. 1996 ).

Imaging studies in drug-addicted humans have consistently shown long-lasting decreases in the numbers of dopamine D 2 receptors in alcoholics compared with controls ( Volkow et al. 2002 ). Additionally, alcohol-dependent subjects had dramatically reduced dopamine release in the striatum response to a pharmacological challenge with the stimulant drug methylphenidate ( Volkow et al. 2007 ). Decreases in the number of dopamine D 2 receptors, coupled with the decrease in dopaminergic activity, in cocaine, nicotine, and alcohol abusers are hypothesized to produce a decreased sensitivity of reward circuits to stimulation by natural rein-forcers ( Martin-Solch et al. 2001 ; Volkow and Fowler 2000 ). These findings suggest an overall reduction in the sensitivity of the dopamine component of reward circuitry to natural reinforcers and other drugs in drug-addicted individuals ( Table 2 ).

Role of corticotropin-releasing factor in dependence

nt, not tested

CeA, central nucleus of the amygdala

Other within-system neuroadaptations under this conceptual framework could include increased sensitivity of receptor transduction mechanisms in the nucleus accumbens. Drugs of abuse have acute receptor actions that are linked to intracellular signaling pathways that may undergo adaptations with chronic treatment. In the context of chronic alcohol administration, multiple molecular mechanisms have been hypothesized to counteract the acute effects of ethanol that could be considered within-system neuroadaptations. For example, chronic ethanol decreases γ -aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor function, possibly through downregulation of the α 1 subunit ( Mhatre et al. 1993 ; Devaud et al. 1997 ). Chronic ethanol also decreases the acute inhibition of adenosine reuptake (i.e., tolerance develops to the inhibition of adenosine by ethanol; Sapru et al. 1994 ). Perhaps more relevant to the present treatise, whereas acute ethanol activates adenylate cyclase, withdrawal from chronic ethanol decreases CREB phosphorylation in the amygdala and is linked to decrease in function of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and to the anxiety-like responses observed during acute ethanol withdrawal ( Chance et al. 2000 ; Pandey 2004 ).

3.2 Between-System Neuroadaptations that Contribute to Compulsivity Associated with the Dark Side of Alcoholism

Brain neurochemical systems involved in arousal-stress modulation may also be engaged within the neurocircuitry of the brain stress systems in an attempt to overcome the chronic presence of the perturbing drug (alcohol) and to restore normal function despite the presence of drug. The neuroanatomical entity termed the extended amygdala ( Heimer and Alheid 1991 ) may represent a common anatomical substrate integrating brain arousal-stress systems with hedonic processing systems to produce some of the between-system opponent process elaborated above. The extended amygdala is composed of the central nucleus of the amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and a transition zone in the medial (shell) subregion of the nucleus accumbens. Each of these regions has cytoarchitectural and circuitry similarities ( Heimer and Alheid 1991 ). The extended amygdala receives numerous afferents from limbic structures, such as the basolateral amygdala and hippocampus, and sends efferents to the medial part of the ventral pallidum and a large projection to the lateral hypothalamus, thus further defining the specific brain areas that interface classical limbic (emotional) structures with the extrapyramidal motor system ( Alheid et al. 1995 ). The extended amygdala has long been hypothesized to play a key role not only in fear conditioning ( Le Doux 2000 ) but also in the emotional component of pain processing ( Neugebauer et al. 2004 ).

The brain stress system mediated by corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) systems in both the extended amygdala and hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis are dysregulated by chronic administration of all major drugs with dependence or abuse potential, with a common response of elevated adrenocorticotropic hormone, corticosterone, and extended amygdala CRF during acute withdrawal from chronic drug administration ( Rivier et al. 1984 ; Merlo-Pich et al. 1995 ; Koob et al 1994 ; Rasmussen et al. 2000 ; Olive et al. 2002 ; Delfs et al. 2000 ; Koob 2008a ).

More specifically, alcohol withdrawal reliably produces anxiety-like responses in animal models that can be reversed by CRF receptor antagonists ( Koob 2008a ). Ethanol withdrawal produces anxiety-like behavior that is reversed by intracerebroventricular administration of CRF 1 /CRF 2 peptidergic antagonists ( Baldwin et al. 1991 ), small-molecule CRF 1 antagonists ( Knapp et al. 2004 ; Overstreet et al. 2004 ; Funk et al. 2007 ), and intracerebral administration of a peptidergic CRF 1 /CRF 2 antagonist into the amygdala ( Rassnick et al. 1993 ). CRF antagonists injected intracerebroventricularly or systemically also block the potentiated anxiety-like responses to stressors observed during protracted abstinence from chronic ethanol ( Breese et al. 2005 ; Valdez et al. 2003 ; Sommer et al. 2008 ).

Perhaps more relevant to the present thesis are studies showing that intermittent alcohol exposure sensitizes withdrawal of anxiety-like responses and that administration of drug treatments during withdrawal from the first and second alcohol cycles blocked this sensitization of withdrawal ( Knapp et al. 2004 ). Diazepam, flumazenil (a GABA A receptor partial agonist), and baclofen (a GABA B receptor agonist) blocked the sensitization of withdrawal, consistent with a within-system neuroadaptation ( Knapp et al. 2004 , 2005 , 2007 ; see above). However, a CRF 1 , antagonist also prevented the sensitization of withdrawal-induced anxiety ( Overstreet et al. 2004a . 2005 ). These results are consistent with a prolonged history of alcohol exposure producing persistent upregulation of both CRF and CRF 1 , receptors in the brain ( Roberto et al. 2010 ; Sommer et al. 2008 ; Zorrilla et al. 2001 ).

The ability of CRF antagonists to block the anxiogenic-like and aversive-like motivational effects of drug withdrawal would predict motivational effects of CRF antagonists in animal models of extended access to drugs. A particularly dramatic example of the motivational effects of CRF in dependence can be observed in animal models of ethanol self-administration in dependent animals. During ethanol withdrawal, extrahypothalamic CRF systems become hyperactive, with an increase in extracellular CRF within the central nucleus of the amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in dependent rats ( Funk et al. 2006 ; Merlo-Pich et al. 1995 ; Olive et al. 2002 ). The dysregulation of brain CRF systems is hypothesized to underlie not only the enhanced anxiety-like behaviors but also the enhanced ethanol self-administration associated with ethanol withdrawal. Supporting this hypothesis, the subtype nonselective CRF receptor antagonists α -helical CRF 9–41 and D-Phe CRF 12–41 (intracerebroventricular administration) reduced ethanol self-administration in dependent animals during acute withdrawal and during protracted abstinence ( Valdez et al. 2002 ). When administered directly into the central nucleus of the amygdala, a CRF 1 /CRF 2 antagonist blocked ethanol self-administration in ethanol-dependent rats ( Funk et al. 2006 ). Systemic injections of small-molecule CRF 1 , antagonists also blocked the increased ethanol intake associated with acute withdrawal and protracted abstinence ( Gehlert et al. 2007 ; Funk et al. 2007 ). These data suggest an important role for CRF, primarily within the central nucleus of the amygdala, in mediating the increased self-administration associated with dependence. Consistent with the sensitization of the withdrawal response associated with repeated alcohol exposure, a CRF antagonist administered during repeated withdrawal also blocked the development of excessive drinking during withdrawal ( Roberto et al. 2010 ).

Although less well developed, evidence supports a role of norepinephrine systems in the extended amygdala in the negative motivational state and increased self-administration associated with dependence. Substantial evidence has accumulated suggesting that in animals and humans, central noradrenergic systems are activated during acute withdrawal from ethanol. Alcohol withdrawal in humans is associated with activation of noradrenergic function, and the signs and symptoms of alcohol withdrawal in humans are blocked by postsynaptic β -adrenergic blockade ( Romach and Sellers 1991 ). Alcohol withdrawal signs are also blocked in animals by administration of α 1 antagonists and β -adrenergic antagonists and selective blockade of norepinephrine synthesis ( Trzaskowska and Kostowski 1983 ). In dependent rats, the α 1 , antagonist prazosin selectively blocked the increased drinking associated with acute withdrawal ( Walker et al. 2008 ). Thus, converging data suggest that noradrenergic neurotransmission is enhanced during ethanol withdrawal and that noradrenergic functional antagonists can block aspects of ethanol withdrawal.

Dynorphin, an opioid peptide that binds to κ opioid receptors, has long been known to show activation with chronic administration of psychostimulants and opioids ( Nestler 2004 ; Koob 2008a ), and κ opioid receptor agonists produce aversive effects in animals and humans ( Mucha and Herz 1985 ; Pfeiffer et al. 1986 ). Although κ agonists suppress nondependent drinking, possibly via aversive stimulus effects ( Wee and Koob 2010 ), κ opioid antagonists block the excessive drinking associated with ethanol withdrawal and dependence ( Holter et al. 2000 ; Walker and Koob 2008 ). Recently, some have argued that the effects of CRF in producing negative emotional states are mediated by activation of κ opioid systems ( Land et al. 2008 ). However, κ receptor activation can activate CRF systems in the spinal cord ( Song and Takemori 1992 ), and there is pharmacological evidence that dynorphin systems can also activate the CRF system. A CRF 1 , antagonist blocked κ agonist-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking in squirrel monkeys ( Valdez et al. 2007 ).

The dynamic nature of the brain stress system response to challenge is illustrated by the pronounced interaction of central nervous system CRF systems and central nervous system norepinephrine systems. Conceptualized as a feed-forward system at multiple levels of the pons and basal forebrain. CRF activates norepinephrine, and norepinephrine in turn activates CRF ( Koob 1999 ). Much pharmacologic, physiologic, and anatomic evidence supports an important role for a CRF-norepinephrine interaction in the region of the locus coeruleus in response to stressors ( Valentino et al. 1991 , 1993 ; Van Bockstaele et al. 1998 ). However, norepinephrine also stimulates CRF release in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus ( Alonso et al. 1986 ), bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and central nucleus of the amygdala. Such feed-forward systems were further hypothesized to have powerful functional significance for mobilizing an organism’s response to environmental challenge, but such a mechanism may be particularly vulnerable to pathology ( Koob 1999 ).

Neuropeptide Y is a neuropeptide with dramatic anxiolytic-like properties localized to the amygdala and has been hypothesized to have effects opposite to CRF in the negative motivational state of withdrawal from drugs of abuse ( Heilig and Koob 2007 ). Significant evidence suggests that activation of NPY in the central nucleus of the amygdala can block the motivational aspects of dependence associated with chronic ethanol administration. Neuropeptide Y administered intracerebroventricularly blocked the increased drug intake associated with ethanol dependence ( Thorsell et al. 2005a , b ). Injection of NPY directly into the central nucleus of the amygdala ( Gilpin et al. 2008 ) and viral vector-enhanced expression of NPY in the central nucleus of the amygdala also blocked the increased drug intake associated with ethanol dependence ( Thorsell et al. 2007 ).

Thus, acute withdrawal from drugs increases CRF in the central nucleus of the amygdala, which has motivational significance for the anxiety-like effects of acute withdrawal from alcohol and the increased drug intake associated with dependence. Acute withdrawal may also increase the release of norepinephrine in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and dynorphin in the nucleus accumbens, both of which may contribute to the negative emotional state associated with dependence. Decreased activity of NPY in the central nucleus of the amygdala may contribute to the anxiety-like state associated with ethanol dependence. Activation of brain stress systems (CRF, norepinephrine and dynorphin) combined with inactivation of brain anti-stress systems (NPY) elicits powerful emotional dysregulation in the extended amygdala. Such dysregulation of emotional processing may be a significant contribution to the between-system opponent processes that help maintain dependence and also set the stage for more prolonged state changes in emotionality such as in protracted abstinence.

4 Compulsivity in Alcoholism: an Allostatic View

Compulsivity in alcoholism can derive from multiple sources, including enhanced incentive salience, engagement of habit function, and impairment in executive function. However, underlying each of these sources is a negative emotional state that may strongly impact on compulsivity. The development of the negative emotional state that drives the negative reinforcement of addiction has been defined as the “dark side” of addiction ( Koob and Le Moal 2005 , 2008 ) and is hypothesized to be the b-process of the hedonic dynamic known as opponent process when the a-process is euphoria. The negative emotional state that comprises the withdrawal/negative affect stage consists of key motivational elements, such as chronic irritability, emotional pain, malaise, dysphoria, alexithymia, and loss of motivation for natural rewards, and is characterized in animals by increase in reward thresholds during withdrawal from all major drugs of abuse. Two processes are hypothesized to form the neurobiological basis for the b-process: loss of function in the reward systems (within-system neuroadaplation) and recruitment of the brain stress or anti-reward systems (between-system neuroadaptation; Koob and Bloom 1988 ; Koob and Le Moal 1997 ). Anti-reward is a construct based on the hypothesis that brain systems are in place to limit reward ( Koob and Le Moal 2008 ). As dependence and withdrawal develop, brain stress systems, such as CRF, norepinephrine, and dynorphin, are recruited, producing aversive or stress-like states ( Koob 2003 ; Nestler 2001 ; Aston-Jones et al. 1999 ). At the same time, within the motivational circuits of the ventral striatum-extended amygdala, reward function decreases. The combination of decreases in reward neurotransmitter function and recruitment of anti-reward systems provides a powerful source of negative reinforcement that contributes to compulsive drug-seeking behavior and addiction ( Fig. 3 ).

Pathways for key elements of addiction circuitry implicated in negative emotional states. Addiction circuitry is composed of structures involved in the three stages of the addiction cycle: binge/intoxication (ventral striatum, dorsal striatum and thalamus), withdrawal/negative affect (ventral striatum, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and central nucleus of the amygdala), preoccupation/anticipation (prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex and hippocampus). Highlighted here for the withdrawal/negative affect stage is increased activity in the extended amygdala and decreased activity in the reward system, illustrated with the use of imaging colors (i.e., red for high activity and blue for low activity). Modified with permission from Blackburn-Munro and Blackburn-Munro (2003) and Koob et al. (2008) . AMG, amygdala; BNST, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis; DS, dorsal striatum; GP, globus pallidus; Hippo, hippocampus; Hyp, hypothalamus; Insula, insular cortex; OFC, orbitofrontal cortex; PFC, prefrontal cortex; Thal, thalamus; VS, ventral striatum; and VTA, ventral tegmental area. [Modified with permission from Zald and Kim 2001 ]

An overall conceptual theme argued here is that drug addiction represents a break with homeostatic brain regulatory mechanisms that regulate the emotional state of the animal. The dysregulation of emotion begins with the binge and subsequent acute withdrawal, but leaves a residual neuroadaptive trace that allows rapid “re-addiction” even months and years after detoxification and abstinence. Thus, the emotional dysregulation of alcohol addiction represents more than simply a homeostatic dysregulation of hedonic function—it also represents a dynamic break with homeostasis of this system that has been termed allostasis ( Koob 2003 ).

Allostasis, originally conceptualized to explain persistent morbidity of arousal and autonomic function, can be defined simply as “stability through change” ( Sterling and Eyer 1988 ). Allostasis is different from homeostasis. Allostasis involves a feed-forward mechanism rather than the negative feedback mechanisms of homeostasis. Allostasis involves a changed set point with continuous re-evaluation of need and continuous readjustment of all parameters toward new set points. The set point in question here is emotional state. An allostatic state can be defined as a state of chronic deviation of the reward system from its normal (homeostatic) operating level. Allostatic load has been defined as the “long-term cost of allostasis that accumulates over time and reflects the accumulation of damage that can lead to pathological states” ( McEwen 2000 ). Although the concept of allostatic state has not received much attention, the argument here is that alcoholism reflects largely a movement to an allostatic state, often before sufficient pathology has ensued to produced allostatic load sufficient for physical pathology ( Koob and Le Moal 2001 ).

Allostatic mechanisms have been hypothesized to be involved in maintaining a functioning brain reward system that has relevance for the pathology of addiction ( Koob and Le Moal 2001 ). Two components are hypothesized to adjust to challenges of the brain produced by drugs of abuse: underactivation of brain reward transmitters and circuits and recruitment of the brain anti-reward or brain stress systems ( Fig. 4 ). Thus, the very physiological mechanism that allows rapid responses to environmental challenge becomes the source of pathology if adequate time or resources are not available to shut off the response (one example is the interaction between CRF and norepinephrine in the brainstem and basal forebrain that could lead to pathological anxiety; Koob 1999 ).

a Schematic of the progression of alcohol dependence over time, illustrating the shift in underlying motivational mechanisms. From initial, positive reinforcing, pleasurable alcohol effects, the addictive process progresses over time to being maintained by negative reinforcing relief from a negative emotional state. Data presented in this paper suggest that neuroadaptations encompassing the recruitment of extrahypothalamic CRF systems are key to this shift. (Taken with permission from Heilig and Koob 2007 .) b The a-process represents a positive hedonic or positive mood state, and the b-process represents the negative hedonic or negative mood state. The affective stimulus (state) has been argued to be the sum of both the a-process and b-process. An individual who experiences a positive hedonic mood state from a drug of abuse with sufficient time between re-administering the drug is hypothesized to retain the a-process. An appropriate counteradaptive opponent process (b-process) that balances the activational process (a-process) does not lead to an allostatic state. The changes in the affective stimulus (state) in an individual with repeated frequent drug use may represent a transition to an allostatic state in the brain systems and, by extrapolation, a transition to addiction ( see text). Notice that the apparent b-process never returns to the original homeostatic level before drug taking begins again, thus creating a greater and greater allostatic state in the brain emotional systems. The counteradaptive opponent-process (b-process) does not balance the activational process (a-process) but in fact shows a residual hysteresis. Although these changes illustrated in the figure are exaggerated and condensed over time, the hypothesis is that even during post-detoxification (a period of “protracted abstinence”), the brain emotional systems still bear allostatic changes ( see text). The following definitions apply: alkalosis, the process of achieving stability through change; allostatic state, a state of chronic deviation of the regulatory system from its normal (homeostatic) operating level: allostatic load, the cost to the brain and body of the deviation, accumulating over time, and reflecting in many cases pathological states and accumulation of damage. [Modified with permission from Koob and Le Moal 2001 .]

Repeated challenges, such as with repeated alcohol binges, lead to attempts of the brain via molecular, cellular, and neurocircuitry changes to maintain stability but at a cost. For the alcoholism framework elaborated here, the residual deviation from a normal emotional state is termed the allostatic state. This state represents a combination of chronic elevation of the reward set point fueled by decreased function of reward circuits and recruitment of anti-reward systems, both of which lead to the compulsivity of alcohol-seeking and alcohol taking. How these systems are modulated by other known brain emotional systems localized to the basal forebrain, where the ventral striatum and extended amygdala project to convey emotional valence, how the dysregulation of brain emotional systems impacts on the cognitive domain linked to impairments in executive function, and how individuals differ at the molecular-genetic level of analysis to convey loading on these circuits remain challenges for future research ( George and Koob 2010 ).

As such, the present thesis does not preclude a key role for other systems associated with the addiction process, including the mesolimbic dopamine system involved in incentive salience, the dorsal striatum involved in habit formation, the parabrachial amygdala and spinothalamocortical systems involved in pain, and the prefrontal cortex involved in decision-making ( Koob and Volkow 2010 ; George and Koob 2010 ). Such modules are driven by bottom-up signals from both the external world and interoceptive signals and by top-down signals from higher-order systems mediating cognitive control. Indeed, the failure of a specific module may differ from one individual to another and may represent a neuropsychobiological mechanism underlying individual differences in the vulnerability to drug addiction. For example, we have hypothesized that individual differences in the function of the incentive salience mesolimbic dopamine system and the habit/striatum modules may be particularly important for craving-type 1 (or reward craving), defined as craving for the rewarding effects of alcohol and usually induced by stimuli that have been paired with alcohol self-administration, such as environmental cues. Additionally, hypoactivity of the decision-making/prefrontal cortex module may lead to a loss of control over drug intake despite negative consequence because of impaired inhibitory control and decision-making leading to choices of immediate rewards over delayed rewards ( Goldstein and Volkow 2002 ).

Nevertheless the hypothesis outlined here is that a core component of alcoholism involves hyperactivity of the negative emotional state/extended amygdala system that is associated with increased emotional pain and stress and might be a risk factor for drug use as self-medication for emotional pain, dysphoria, and stress ( Khantzian 1997 ). A subhypothesis is that vulnerability in the emotional pain parabrachial-amygdala system ( Besson 1999 ; Shurman et al. 2010 ) may lead to increased emotional pain during withdrawal and intense craving-type 2 (or withdrawal relief craving), which is conceptualized as an excessive motivation for the drug to obtain relief from a state change characterized by anxiety and dysphoria after protracted abstinence ( Heinz et al. 2003 ), thus contributing to the preponderant role of the withdrawal/negative affect stage that characterizes alcoholism. Increased reactivity of the stress/hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis module may be critical in the initiation of alcohol intake and for the maintenance of drug intake which have little initial rewarding value, such as nicotine. Activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis can potentiate the reinforcing effects of drugs ( Piazza and Le Moal 1998 ). However, this activation can in turn drive amygdala CRF. further exacerbating the development of negative emotional states ( Koob and Kreek 2007 ). Although the initial deficit in a specific functional circuit that drives excessive drinking might be specific to one stage of the addiction cycle, as the transition to addiction progresses, an individual is ultimately likely to show a progressive and generalized loss of control over many, if not all, systems. However, the thesis argued here is that as excessive alcohol intake progresses to Substance Dependence on Alcohol (Alcoholism), a common dysregulated functional element is a reward system deficit.

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Michael Arends for assistance with manuscript preparation and editing. Research was supported by National Institutes of Health grants AA06420 and AA08459 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the Pearson Center for Alcoholism and Addiction Research. This is publication number 20763 from The Scripps Research Institute.

• Alheid GF, De Olmos JS, Beltramino CA. Amygdala and extended amygdala. In: Paxinos G, editor. The rat nervous system. Academic Press; San Diego: 1995. pp. 495–578. [ Google Scholar ]
• Allen TJ, Moeller FG, Rhoades HM, Cherek DR. Impulsivity and history of drug dependence. Drug Alcohol Depend. 1998; 50 :137–145. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Alonso G, Szafarczyk A, Balmefrezol M, Assenmacher I. Immunocytochemical evidence for stimulatory control by the ventral noradrenergic bundle of parvocellular neurons of the paraventricular nucleus secreting corticotropin-releasing hormone and vasopressin in rats. Brain Res. 1986; 397 :297–307. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 4. American Psychiatric Press; Washington. DC: 1994. [ Google Scholar ]
• American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 4. American Psychiatric Press; Washington, DC: 2000. text revision. [ Google Scholar ]
• Aston-Jones G, Delfs JM, Druhan J, Zhu Y. The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis: a target site for noradrenergic actions in opiate withdrawal. In: McGinty JF, editor. Advancing from the ventral striatum to the extended amygdala: implications for neuropsychiatry and drug abuse (series title: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Vol. 877. New York Academy of Sciences; New York: 1999. pp. 486–498. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Baldwin HA, Rassnick S, Rivier J, Koob GF, Britton KT. CRF antagonist reverses the “anxiogenic” response to ethanol withdrawal in the rat. Psychopharmacology. 1991; 103 :227–232. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Becker HC, Lopez MF. Increased ethanol drinking after repeated chronic ethanol exposure and withdrawal experience in C57BL/6 mice. Alcohol: Clin Exp Res. 2004; 28 :1829–1838. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Besson JM. The neurobiology of pain. Lancet. 1999; 353 :1610–1615. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Blackburn-Munro G, Jensen BS. The anticonvulsant retigabine attenuates nociceptive behaviours in rat models of persistent and neuropathic pain. Eur J Pharmacol. 2003; 460 :109–116. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Breese GR, Overstreet DH, Knapp DJ, Navarro M. Prior multiple ethanol withdrawals enhance stress-induced anxiety-like behavior; inhibition by CRF 1 - and benzodiazepine-receptor antagonists and a 5-HT 1a -receptor agonist. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2005; 30 :1662–1669. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Brown SA, Schuckit MA. Changes in depression among abstinent alcoholics. J Stud Alcohol. 1988; 49 :412–417. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Brown G, Jackson A, Stephens DN. Effects of repeated withdrawal from chronic ethanol on oral self-administration of ethanol on a progressive ratio schedule. Behav Pharmacol. 1998; 9 :149–161. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Chance WT, Sheriff S, Peng F, Balasubramaniam A. Antagonism of NPY-induced feeding by pretreatment with cyclic AMP response element binding protein antisense oligonucleotide. Neuropeptides. 2000; 34 :167–172. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Chu K, Koob GF, Cole M, Zorrilla EP, Roberts AJ. Dependence-induced increases in ethanol self-administration in mice are blocked by the CRF 1 receptor antagonist antalarmin and by CRF 1 , receptor knockout. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2007; 86 :813–821. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• de Timary P, Luts A, Hers D, Luminel O. Absolute and relative stability of alexithymia in alcoholic inpatients undergoing alcohol withdrawal: relationship to depression and anxiety. Psychiatry Res. 2008; 157 :105–113. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Delfs JM, Zhu Y, Druhan JP, Aston-Jones G. Noradrenaline in the ventral forebrain is critical for opiate withdrawal-induced aversion. Nature. 2000; 403 :430–434. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Devaud LL, Fritschy JM, Sieghart W, Morrow AL. Bidirectional alterations of GABA A receptor subunit pepetide levels in rat cortex during chronic ethanol consumption and withdrawal. J Neurochem. 1997; 69 :126–130. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Di Ciano P, Coury A, Depoortere RY, Egilmez Y, Lane JD, Emmett-Oglesby MW, Lepiane FG, Phillips AG, Blaha CD. Comparison of changes in extracellular dopamine concentrations in the nucleus accumbens during intravenous self-administration of cocaine or d-amphetamine. Behav Pharmacol. 1995; 6 :311–322. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Doyon WM, York JL, Diaz LM, Samson HH, Czachowski CL, Gonzales RA. Dopamine activity in the nucleus accumbens during consummatory phases of oral ethanol self-administration. Alcohol: Clin Exp Res. 2003; 27 :1573–1582. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Driessen M, Meier S, Hill A, Wetterling T, Langs W, Junghanns K. The course of anxiety, depression and drinking behaviours after completed detoxification in alcoholics with and without comorbid anxiety and depressive disorders. Alcohol Alcoholism. 2001; 36 :249–255. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Epping-Jordan MP, Watkins SS, Koob GF, Markou A. Dramatic decreases in brain reward function during nicotine withdrawal. Nature. 1998; 393 :76–79. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Fidler TL, Clews TW, Cunningham CL. Reestablishing an intragastric ethanol self-infusion model in rats. Alcohol: Clin Exp Res. 2006; 30 :414–428. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Fillmore MT, Rush CR. Impaired inhibitory control of behavior in chronic cocaine users. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2002; 66 :265–273. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Finn DA, Snelling C, Fretwell AM, Tanchuck MA, Underwood L, Cole M, Crabbe JC, Roberts AJ. Increased drinking during withdrawal from intermittent ethanol exposure is blocked by the CRF receptor antagonist D-Phe-CRF(12–41) Alcohol: Clin Exp Res. 2007; 31 :939–949. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Funk CK, O’Dell LE, Crawford EF, Koob GF. Corticotropin-releasing factor within the central nucleus of the amygdala mediates enhanced ethanol self-administration in withdrawn, ethanol-dependent rats. J Neurosci. 2006; 26 :11324–11332. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Funk CK, Zorrilla EP, Lee M-J, Rice KC, Koob GF. Corticotropin-releasing factor 1 antagonists selectively reduce ethanol self-administration in ethanol-dependent rats. Biol Psychiatry. 2007; 61 :78–86. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gardner EL, Vorel SR. Cannabinoid transmission and reward-related events. Neurobiol Dis. 1998; 5 :502–533. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gehlert DR, Cippitelli A, Thorsell A, Le AD, Hipskind PA, Hamdouchi C, Lu J, Hembre EJ, Cramer J, Song M, McKinzie D, Morin M, Ciccocioppo R, Heilig M. 3-(4-Chloro-2-morpholin-4-ylthiazol-5-yl)-8-(1-ethylpropyl)-2,6-dimethyl-imidazo[1,2-b]pyridazine: a novel brain penetrant, orally available corticotropin-releasing factor receptor 1 antagonist with efficacy in animal models of alcoholism. J Neurosci. 2007; 27 :2718–2726. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• George O, Koob GF. Individual differences in prefrontal cortex function and the transition from drug use to drug dependence. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2010 (in press) [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gilpin NW, Misra K, Koob GF. Neuropeptide Y in the central nucleus of the amygdala suppresses dependence-induced increases in alcohol drinking. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2008; 90 :475–480. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gilpin NW, Smith AD, Cole M, Weiss F, Koob GF, Richardson HN. Operant behavior and alcohol levels in blood and brain of alcohol-dependent rats. Alcohol: Clin Exp Res. 2009; 33 :2113–2123. [erratum: 34: 382] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Goldstein RZ, Volkow ND. Drug addiction and its underlying neurobiological basis: neuroimaging evidence for the involvement of the frontal cortex. Am J Psychiatry. 2002; 159 :1642–1652. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Goodwin DW. Alcoholism: the facts. Oxford University Press; New York: 1981. [ Google Scholar ]
• Green L, Fristoe N, Myerson J. Temporal discounting and preference reversals in choice between delayed outcomes. Psychon Bull Rev. 1994; 1 :383–389. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hebb DO. Textbook of psychology. 3. W.B. Saunders; Philadelphia: 1972. [ Google Scholar ]
• Heilig M, Koob GF. A key role for corticotropin-releasing factor in alcohol dependence. Trends Neurosci. 2007; 30 :399–406. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Heimer L, Alheid G. Piecing together the puzzle of basal forebrain anatomy. In: Napier TC, Kalivas PW, Hanin I, editors. The basal forebrain: Anatomy to function (series title: advances in experimental medicine and biology) Vol. 295. Plenum Press; New York: 1991. pp. 1–42. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Heinz A, Lober S, Georgi A, Wrase J, Hermann D, Rey ER, Wellek S, Mann K. Reward craving and withdrawal relief craving: assessment of different motivational pathways to alcohol intake. Alcohol Alcoholism. 2003; 38 :35–39. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hemby SE, Martin TJ, Co C, Dworkin SI, Smith JE. The effects of intravenous heroin administration on extracellular nucleus accumbens dopamine concentrations as determined by in vivo microdialysis. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1995; 273 :591–598. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hernandez G, Hamdani S, Rajabi H, Conover K, Stewart J, Arvanitogiannis A, Shizgal P. Prolonged rewarding stimulation of the rat medial forebrain bundle: neurochemical and behavioral consequences. Behav Neurosci. 2006; 120 :888–904. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Holter SM, Henniger MS, Lipkowski AW, Spanagel R. Kappa-opioid receptors and relapse-like drinking in long-term ethanol-experienced rats. Psychopharmacology. 2000; 153 :93–102. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ji D, Gilpin NW, Richardson HN, Rivier CL, Koob GF. Effects of naltrexone, duloxetine, and a corticotropin-releasing factor type 1 receptor antagonist on binge-like alcohol drinking in rats. Behav Pharmacol. 2008; 19 :1–12. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Khantzian EJ. The self-medication hypothesis of substance use disorders: a reconsideration and recent applications. Harv Rev Psychiatry. 1997; 4 :231–244. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Khantzian EJ. Understanding addictive vulnerability: an evolving psychodynamic perspective. Neuro-Psychoanalysis. 2003; 5 :5–7. [ Google Scholar ]
• Knapp C. Drinking: a love story. Dial Press; New York: 1996. [ Google Scholar ]
• Knapp DJ, Overstreet DH, Moy SS, Breese GR. SB242084, flumazenil, and CRA1000 block ethanol withdrawal-induced anxiety in rats. Alcohol. 2004; 32 :101–111. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Knapp DJ, Overstreet DH, Breese GR. Modulation of ethanol withdrawal-induced anxiety-like behavior during later withdrawals by treatment of early withdrawals with benzodiazepine/ γ -aminobutyric acid ligands. Alcohol: Clin Exp Res. 2005; 29 :553–563. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Knapp DJ, Overstreet DH, Breese GR. Baclofen blocks expression and sensitization of anxiety-like behavior in an animal model of repeated stress and ethanol withdrawal. Alcohol: Clin Exp Res. 2007; 31 :582–595. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kohut H. The analysis of the self (series title: the psychoanalytic study of the child) Vol. 4. International Universities Press; New York: 1971. [ Google Scholar ]
• Koob GF. Drugs of abuse: anatomy, pharmacology, and function of reward pathways. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 1992; 13 :177–184. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Koob GF. Corticotropin-releasing factor, norepinephrine and stress. Biol Psychiatry. 1999; 46 :1167–1180. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Koob GF. Alcoholism: allostasis and beyond. Alcohol: Clin Exp Res. 2003; 27 :232–243. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Koob GF. Allostatic view of motivation: implications for psychopathology. In: Bevins RA, Bardo MT, editors. Motivational factors in the etiology of drug abuse (series title: nebraska symposium on motivation) Vol. 50. University of Nebraska Press; Lincoln NE: 2004. pp. 1–18. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Koob GF. A role for brain stress systems in addiction. Neuron. 2008a; 59 :11–34. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Koob GF. Neurobiology of addiction. In: Galanter M, Kleber HD, editors. Textbook of substance abuse treatment. 4. American Psychiatric Publishing; Washington DC: 2008b. pp. 3–16. [ Google Scholar ]
• Koob GF, Ahmed SH, Boutrel B, Chen SA, Kenny PJ, Markou A, O’Dell LE, Parsons LH, Sanna PP. Neurobiological mechanisms in the transition from drug use to drug dependence. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 1994; 27 :739–749. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Koob GF, Bloom FE. Cellular and molecular mechanisms of drug dependence. Science. 1988; 242 :715–723. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Koob GF, Everitt BJ, Robbins TW. Reward, motivation, and addiction. In: Squire LG, Berg D, Bloom FE, Du Lac S, Ghosh A, Spitzer N, editors. Fundamental Neuroscience. 3. Academic Press; Amsterdam: 2008. pp. 987–1016. [ Google Scholar ]
• Koob GF, Kreek MJ. Stress, dysregulation of drug reward pathways, and the transition to drug dependence. Am J Psychiatry. 2007; 164 :1149–1159. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Koob GF, Le Moal M. Drug abuse: hedonic homeostatic dysregulation. Science. 1997; 278 :52–58. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Koob GF, Le Moal M. Drug addiction, dysregulation of reward, and allostasis. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2001; 24 :97–129. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Koob GF, Le Moal M. Plasticity of reward neurocircuitry and the “dark side” of drug addiction. Nature Neurosci. 2005; 8 :1442–1444. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Koob GF, Le Moal M. Neurobiology of addiction. Academic Press; London: 2006. [ Google Scholar ]
• Koob GF, Le Moal M. Addiction and the brain antireward system. Annu Rev Psychol. 2008; 59 :29–53. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Koob GF, Volkow ND. Neurocircuitry of addiction. Neuropsychopharmacol Rev. 2010; 35 :217–238. [erratum:35:1051] [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Koob GF, Winger GD, Meyerhoff JL, Annau Z. Effects of D-amphetamine on concurrent self-stimulation of forebrain and brain stem loci. Brain Res. 1977; 137 :109–126. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Koob GF, Lloyd GK, Mason BJ. Development of pharmacotherapies for drug addiction: a Rosetta stone approach. Nature Rev Drug Discov. 2009; 8 :500–515. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kornelsky C, Esposito RU. Euphorigenic drugs: effects on the reward pathways of the brain. Fed Proc. 1979; 38 :2473–7476. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Land BB, Bruchas MR, Lemos JC, Xu M, Melief EJ, Chavkin C. The dysphoric component of stress is encoded by activation of the dynorphin κ -opioid system. J Neurosci. 2008; 28 :407–414. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Le Doux JE. Emotion circuits in the brain. Annu Rev Neurosci. 2000; 23 :155–184. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Logan GD, Schachar RJ, Tannock R. Impulsivity and inhibitory control. Psychol Sci. 1997; 8 :60–64. [ Google Scholar ]
• Lopez MF, Becker HC. Effect of pattern and number of chronic ethanol exposures on subsequent voluntary ethanol intake in C57BL/6J mice. Psychopharmacology. 2005; 181 :688–696. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Majchrowicz E. Induction of physical dependence upon ethanol and the associated behavioral changes in rats. Psychopharmacologia. 1975; 43 :245–254. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Markou A, Koob GF. Post-cocaine anhedonia: an animal model of cocaine withdrawal. Neuropsychopharmacology. 1991; 4 :17–26. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Martin-Solch C, Magyar S, Kunig G, Missimer J, Schultz W, Leenders KL. Changes in brain activation associated with reward processing in smokers and nonsmokers: a positron emission tomography study. Exp Brain Res. 2001; 139 :278–286. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• McBride WJ, Li TK. Animal models of alcoholism: neurobiology of high alcohol-drinking behavior in rodents. Crit Rev Neurobiol. 1998; 12 :339–369. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• McEwen BS. Allostasis and allostatic load: Implications for neuropsychopharmacology. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2000; 22 :108–124. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Melis M, Spiga S, Diana M. The dopamine hypothesis of drug addiction: hypodopaminergic state. Int Rev Neurobiol. 2005; 63 :101–154. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Merlo-Pich E, Lorang M, Yeganeh M, Rodriguez de Fonseca F, Raber J, Koob GF, Weiss F. Increase of extracellular corticotropin-releasing factor-like immunoreactivity levels in the amygdala of awake rats during restraint stress and ethanol withdrawal as measured by microdialysis. J Neurosci. 1995; 15 :5439–5447. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mhatre MC, Pena G, Sieghart W, Ticku MK. Antibodies specific for GABAA receptor alpha subunits reveal that chronic alcohol treatment down-regulates α -subunit expression in rat brain regions. J Neurochem. 1993; 61 :1620–1625. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Moeller FG, Barratt ES, Dougherty DM, Schmitz JM, Swann AC. Psychiatric aspects of impulsivity. Am J Psychiatry. 2001; 158 :1783–1793. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Morzorati SL, Ramchandani VA, Flury L, Li TK, O’Connor S. Self-reported subjective perception of intoxication reflects family history of alcoholism when breath alcohol levels are constant. Alcohol: Clin Exp Res. 2002; 26 :1299–1306. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Moy SS, Knapp DJ, Criswell HE, Breese GR. Flumazenil blockade of anxiety following ethanol withdrawal in rats. Psychopharmacology. 1997; 131 :354–360. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mucha RF, Herz A. Motivational properties of kappa and mu opioid receptor agonists studied with place and taste preference conditioning. Psychopharmacology. 1985; 86 :274–280. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Nestler EJ. Molecular basis of long-term plasticity underlying addiction. Nature Rev Neurosci. 2001; 2 :119–128. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Nestler EJ. Historical review: molecular and cellular mechanisms of opiate and cocaine addiction. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2004; 25 :210–218. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Nestler EJ. Is there a common molecular pathway for addiction? Nature Neurosci. 2005; 8 :1445–1449. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Neugebauer V, Li W, Bird GC, Han JS. The amygdala and persistent pain. Neuroscientist. 2004; 10 :221–234. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• O’Dell LE, Roberts AJ, Smith RT, Koob GF. Enhanced alcohol self-administration after intermittent versus continuous alcohol vapor exposure. Alcohol: Clin Exp Res. 2004; 28 :1676–1682. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Olds J, Milner P. Positive reinforcement produced by electrical stimulation of septal area and other regions of rat brain. J Comp Physiol Psychol. 1954; 47 :419–427. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Olive MF, Koenig HN, Nannini MA, Hodge CW. Elevated extracellular CRF levels in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis during ethanol withdrawal and reduction by subsequent ethanol intake. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2002; 72 :213–220. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Overstreet DH, Knapp DJ, Breese GR. Modulation of multiple ethanol withdrawal-induced anxiety-like behavior by CRF and CRF 1 , receptors. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2004; 77 :405–413. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Overstreet DH, Knapp DJ, Breese GR. Pharmacological modulation of repeated ethanol withdrawal-induced anxiety-like behavior differs in alcohol-preferring P and Sprague-Dawley rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2005; 81 :122–130. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Pandey SC. The gene transcription factor cyclic AMP-responsive element binding protein: role in positive and negative affective states of alcohol addiction. Pharmacol Ther. 2004; 104 :47–58. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Paterson NE, Myers C, Markou A. Effects of repeated withdrawal from continuous amphetamine administration on brain reward function in rats. Psychopharmacology. 2000; 152 :440–446. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Pfeiffer A, Brantl V, Herz A, Emrich HM. Psychotomimesis mediated by κ opiate receptors. Science. 1986; 233 :774–776. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Piazza PV, Le Moal M. The role of stress in drug self-administration. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 1998; 19 :67–74. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Potokar J, Coupland N, Glue P, Groves S, Malizia A, Bailey J, Wilson S, Nutt D. Flumazenil in alcohol withdrawal: a double-blind placebo-controlled study. Alcohol Alcoholism. 1997; 32 :605–611. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Rachlin H, Green L. Commitment, choice and self-control. J Exp Anal Behav. 1972; 17 :15–22. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ramchandani VA, Umhau J, Pavon FJ, Ruiz-Velasco V, Margas W, Sun H, Damadzic R, Eskay R, Schoor M, Thorsell A, Schwandt ML, Sommer WH, George DT, Parsons LH, Herscovitch P, Hommer D, Heilig M. A genetic determinant of the striatal dopamine response to alcohol in men. Mol Psychiatry. 2010 (in press) [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Rasmussen DD, Boldt BM, Bryant CA, Mitton DR, Larsen SA, Wilkinson CW. Chronic daily ethanol and withdrawal: 1. Long-term changes in the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis. Alcohol: Clin Exp Res. 2000; 24 :1836–1849. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Rassnick S, Heinrichs SC, Britton KT, Koob GF. Microinjection of a corticotropin-releasing factor antagonist into the central nucleus of the amygdala reverses anxiogenic-like effects of ethanol withdrawal. Brain Res. 1993; 605 :25–32. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Rhodes JS, Best K, Belknap JK, Finn DA, Crabbe JC. Evaluation of a simple model of ethanol drinking to intoxication in C57BL/6J mice. Physiol Behav. 2005; 84 :53–63. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Richardson HN, Zhao Y, Fekete EM, Funk CK, Wirsching P, Janda KD, Zorrilla EP, Koob GF. MPZP: a novel small molecule corticotropin-releasing factor type 1 receptor (CRF 1 ) antagonist. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2008; 88 :497–510. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Rimondini R, Arlinde C, Sommer W, Heilig M. Long-lasting increase in voluntary ethanol consumption and transcriptional regulation in the rat brain after intermittent exposure to alcohol. FASEB J. 2002; 16 :27–35. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Rivier C, Bruhn T, Vale W. Effect of ethanol on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in the rat: role of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1984; 229 :127–131. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Roberto M, Cruz MT, Gilpin NW, Sabino V, Schweitzer P, Bajo M, Cottone P, Madamba SG, Stouffer DG, Zorrilla EP, Koob GF, Siggins GR, Parsons LH. Corticotropin releasing factor-induced amygdala gamma-aminobutyric acid release plays a key role in alcohol dependence. Biol Psychiatry. 2010; 67 :831–839. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Roberts AJ, Cole M, Koob GF. Intra-amygdala muscimol decreases operant ethanol self-administration in dependent rats. Alcohol: Clin Exp Res. 1996; 20 :1289–1298. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Roberts AJ, Heyser CJ, Koob GF. Operant self-administration of sweetened versus unsweetened ethanol: effects on blood alcohol levels. Alcohol: Clin Exp Res. 1999; 23 :1151–1157. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Roberts AJ, Heyser CJ, Cole M, Griffin P, Koob GF. Excessive ethanol drinking following a history of dependence: animal model of allostasis. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2000; 22 :581–594. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Romach MK, Sellers EM. Management of the alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Annu Rev Med. 1991; 42 :323–340. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Rossetti ZL, Hmaidan Y, Gessa GL. Marked inhibition of mesolimbic dopamine release: a common feature of ethanol, morphine, cocaine and amphetamine abstinence in rats. Eur J Pharmacol. 1992; 221 :227–234. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Rossetti ZL, Isola D, De Vry J, Fadda F. Effects of nimodipine on extracellular dopamine levels in the rat nucleus accumbens in ethanol withdrawal. Neuropharmacology. 1999; 38 :1361–1369. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Russell MAH. What is dependence? In: Edwards G, editor. Drugs and drug dependence. Lexington Books; Lexington MA: 1976. pp. 182–187. [ Google Scholar ]
• Samson HH. Initiation of ethanol-maintained behavior: a comparison of animal models and their implication to human drinking. In: Thompson T, Dews PB, Barrett JE, editors. Neurobehavioral Pharmacology (series title: Advances in Behavioral Pharmacology) Vol. 6. Lawrence Erlbaum; Hillsdale, NJ: 1987. pp. 221–248. [ Google Scholar ]
• Sapru MK, Diamond I, Gordon AS. Adenosine receptors mediate cellular adaptation to ethanol in NG108–15 cells. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1994; 271 :542–548. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Schulteis G, Liu J. Brain reward deficits accompany withdrawal (hangover) from acute ethanol in rats. Alcohol. 2006; 39 :21–28. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Schulteis G, Markou A, Gold LH, Stinus L, Koob GF. Relative sensitivity to naloxone of multiple indices of opiate withdrawal: a quantitative dose-response analysis. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1994; 271 :1391–1398. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Schulteis G, Markou A, Cole M, Koob G. Decreased brain reward produced by ethanol withdrawal. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1995; 92 :5880–5884. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Schulteis G, Hyytia P, Heinrichs SC, Koob GF. Effects of chronic ethanol exposure on oral self-administration of ethanol or saccharin by Wistar rats. Alcohol: Clin Exp Res. 1996; 20 :164–171. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Shurnan J, Koob GF, Gutstein H. Hyperalgesia in pain treatment: an allostatic perspective. Pain Med 2010 [ Google Scholar ]
• Sifneos PE. The prevalence of ‘alexithymic’ characteristics in psychosomatic patients. Psychother Psychosom. 1973; 22 :255–262. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Solomon RL, Corbit JD. An opponent-process theory of motivation: I. Temporal dynamics of affect. Psychol Rev. 1974; 81 :119–145. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Sommer WH, Rimondini R, Hansson AC, Hipskind PA, Gehlert DR, Barr CS, Heilig MA. Upregulation of voluntary alcohol intake, behavioral sensitivity to stress, and amygdala crhrl expression following a history of dependence. Biol Psychiatry. 2008; 63 :139–145. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Song ZH, Takemori AE. Stimulation by corticotropin-releasing factor of the release of immunoreactive dynorphin A from mouse spinal cords in vitro. Eur J Pharmacol. 1992; 222 :27–32. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Sterling P, Eyer J. Allostasis: a new paradigm to explain arousal pathology. In: Fisher S, Reason J, editors. Handbook of life stress. Cognition and health. Wiley; Chichester: 1988. pp. 629–649. [ Google Scholar ]
• Taylor GJ, Bagby RM. An overview of the alexithymia construct. In: Bar-On R, Parker JDA, editors. The handbook of emotional intelligence: theory, development, assessment, and application at home, school, and in the workplace. Jossey-Bass; San Francisco: 2000. pp. 40–67. [ Google Scholar ]
• Thorsell A, Slawecki CJ, Ehlers CL. Effects of neuropeptide Y and corticotropin-releasing factor on ethanol intake in Wistar rats: interaction with chronic ethanol exposure. Behav Brain Res. 2005a; 161 :133–140. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Thorsell A, Slawecki CJ, Ehlers CL. Effects of neuropeptide Y on appetitive and consummatory behaviors associated with alcohol drinking in wistar rats with a history of ethanol exposure. Alcohol: Clin Exp Res. 2005b; 29 :584–590. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Thorsell A, Rapunte-Canonigo V, O’Dell L, Chen SA, King A, Lekic D, Koob GF, Sanna PP. Viral vector-induced amygdala NPY overexpression reverses increased alcohol intake caused by repeated deprivations in Wistar rats. Brain. 2007; 130 :1330–1337. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Trzaskowska E, Kostowski W. Further studies on the role of noradrenergic mechanisms in ethanol withdrawal syndrome in rats. Pol J Pharmacol. 1983; 35 :351–358. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Valdez CR, Zorrilla EP, Roberts AJ, Koob GF. Antagonism of corticotropin-releasing factor attenuates the enhanced responsiveness to stress observed during protracted ethanol abstinence. Alcohol. 2003; 29 :55–60. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Valdez GR, Sabino V, Koob GF. Increased anxiety-like behavior and ethanol self-administration in dependent rats: reversal via corticotropin-releasing factor-2 receptor activation. Alcohol: Clin Exp Res. 2002; 26 :1494–1501. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Valdez GR, Platt DM, Rowlett JK, Rüedi-Bettschen D, Spealman RD. κ Agonist-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking in squirrel monkeys: a role for opioid and stress-related mechanisms. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2007; 323 :525–533. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Valentino RJ, Page ME, Curtis AL. Activation of noradrenergic locus coeruleus neurons by hemodynamic stress is due to local release of corticotropin-releasing factor. Brain Res. 1991; 555 :25–34. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Valentino RJ, Foote SL, Page ME. The locus coeruleus as a site for integrating corticotropin-releasing factor and noradrenergic mediation of stress responses. In: Tache Y, Rivier C, editors. Corticotropin-releasing factor and cytokines: role in the stress response (series title: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Vol. 697. New York Academy of Sciences; New York: 1993. pp. 173–188. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Van Bockstaele EJ, Colago EE, Valentino RJ. Amygdaloid corticotropin-releasing factor targets locus coeruleus dendrites: substrate for the co-ordination of emotional and cognitive limbs of the stress response. J Neuroendocrinol. 1998; 10 :743–757. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Volkow ND, Fowler JS. Addiction, a disease of compulsion and drive: involvement of the orbitofrontal cortex. Cereb Cortex. 2000; 10 :318–325. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Volkow ND, Fowler JS, Wang GJ. Role of dopamine in drug reinforcement and addiction in humans: results from imaging studies. Behav Pharmacol. 2002; 13 :355–366. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Volkow ND, Wang GJ, Telang F, Fowler JS, Logan J, Jayne M, Ma Y, Pradhan K, Wong C. Profound decreases in dopamine release in striatum in detoxified alcoholics: possible orbitofrontal involvement. J Neurosci. 2007; 27 :12700–12706. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Walker BM, Koob GF. Pharmacological evidence for a motivational role of κ -Opioid systems in ethanol dependence. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2008; 33 :643–652. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Walker BM, Rasmussen DD, Raskind MA, Koob GF. α 1 -Noradrenergic receptor antagonism blocks dependence-induced increases in responding for ethanol. Alcohol. 2008; 42 :91–97. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Wee S, Koob GF. The role of the dynorphin-kappa opioid system in the reinforcing effects of drugs of abuse. Psychopharmacology. 2010; 210 :121–135. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Weiss F, Hurd YL, Ungerstedt U, Markou A, Plotsky PM, Koob GF. Neurochemical correlates of cocaine and ethanol self-administration. In: Kalivas PW, Samson HH, editors. The neurobiology of drug and alcohol addiction (series title: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences) Vol. 654. New York Academy of Sciences; New York: 1992a. pp. 220–241. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Weiss F, Markou A, Lorang MT, Koob GF. Basal extracellular dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens are decreased during cocaine withdrawal after unlimited-access self-administration. Brain Res. 1992b; 593 :314–318. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Weiss F, Parsons LH, Schulteis G, Hyytia P, Lorang MT, Bloom FE, Koob GF. Ethanol self-administration restores withdrawal-associated deficiencies in accumbal dopamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine release in dependent rats. J Neurosci. 1996; 16 :3474–3485. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Wikler A. A psychodynamic study of a patient during experimental self-regulated re-addiction to morphine. Psychiatric Q. 1952; 26 :270–293. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Wolffgramm J, Heyne A. From controlled drug intake to loss of control: the irreversible development of drug addiction in the rat. Behav Brain Res. 1995; 70 :77–94. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Zald DH, Kim SW. The orbitofrontal cortex. In: Salloway SP, Malloy PF, Duffy JD, editors. The frontal lobes and neuropsychiatric illness. American Psychiatric Press; Washington. DC: 2001. pp. 33–70. [ Google Scholar ]
• Zorrilla EP, Valdez GR, Weiss F. Changes in levels of regional CRF-like-immunoreactivity and plasma corticosterone during protracted drug withdrawal in dependent rats. Psychopharmacology. 2001; 158 :374–381. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

Published on January 11, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on August 15, 2023 by Eoghan Ryan.

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . It usually comes near the end of your introduction .

Your thesis will look a bit different depending on the type of essay you’re writing. But the thesis statement should always clearly state the main idea you want to get across. Everything else in your essay should relate back to this idea.

You can write your thesis statement by following four simple steps:

• Start with a question
• Write your initial answer
• Develop your answer
• Refine your thesis statement

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

Table of contents

What is a thesis statement, placement of the thesis statement, step 1: start with a question, step 2: write your initial answer, step 3: develop your answer, step 4: refine your thesis statement, types of thesis statements, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about thesis statements.

A thesis statement summarizes the central points of your essay. It is a signpost telling the reader what the essay will argue and why.

The best thesis statements are:

• Concise: A good thesis statement is short and sweet—don’t use more words than necessary. State your point clearly and directly in one or two sentences.
• Contentious: Your thesis shouldn’t be a simple statement of fact that everyone already knows. A good thesis statement is a claim that requires further evidence or analysis to back it up.
• Coherent: Everything mentioned in your thesis statement must be supported and explained in the rest of your paper.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

The thesis statement generally appears at the end of your essay introduction or research paper introduction .

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts and among young people more generally is hotly debated. For many who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education: the internet facilitates easier access to information, exposure to different perspectives, and a flexible learning environment for both students and teachers.

You should come up with an initial thesis, sometimes called a working thesis , early in the writing process . As soon as you’ve decided on your essay topic , you need to work out what you want to say about it—a clear thesis will give your essay direction and structure.

You might already have a question in your assignment, but if not, try to come up with your own. What would you like to find out or decide about your topic?

For example, you might ask:

After some initial research, you can formulate a tentative answer to this question. At this stage it can be simple, and it should guide the research process and writing process .

Here's why students love Scribbr's proofreading services

Discover proofreading & editing

Now you need to consider why this is your answer and how you will convince your reader to agree with you. As you read more about your topic and begin writing, your answer should get more detailed.

In your essay about the internet and education, the thesis states your position and sketches out the key arguments you’ll use to support it.

The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education because it facilitates easier access to information.

In your essay about braille, the thesis statement summarizes the key historical development that you’ll explain.

The invention of braille in the 19th century transformed the lives of blind people, allowing them to participate more actively in public life.

A strong thesis statement should tell the reader:

• Why you hold this position
• What they’ll learn from your essay
• The key points of your argument or narrative

The final thesis statement doesn’t just state your position, but summarizes your overall argument or the entire topic you’re going to explain. To strengthen a weak thesis statement, it can help to consider the broader context of your topic.

These examples are more specific and show that you’ll explore your topic in depth.

Your thesis statement should match the goals of your essay, which vary depending on the type of essay you’re writing:

• In an argumentative essay , your thesis statement should take a strong position. Your aim in the essay is to convince your reader of this thesis based on evidence and logical reasoning.
• In an expository essay , you’ll aim to explain the facts of a topic or process. Your thesis statement doesn’t have to include a strong opinion in this case, but it should clearly state the central point you want to make, and mention the key elements you’ll explain.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy

College essays

• Choosing Essay Topic
• Write a College Essay
• Write a Diversity Essay
• College Essay Format & Structure
• Comparing and Contrasting in an Essay

 (AI) Tools

• Grammar Checker
• Paraphrasing Tool
• Text Summarizer
• AI Detector
• Plagiarism Checker
• Citation Generator

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

• It gives your writing direction and focus.
• It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

Follow these four steps to come up with a thesis statement :

• Ask a question about your topic .
• Write your initial answer.
• Develop your answer by including reasons.
• Refine your answer, adding more detail and nuance.

The thesis statement should be placed at the end of your essay introduction .

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, August 15). How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved August 19, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/thesis-statement/

Is this article helpful?

Shona McCombes

Other students also liked, how to write an essay introduction | 4 steps & examples, how to write topic sentences | 4 steps, examples & purpose, academic paragraph structure | step-by-step guide & examples, "i thought ai proofreading was useless but..".

I've been using Scribbr for years now and I know it's a service that won't disappoint. It does a good job spotting mistakes”

Free Al Office Suite with PDF Editor

Edit Word, Excel, and PPT for FREE.

Read, edit, and convert PDFs with the powerful PDF toolkit.

Microsoft-like interface, easy to use.

Windows • MacOS • Linux • iOS • Android

• Articles of Word

How to Write an Introduction Paragraph: Examples and Guide

There are times when an introduction predicts what your entire essay will say—it’s essentially a reflection. If done successfully, it grabs the reader’s attention and entices them to read further into the essay. As a writer, I know the importance of a strong and engaging introduction, and with practice, I have excelled in the art of writing a good intro. Here’s how you can write a compelling introduction with examples.

The Purpose of the Introduction Paragraph

A good introduction serves as a roadmap for your essay, setting the stage for what is to come. Its primary purpose is to grab the reader’s attention, provide necessary background information, and clearly state the main argument or thesis of the essay. By doing so, it helps the reader transition from their own world into the context of your analysis, making them interested in reading further. A well-written introduction also outlines the structure of the essay, ensuring that the reader knows what to expect in the body paragraphs. This initial section is crucial for making a strong first impression, establishing the tone, and demonstrating the quality and direction of your work. A good introduction paragraph should be able to:

Engage the Reader: Capture interest with an intriguing opening sentence or a compelling story.

Provide Context: Offer background information needed to understand the topic.

State the Thesis: Clearly present your main argument or thesis statement.

Outline the Structure: Briefly mention the main points or sections covered in the essay.

Establish Relevance: Explain why the topic is important and worth discussing.

Set the Tone: Establish the style and tone of your writing.

Write an Introduction Paragraph

An introduction paragraph sets the tone for your entire essay, shaping your reader's expectations and mood. It's like the gateway to your ideas - a good one hooks the reader, compelling them to continue, while a weak introduction might make them lose interest before they've even begun. That's why learning how to start an introduction paragraph for an essay is crucial for students and writers alike.

With tools like WPS Office at your fingertips, you're not just getting a word processor, but an AI assistant to guide you through the entire journey of crafting that perfect opening. In fact, I'll be using WPS Office for this tutorial to demonstrate its features. So, let's dive in and explore how to write an essay introduction step by step:

The hook is the opening sentence or a few sentences of an essay designed to grab the reader's attention and entice them to keep reading. It serves to engage the reader by presenting something intriguing, surprising, or relevant to the essay's topic.

The main purpose of the hook is to spark the reader's interest and make them want to read more. It's the first impression the reader gets, so it needs to be compelling and relevant to the essay's subject.

1.Start with a Surprising Fact or Statistic: Begin with an interesting or shocking fact that relates to your topic. This immediately grabs the reader's attention.

Bad Example: "Drunk driving is a serious issue."

Good Example: "Every year, over 1.25 million people die in car accidents, many of which are caused by drunk driving."

2.Use a Quote: Introduce your essay with a relevant quote that encapsulates your main point.

Bad Example: "Drunk driving is defined as driving while impaired by alcohol."

Good Example: “At eighteen, Michelle had a lifetime of promise in front of her. Attending college on a track scholarship, she was earning good grades and making lots of friends. Then one night her life was forever altered…”

3.Pose a Rhetorical Question: Ask a question that provokes thought and engages the reader.

Bad Example: "Have you ever driven a car?"

Good Example: "What if every time you got behind the wheel, you risked not only your life but the lives of others?"

4.Tell an Anecdote or Story: Share a brief, compelling story that relates to your topic.

Bad Example: "I once heard a story about a drunk driver."

Good Example: "At eighteen, Michelle had a lifetime of promise in front of her. Attending college on a track scholarship, she was earning good grades and making lots of friends. Then one night her life was forever altered..."

If you need ideas to help you improve on the hook for your introduction, consider providing WPS AI with a prompt such as:

"Write an introduction on the topic 'Risks of Driving Intoxicated' and provide four individual hooks: one with a surprising fact, one using a quote, one with rhetorical questions, and one through telling an anecdote."

WPS AI will produce a catchy hook statement that you can use for your introduction, such as:

Background Information

Background information provides the reader with the necessary context to understand the essay's topic. This may include historical, geographical, or social context, definitions of key terms, or an outline of the debate surrounding the topic.

The background helps to bridge the gap between the hook and the thesis statement. It gives the reader the context they need to understand the main argument of the essay and why it's important.

1.Provide Context: Explain the broader context of your topic to show its significance.

Bad Example: "Drunk driving is bad."

Good Example: "Michelle's story is not isolated. Each year, over 1.25 million people die in car accidents, many of which are caused by drunk driving."

2.Introduce Key Terms and Concepts: Define any terms or concepts that are crucial to understanding your thesis.

Bad Example: "Drunk driving is when you drink alcohol and drive."

Good Example: "Drunk driving, legally defined as operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08% or higher, is a preventable cause of many fatalities."

3.Set Up the Problem: Briefly discuss the scope of the issue or debate you will be addressing.

Bad Example: "People drive drunk sometimes."

Good Example: "Despite strict laws, drunk driving continues to be a significant problem worldwide, leading to devastating consequences for victims and their families."

To give an effective and detailed background information in your introduction consider proving WPS AI with a prompt like this:

“This serves as the background to my introduction: 'People frequently choose to drive under the influence of alcohol.' Please enhance it to address the problem and discuss its scope."

WPS AI will produce a detailed background passage for your introduction, give as:

Thesis Statement

The thesis statement is a concise summary of the main point or claim of the essay. It usually appears at the end of the introduction and states the essay's central argument or position.

The thesis statement guides the direction of the essay by informing the reader what the essay will argue or discuss. It sets the tone and focus of the entire paper.

1.Be Clear and Specific: Clearly state your main point and how you will support it.

Bad Example: "This essay will talk about drunk driving."

Good Example: "Drunk driving laws need to include stricter penalties for those convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol to reduce accidents and save lives."

2.Make an Argument: Present a claim that requires evidence and can be debated.

Bad Example: "Drunk driving is bad and should be stopped."

Good Example: "Implementing harsher penalties for drunk driving will deter offenders and significantly decrease the number of alcohol-related accidents."

3.Outline Your Main Points: Indicate the main points you will cover in your essay to support your thesis.

Bad Example: "I will discuss the problems with drunk driving."

Good Example: "Stricter penalties are necessary because they act as a deterrent, they can prevent repeat offenses, and they provide justice for victims."

You can take help from WPS AI to extract the thesis statement of your essay using the WPS AI chat box.

Step 1: Click on the WPS AI widget at the top corner of the WPS Writer interface.

Step 2: The WPS AI pane will open on the right side of the screen. Type in your prompt to extract the thesis statement of your essay and then paste the essay.

Here is a prompt example that you can use:

"Extract the thesis statement from the following essay:"

Step 3: WPS AI will provide the thesis statement. To refine it further, engage with the WPS AI chatbot by asking more questions or queries.

The summary or road map briefly outlines how the essay will be structured. It provides a preview of the main points that will be covered, giving the reader a sense of the direction of the argument.

1.Summarize Main Points: Briefly mention the key arguments or points you will discuss in your essay.

Bad Example: "I will talk about drunk driving laws, penalties, and justice."

Good Example: "This essay will first examine the current state of drunk driving laws, then explore the impact of stricter penalties on reducing incidents, and finally discuss how these penalties can bring justice to victims."

2.Be Concise: Keep it short and to the point, providing a clear outline without going into too much detail.

Bad Example: "I will write about drunk driving and why it is bad."

Good Example: "By examining the effectiveness of current laws, the potential benefits of stricter penalties, and the importance of justice for victims, this essay argues that harsher punishments for drunk driving are essential."

“Write a concise summary for the introduction of an essay on the topic "Risks of Driving Intoxicated." The summary should briefly mention the key points that will be covered in the essay, without going into too much detail."

The summary should briefly outline the main points covered in the essay, emphasizing the societal impact, legal ramifications, and personal consequences of driving under the influence. Ensure clarity and coherence, setting the stage for a comprehensive exploration of the topic in the subsequent sections.

Examples of Different Essays

Essays come in various forms, each serving a unique purpose and following specific structures. Understanding these different types can help you write an essay introduction more effectively. Let's explore three common types of essays: Argumentative, Expository, and Literary. Each example below demonstrates the key elements of its respective essay type, including the hook, background information, and thesis statement.

Argumentary

An argumentative essay aims to present a position on a topic and support it with evidence.

An expository essay explains a topic in a clear and concise manner without arguing a specific position.

A literary essay analyzes and interprets a work of literature, focusing on elements such as theme, character, or style.

More Examples of Different Topics

Let's take a look at some sample introductions of essays in different disciplines. This will further help you in writing an effective essay introduction.

Example #1 Medicine

Example #2 literature, example #3 social sciences, example #4 engineering, example #5 business & marketing, using wps ai to perfect your introduction.

With WPS Office, you have access to a comprehensive suite of tools designed to support your academic writing needs. Its AI-powered features enhance your writing process, from initial drafting to final proofreading. Specifically, WPS Office AI will help perfect your introduction, ensuring it captures attention and sets the stage for your paper. Plus, WPS Office is available for free, making it an accessible and indispensable resource for students and academics alike.

1.Check the Grammar and Syntax

Your introduction sets the tone for your entire essay, so it's crucial that it's grammatically correct and free from syntax errors. WPS AI careful checks for any grammatical mistakes and syntax issues, ensuring that your introduction is polished and professional. It provides suggestions for corrections, helping you present a clear and error-free first impression.

2.Rewrite Your Statement for Clarity

WPS AI can improve the clarity and coherence of your introduction by rewriting complex or awkwardly phrased sentences. It identifies areas where your writing may be ambiguous or convoluted and offers alternative phrasing that enhances readability. This feature ensures that your introduction is clear, concise, and compelling.

3.Automatically Expand Content

When you need to elaborate on a point or expand your introduction, WPS AI can automatically generate additional content. This feature helps you add relevant information that aligns with your essay's theme and tone. It’s particularly useful for developing a strong hook, providing context, or setting up your thesis statement.

4.Give an Outline for Your Paper

Writing a strong introduction often involves giving your readers a brief outline of what to expect in your essay. WPS AI can assist in structuring your introduction to include a concise overview of your main points, providing a roadmap for your readers. This feature ensures that your introduction effectively sets the stage for the rest of your essay. Here is an example of an outline generated using WPS AI Writer for an essay:

If you find this outline suitable for your essay, simply scroll down and click on "Insert" to use the outline for your essay.

1. What is the structure of an essay?

An essay is divided into three main parts:

Introduction: This section introduces the topic and presents the main idea (thesis). It provides some background information and outlines what the essay will discuss.

Body: The body forms the essay's core, where you develop arguments to support your thesis. It is organized into several paragraphs, each presenting a distinct point backed by evidence.

Conclusion: The conclusion summarizes the main points covered in the essay and strengthens the thesis statement. It wraps up the discussion and may offer final insights or suggestions.

2. Why do I need a thesis statement?

A thesis statement plays a crucial role in academic essays and research papers by presenting the central argument or idea to be explored and developed. Here are several key reasons why a thesis statement is essential:

It provides clear direction and focus for your writing.

It summarizes your main argument for the reader.

It maintains clarity and coherence throughout the essay.

It serves as the foundational basis for structuring the entire essay.

3. How long should the introduction paragraph be?

The introduction paragraph for a research paper typically spans one to two paragraphs. As a general rule, the entire introduction section—which includes the opening paragraph, literature review, and research questions—should constitute approximately 10% to 15% of the paper's total length. This structure allows for a comprehensive yet concise setup of your research topic, providing readers with the necessary context before delving into the main body of your work.

Beyond the Hook: Building a Strong Introduction Paragraph

Writing an introduction is perhaps the most thought-provoking and critical task in crafting any assignment. With the myriad features offered by WPS Office, you can effortlessly create a phenomenal essay introduction. WPS AI enhances this process with tools that ensure clarity, coherence, and creativity. Whether it's organizing your thoughts or refining your language, WPS Office empowers you to craft introductions that captivate readers from the start. Download WPS Office today and experience firsthand how it transforms your writing process into a seamless and impactful journey.

• 1. Free AI Paragraph Writing Tool Generator - No Sign Up
• 2. HWP Viewers Review: Introduction, Features, How to Use [2024]
• 3. Microsoft 365 Copilot: Introduction and tips for using it
• 4. Microsoft Word 365 Product Review: Introduction & Alternatives
• 5. What is PowerPoint: Introduction, Guide and Tips
• 6. How to Use Transitions to Start a Paragraph [Tips with Examples]

15 years of office industry experience, tech lover and copywriter. Follow me for product reviews, comparisons, and recommendations for new apps and software.