Esminiai skirtumai tarp biologinių neuronų tinklų ir šiuolaikinių kompiuterių

Biologinių neuronų tinklai	Kompiuteriai
Informacijos apdorojimo greitis Išorinio stimulo paveiktas neuronas sureguoja po keletos ms.	Šiuolaikiniuose kompiuteriuose viena elementari operacija atliekama per ns.
Informacijos apdorojimo nuoseklumas Informacija biologinių neuronų tinkluose apdorojama lygegrečiai.	Informacija kompiuteryje apdorojama nuosekliai. Iškryrus kelių branduolių procesorius.
Kompleksiški ryšiai Žmogaus smegenyse yra apie 10^11-10^14 neuronų. ir iš jų turi 10^3-10^4 ryšių su kitais neuronai. Informacija apdorojama ir ryšiuose	Daugelyje kompiuteriu yra vienas ar keli, procesoriai.
Informacijos saugojimas Informacija biologinių neuronų tinkluose saugoma adaptyviai.	Kompiuteriuose informacija yra pilnai perrašoma.
Atsparumas klaidoms Biologiniai neuronų tinklai yra labai atsparūs klaidoms ir pažeidimams, nes informacija yra pasiskirčiusi tinkų visumoje. Vieno neurono pažeidimas neturi didelės įtakos visam tinklui.	Daugelis kompiuterių yra tokie atsparūs kaip neuroniniai tinklai, nes pašalinus viena sudedamųjų dalių, kompiuteris nustoja veikti.

Alkoholio įtaka žmogui

Girtumas - apskritai visiems žinoma būsena. Mažai atsirastų žmonių, kurie patys nebūtų patyrę alkoholio poveikio. O girtą yra matęs kiekvienas.

Alkoholis nėra šiuolaikinės civilizacijos vaisius. Svaigalai pasiekė mus iš amžių glūdumos. Žinomas vokiečių etnografas Julijus Lipsas teigia, kad Paryžiaus kavinių nuolatinių lankytojų aperityvas, rusiškoji stalo degtinė, angliškųjų klubų viskis, Mozelio, Reino ir raudonasis bei putojantis vynas iš tikrųjų yra pirmykščių žemdirbių alaus, vyno ir klajoklių genčių rauginto kumyso patobulinti variantai.

Viso pasaulio medikams jau seniai kelia nerimą nuolatinis alkoholio plitimas. Pasaulinėje sveikatos asamblėjoje, kuri vyko 1979 metų gegužės mėnesį, buvo pabrėžta, kad per 1960 - 1972 metus visame pasaulyje vyno vartojimas padidėjo 20 %, svaigiųjų alkoholinių gėrimų gamyba - 60 % , alaus - 80 %. Dvidešimt penkių šalių, kuriuose daugiausia surinkta statistinės medžiagos, duomenims, alkoholio vartojimas, skaičiuojant vienam gyventojui, per minėtą laikotarpį padidėjo 3 - 5 kartus. Alkoholio vartojimą psichologiškai galima motyvuoti tuo, kad jis, geriamas nedidėlėmis dozėmis, atpalaiduoja, ramina nervus, pakelia nuotaiką. Tuo pat metu “vyno dvasia” yra visų alkoholio sukeliamų blogybių pradžia. Svaigaluose esantis alkoholis  - didelis apgavikas.

Ir žmogaus, ir gyvūno organizme visada yra alkoholio. Įvarių tyrinėtųjų duomenimis, normalus alkoholio kiekis kraujyje yra 0,018 - 0,03 %. Dar nenustatyta, ar jis susidaro vykstant medžiagų apykaitai, ar dėl bakterijų sukelto rūgimo žarnyne. Normalus alkoholio kiekis kraujyje padidėja, kai organizmą ištinka deguonies badas. Atsiradęs organizme alkoholis nesukelia girtumo, neskatina piktnaudžiauti alkoholiu, neturi nieko bendra su alkoholizmo plitimu. Alkoholiniuose gėrimuose esantis etanolis gerai maišosi su vandeniu ir tirpsta riebaluose, todėl nesunkiai prasiskverbia pro biologines membranas. Kraujas etanolį pradeda įsisiurbti jau burnoje apie 20% jo įsiurbiama skrandyje, o kitas - plonojoje žarnoje. Taip alkoholis patenka į kraują, kuris išnešioja jį po visą organizmą.

Alkoholis yra nervų nuodai. Kadangi jis gerai tirpsta  riebaluose, o jų ypač daug smegenų audiniuose, tai smegenyse jo susitelkia gerokai daugiau negu kituose organuose.

Alkoholio poveikis smegenims beveik visada tiesiogiai priklauso nuo jo koncentracijos kraujyje. Truputėli kauštelėjęs (kai alkoholio kraujyje ne daugiau kaip 2% t. y. išgerta maždaug 100  mililitrų degtinės), žmogus atsipalaiduoja, aprimsta. Kai koncentracija kiek didesnė (3 - 5%), sumažėja smegenų centrų, reguliuojančio dėmesio ir savikontrolės procesus, aktyvumas. Prasideda stimuliuojantis alkoholio poveikis: gerėja nuotaika, žmogus darosi šnekesnis, perdėtai žvalus, pamažu nustoja kontroluoti savo veiksmus, nesugeba tinkamai vertinti to, kas vyksta. Truputį apgirtusiam atrodo, kad jo sugebėjimai didėja, kad jis gali veikti greitai ir tiksliai, aplinkiniai rodosi mielesni, įdomesni.

Daugelis mokslininkų yra ištyrę, kaip nedidelės alkoholio dozės veikia žmogų. Žinomas vokiečių psichiatras Ėmylis Krepelinas, 1886 - 1891 metais buvęs Tartu universiteto profesoriumi, nustatė, kad alkoholis, nors kiek ir spartina mąstymą, kartu mažina mąstymo prodyktyvumą. Nuo alkoholio prastėja mąstymo kokybė, daugėja klaidų. Alkoholis trukdo objektyviai vertinti savo sugebėjimus. Kuo svarbesnė smegenų funkcija, tuolabiau ji yra pažeidžiama alkoholio. 

Geriant vis daugiau, kai alkoholio koncentracija kraujyje padidėja iki 0,1 - 0,2 (200 ml degtinės), pasiekiamas vidutinis girtumo laipsnis. Galvos smegenų centrus pradeda dirginti chaotiškas jaudinimas, jie nesugeba kontroliuoti požievio zonos. Tada jau visai pagrystai galime kalbėti apie žemųjų inkstų atsipalaidavimą. Dingsta rūpesčiai ir abejonės. Pasigėręs būna linksmas ir nerūpestingas, elgiasi įžūliai - laisvai, nieko nesivaržydamas. Pakili nuotaika jį verčia garsiai kalbėti, dainuoti, rodyti savo jėgą ir vikrumą. Girtas nesupikdytas bus geraširdis, svetingas, kvies bičiuliautis. Bet jis gali tuoj paniurti, suirzti kurstyti vaidus. Pasitaiko ir kitokio girtumo. Kai kuriems žmonėms nuotaika nepakyla, o priešingai, krinta: juos apninka liūdesys, jie nori būti vieni, vengia žmonių. Yra tokių, kurie, visai ne alkoholikai tik atsitiktinai pasigėrę, mėgino net nusižudyti. Tai gali ištikti patyrusius galvos smegenų traumą, persirgusius smegenų arba jų dangalų uždegimus ir psichinius ligonius. Išgėrusį graužia sunkios mintys, jis prisimena išgyventas nelaimes, ligas, visą niekingą gyvenimą. Staiga  ima savęs gailauti, vekšlenti. Drąsus ir šaltakraujiškas žmogus be jokių regimų priežasčių gali pasidaryti bailus ir drovus. Kai kurie darosi tingūs, pasyvūs, vengia bendro pokalbio, išsisukdami žodeliais “taip” ir “ne”.

Kai girtumas stiprėja, psichika dar labiau pašlyja. Mąstymas darosi vis lėkštesnis. Girtas kartoja tas pačias mintis, mala tuos pačius žodžius. Jam nieko nereiškia imti šnekėti net su daiktais. Išgirdęs atsitiktinai ištartą žodį, jis daro išvadą, tarytum aplinkiniai jam linki blogą, darosi priekabus, lenda muštis. Pasitaiko impulsyvių poelgių. Girtas gali sau pakenkti ar net žūti, langą palaikęs durimi, upę - plentu.

Girtas daug dažniau linkęs lytiškai įsiaistrinti, pokalbius pakreipti į erotines temas. Sumažėjus savikritiškumui ir santūrumui, padaro anti-visuomeniškų poelgių ir nusikaltimų.

Vynas kartais vadinamas meilės gėrimu, kuris  audrina ir padeda suartėti. Iš tikrųjų, apsvaigus nuo alkoholio iš pradžių sujaudinami centrinėje nervų sistemoje esantys lytiniai centrai. Tačiau šis alkoholio poveikis būna ir atvirkštinis, nes etanolis, slopindamas galvos smegenų žievę, atpalaiduoja šiaip jau kontroliuojamus žemuosius žmogaus instinktus. Taigi alkoholis paverčia meilę kūnišku, šiurkščiu, beveik žvėrišku pojūčiu, praradusiu žmogaus estetinius komponentus. Atleisdamas etinius stabdžius, atimdamas iš žmogaus galimybę kontroliuoti savo poelgius, alkoholis stumia į atsitiktinius lytinius santykius.

Piktnaudžiavimas alkoholiu yra dažniausiai dėl seksualinių paskatų padarytų nusikaltimų priežastis. Dažniausiai dėl to kaltos pačios moterys, kai paveiktos alkoholiu praranda savikontrolę ir moteriškąją savigarbą.

Dažnas piktnaudžiavimo alkoholiu padarinys yra pakitusi lytinių organų veikla. Beveik visi alkoholikai pirmaisiais girtavimo metais ir pradinėje alkoholizmo stadijoje giriasi padidėjusiu lytiniu potraukiu ir potencija. Matyt dėl to, kad alkoholis sudirgina galvos smegenų hipotoliamiją.

Tačiau ilgainiui situacija keičiasi. Daugumos ligonių lytinis potraukis ir potencija silpnėja, o vidutinėje bei galutinėje alkoholizmo stadijoje gali visiškai išnykti.

Pagirių metu dažniausiai buvo užfiksuotas susilpnėjęs lytinis potraukis ir nepakankama varpos erekcija. Ligoniams, kurie ilgiau nei metus nevartojo alkoholio, daugiausia konstatuota nepakankama erekcija ir per ankstyvas spermos išsiliejimas.

Lytinio potraukio ir potencijos pakitimai dažnai vyksta banguotai. Iš pradžių jų atsiranda tik pagirių laikotarpiais ir po kurio laiko išnyksta, vėliau išlieka vis ilgiau ir ilgiau, kol galų gale išnyksta visai - žmogus tampa invalidu.

Alkoholiui ypač jautrūs vaikai ir sergantieji kepenų, skrandžio bei vidaus sekrecijų liaukų ligomis (išskyrus diabetą ir padidėjusią skydliaukės funkciją). Alkoholį lengviau pakelia  20 - 30 metų moterys negu tokio pat amžiaus vyrai. Vyresnių moterų atsparumas pradeda mažėti, o vyrų nekinta iki 50 metų.

Kaip alkoholis veikia psichiką, yra aprašę šimtai tyrinėtojų. O iš tikrųjų mums žinoma apie tai |dar per mažai, kaip ir apie tuos nervinių ląstelių pakitimus, dėl kurių apninka jau žinomi simptomai. Mat kol kas dar labai daug ko nežinome apie normalią psichikos veiklą ir emocijų chemizmą. Tik paskutiniais metais imta kalbėti apie psichikos problemas  remiantis fiziologija, anatomija, biochemija, biofizika ir matematika.

Smegenims reikia daugiau deguonies negu kitiems organams, o alkoholis lėtina kraujo tekėjimą ir stabdo deguonies patekimą į smegenis. Be to alkoholis žaloja smegenų kapiliarus. Girto smegenyse įvyksta daugybė nedidelių kraujosruvų, dar daugiau užanka kapiliarų dėl to smegenų ląstelės nepakankamai maitinamos, stokoja deguonies. Nervinių ląstelių deguonies badas reiškiasi sumažėjusiu dėmesiu,  galvos skausmais, bendru vangumu. Dėl šitokios nervinių ląstelių būsenos ir smegenų apnuodijimo žuvusiais nuo deguonies bado ląstelių skaidymosi produktais prasideda vadinamos pagirios.

Tyrinėtojai nuo seno domėjosi, kaip pirmą kartą susiduriama su alkoholiu. Yra nenuneigiamų įrodymų, kad alkoholio potraukį dažniausiai suformuoja vaiko ir paauglio aplinka. Jeigu vaikas auga šeimoje, kurioje vienas iš tėvų (dažniausiai tėvas) serga pradine alkoholizmo stadija, bet dar nėra praradęs įtakos ir autoriteto, tai labai tikėtina, kad vaikas įgis polinkį į alkoholį. Jis anksti pradės ragauti alkoholinius gėrimus ir netrukus gali tapti alkoholiku.

Anglų mokslininkai S. Aleksanderis ir I. Kempbelas 1966 metais paskelbė 1410 nepilnamamečių tyrinėjimų duomenis. Paaiškėjo, kad iš tų, kurių tėvai smerkia girtavimą ir kurių draugai negeria, alkoholį vartoja tik 12%. Bet jeigu tėvai neprieštarauja, kad būtų geriamas alkoholis, ir du artimiausi paauglio draugai kartkartėmis išgeria, minėtas rodiklis didesnis 7,4 karto - 89%. Šie tyrinėjimai parodė dar vieną patraukiantį dėmesį faktą: po kartą per savaitę išgeria 8% tokių paauglių, kurie nekilnoja taurelių kartu su tėvais arba bičiuliais, ir 43% tokių, kurie dažni tėvo ir motinos arba draugužių išgertuvių kompanionai. Sunku surasti akivaizdesnį pavyzdį, kaip aplinka veikia vaiką.

Svaigalų mėgėjai ir alkoholikai neatsiranda nežinia iš kur.  Visi jie kažkada išgėrė savo pirmąją taurelę. Ypač liūdna, jeigu ją dar vaikystėje bus įpylę tėvas arba motina. Pirmas lašas nekartą buvo pradžia tos nesuvaldomos slenkstėtos upės, kurioje taip lengva pražūti. Kuo ilgiau sugebėsime palaikyti vaikų abejingumą ar priešiškumą alkoholiui, tuo geriau jų sveikatai ir ateičiai.

Psichiatras Ė. Krepelinas teigė, kad alkoholikais daugiausia tampa tie, kurie pradeda išgėrinėti būdami jaunesni nei 20 metų. Ši nuomonė nepaneigta iki šiol. Įvairiose šalyse atlikti tyrimai patvirtino - kuo jaunesnis žmogus įninka į vyną ir degtinę, tuo jų poveikis žalingesnis. Šią išvadą paremia ir statistiniai duomenys, pateikti 1971 metais išleistoje A. Potnovo ir I. Piatnickojos knygoje “Alkoholizmo klinika”. Apie 80% alkoholikų, besigydančių psichoneurologijos dispanseryje arba klinikoje, pradėjo vartoti alkoholį iki 20 metų amžiaus,  16 - 18% - 20 - 25 metų ir 1,5 - 3,7% - 26 - 30 metų. Visai menkas procentas ligonių pradėjo vartoti alokoholį senesnio amžiaus.

Kaip reikėtų suprasti apibrėžimą “alkoholio vartojimo pradžia”? Žinoma, tai ne pirmutinė vaikystėje išgerta taurelė. Po to gali praeiti ne vieneri metai, kol bus “išlenkta” antroji. Kai kalbama apie alkoholio vartojimo pradžią, turima galvoje daugiau ar mažiau sistemingo girtavimo pradžia. Sunku čia nubrėžti ribą, tik viena aišku - kuo atlaidesnis vaiko požiūris į alkoholio vartojimą, tuo lengviau jis nusprūsta į nuolatinio girtavimo liūną. Dar paauglystėje jį užvaldo įprotis, kuris gali pražudyti.

Tyrinėtojai ieškodami alkoholikų vaikystėje aplinkybių, kurios paauglystės arba brandos amžiuje galėjo paskatinti šios sunkios negalios eigą, labai daug dėmesio skyrė tam, kaip buvo ugdoma ligonio asmenybė. Papročiai ir aplinka ne tik formuoja augančio individo pažiūrą į alkoholinius gėrimus, bet neišvengiamai veikia ir jo asmenybę. Antra vertus, nuo asmenybės bruožų priklauso, kiek individas linkęs į alkoholį.   

Dėl  šito būtų galima ir ginčytis, tačiau dauguma alkoholizmo problemų tyrinėtojų tvirtina, kad iki susirgimo alkoholikai patiria įvairiausių asmenybės pokyčių, kurių šaknys siekia kūdikystę. Būsimo alkoholiko asmenybei būdingas nepilnavertiškumas, nepakankamas socialinis prisitaikymas, nesugebėjimas bendrauti su kitais žmonėmis. Asmenybės nepilnavertiškumo priežastis - neteisingas   auklėjimas. Netikęs auklėjimas, t. y. perdėtas griežtumas arba besaikis lepinimas, palieka pėdsaką visam gyvenimui. Ir vienu, ir kitu atveju ugdomas neprisitaikiusios asmenybės, labai linkusios į vidinius ir išorinius konfliktus, kuriems spręsti reikia didžiausių pastangų.

 Besaikis lepinimas galbūt net blogiau už perdėtą griežtumą, rašo Portnovas. Paauglys su išugdytu vartotojo charakteriu, pretenzinga asmenybė nuolatos reikalauja, kad būtų tenkinamos visos ambicijos, bet realybė trukdo. Paauglys niršta, jį užvaldo vidinis protestas. Jis norėtų, kad nebūtų jokių kliūčių jo troškimams, nors ir jaučia savo vidinius trūkumus. Priklausomo ir nepilnavertiškumo jausmas gali išsilieti visokeriopais nukrypimais nuo elgesio normų, bet dažniausiai kokiu nors nesaikingumu, pavyzdžiui, besaikiu alkoholio vartojimu. (Žinoma, be alkoholizmo, pasitaiko ir kitokių narkomanijos formų, sekso, apsirijimo ir net plepumo!). Alkoholis šitokioje situacijoje nuramina ir patenkina sukilusias aistras. Matyt, yra teisus  žinomas narkologas R. Naitas, tvirtindamas, jog alkoholio potraukis - tai simptominis mėginimas išspręsti emocinį konfliktą. Be abejonės, iš anksto turėtų būti aišku, kad šis mėginimas nepavyks.

Yra dar vienas labai svarbus nepilnamečių girtavimo bruožas. Vaikai 20 kartų jautresni nuodų poveikiui negu suaugusieji. Alkoholis vaikams ypač pavojingas, daugiausia dėl jauname organizme nepakankamai išlavėjusios sistemos, kuri padaro nekenksmingas nuodingąsias medžiagas, ir palyginti didelio vandens kiekio. Medicinos literatūroje galima rasti daugybę pavyzdžių, kai menkiausia alkoholio doze vaikai yra labai sunkiai apsinuodiję. Žindomam kūdikiui net spirito kompresas gali būti pavojingas gyvybei. Šie faktai visus tėvus turėtų padaryti atsargesnius. Vaikams vartoti alkoholį pavojinga ne vien dėl ne tiesioginių nepageidaujamų padarinių, bet ir dėl galimybės dvasiškai ir fiziškai sužaloti sveikatą.

Nenumaldomas troškimas išgerti yra vienas pirmųjų alkoholizmo požymių. Alkoholio potraukis formuojasi ir plėtojasi pamažu. Jo intensyvumas priklauso nuo ligos sunkumo. Iš pradžių alkoholikas dar gali šiaip taip kovoti su savo aistra, kurį laiką apseiti be degtinės. Ligai progresuojant, atsisakyti alkoholio vis sunkiau ir sunkiau. Visos alkoholiko mintys  nuolatos sutelktos į degtinę, jos įkyriai persekioja ir namie, ir darbe. Jis visą laiką svarsto, kur ir kaip galėtų vėl išgerti. Degtinės vizijos nepaleidžia alkoholiko net miegančio. Alkoholio potraukis panašus į stiprų badą arba troškulį - žmogus pasirengęs bet kam, kad tik jį patenkintų. Prieš jį nublanksta visi kiti interesai, rūpesčiai, troškimai, siekiai, šeima, darbas ir t. t. Alkoholio potraukis verčia atsisakyti valgio, kad tik liktų pinigų išgerti. Apimtas šio potraukio žmogus išparduoda viską, ką tik galima parduoti, nuskursta.

Antras ankstyvasis alkoholizmo požymis yra savikontrolės praradimas. Alkoholikas neįstengia įvertinti, kiek, kur ir kada geria. Sveikas žmogus žino, kokią alkoholio dozę jis gali sau leisti, o alkoholikas geria tol kol pasigeria. Alkoholikas gerdamas nesugeba savęs kontroliuoti, negali susilaikyti. Jis praranda saiko jausmą. Pradinėje ligos stadijoje kai kuriems alkoholikams lengviau susilaikyti visai negėrus, negu, pradėjus gerti, neprarasti saiko. Pagal alkoholio kiekį, kuris nuslopina savikontrolę, galima kalbėti apie ligos sunkumą. Iš pradžių savikontrolė prarandama tik išgėrus puslitrį degtinės, o vėliau jau pakanka ir keleto taurelių.

Trečias alkoholizmo požymis yra pakitęs pakantumas, arba tolerancija. Ligos pradžioje pakantumas didėja. Žmogus, įpratęs girtauti, pakelia didesnis alkoholio dozes negu retai išgeriantis. Didėjant pakantumui, silpnėja vėmimo refleksas. Kaip žinoma, vėmimas yra apsauginis organizmo refleksas, kylantis apsinuodijus dideliu alkoholio kiekiu. Labai retai pasitaiko žmonių, kurie į per didelę alkoholio dozę iš viso nereaguotų vėmimu. Tai rodo, jog to individo silpnas vėmimo refleksas arba nepakankama apsauginė reakcija. Retkarčiais vėmimo reflekso neturėjimas gali būti individo nepaprasto pakantumo išraiška. Alkoholio pakantumas nedidėja be galo. Vieną gražią dieną alkoholikas pasiekia savo lubas. Po to jis gali gerti keletą metų, ir pakantumas nesikeičia. Ilgą laiką nuolatos perkraunamas mechanizmas galų gale nebeveikia, ir pakantumas pradeda palengva mažėti. Jis gali pasidaryti silpnesnis net už pradinį fiziologinį (normalųjį). Ne veltui sakoma, kad senas girtuoklis pasigeria nuo šaukšto vyno.

Alkoholizmo gydymas - ilgas procesas, reikalaujantis iš gydytojo ir ligonio artimųjų didelės įtampos. Gydantis narkologas kiekvienu atveju atsižvelgia į ligos stadiją, individualias ligonio savybes, jo socialinę būklę, gyvenimo bei darbo sąlygas ir daug kitų veiksnių. Alkoholikas gydomas keliais etapais, kurių kiekvienas turi savo svarbiausią uždavinį.

Pirmuoju gydymo etapu daugiausia dėmesio skiriama atsiradusiam dėl lėtinio nuodijimosi alkoholiu ligos paūmėjimui ir patologinei būsenai šalinti. Skiriamas rėžimas ir dieta, kurie kompensuoja baltymų bei vitaminų trūkumą, atkuria kepenų funkciją neutralizuoja organizme nuodus. Ligoniai gauna daug vitaminų, kurie pagerina medžiagų apykaitą, ypač oksidacijos procesus nervų audiniuose ir inkstuose.

Pašalinus lėtinio apsinuodijimo alkoholiu reiškinius, pradedamas antrasis gydimo etapas - aktyvusis antialkoholinis gydymas. Aktyvaus gydymo metodo uždavinys - sukelti ligonio šlykštėjimąsi alkoholiu. Ligoniui kartu su alkoholiu duodami preparatai, sukeliantys šleikštulį ir vėmimą (apomorfinas, emetinas, vėmimo milteliai ir t. t.). Gydymo metu susiformuoja neigiamas sąlyginis refleksas svaigalams: jų kvapas ir skonis pykina, verčia vemti.

Trečiasis gydymo etapas yra daugiausiai palaikomasis, o tiksliau - antirecidyvinis ir trunka keletą metų. Tuo laikotarpiu įvairūs gydymo kursai prireikus pakartojami.

Alkoholizmas - lėtinė liga, jai būdingos remisijos, t. y. ligos reiškinių susilpnėjimas arba išnykimas. Alkoholizmo remisija yra tam tikra organizmo pusiausvyros būklė, kuri iš esmės skiriasi nuo būklės prieš susergant. Žmogus laikomas sveiku (žinoma, jeigu piktnaudžiaudamas alkoholiu dar nepasidarė invalidu), tačiau vienas gurkšnis svaigalų gali sutrikdyti gydymu pasiektą organizmo pusiausvyrą ir vėl užplieksti ligą.

Alkoholizmas ypatingas tuo, kad ligos baigtis labai priklauso nuo paties ligonio noro pasitaisyti. Jeigu jis pats nesigrums su savo nelaime, tai vargu ar medicina pajėgs jį apginti nuo ligos recidyvo.Ypač svarbi ta socialinė mikroaplinka, į kurią patenka gydytas nuo alkoholizmo ligonis. 

Taigi yra tik vienintelė galimybė pasiekti stabilių gydymo rezultatų - visiškai atsisakyti alkoholio.

P. S.  Norėčiau, kad perskaitę šį straipsnį jūs suprastumėte, kokį poveikį gali sukelti alkoholis. Pirmiausia alkoholis pradeda jus naikinti iš vidaus, vėliau  jūs pamatysite, kad artimiausi žmonės pradės šalintis jūsų. Kokia žmona ar vyras, brolis ar sesuo, tėvai ar draugai norės turėti sau artimą žmogų kuris linkęs į alkoholį? Šeimoje nuo girtuokliavimo labiausiai   kenčia vaikai. Pagalvokime, kaip skaudu girdėti jūsų vaikui: “tavo tėvas (motina) alkoholikas(ė). Todėl prieš pakeldami taurelę pagalvokite ar jūs esate atsparus alkoholiui?

Essay about Alcoholism

Alcoholism, chronic and usually progressive illness,. Alcoholism is thought to arise from a combination of a wide range of physiological, psychological, social, and genetic factors. It is characterized by an emotional and often physical dependence on alcohol, and it frequently leads to brain damage or early death.

More males than females are affected by alcoholism, but drinking among the young and among women is increasing. Consumption of alcohol is apparently on the rise in the United States, as is the total alcohol consumption and prevalence of alcohol-related problems in the former communist countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. This increase is paralleled in other countries, including developing nations. After 1980, however, consumption remained relatively stable in many western European nations.

Development 

Alcoholism, as opposed to merely excessive or irresponsible drinking, has been thought of as a symptom of psychological or social stress or as a learned, maladaptive coping behaviour. More recently, and probably more accurately, it has come to be viewed as a complex disease in its own right. Alcoholism usually develops over a period of years. Alcohol comes to be used more as a mood-changing drug than as a foodstuff or beverage served as a part of social custom or religious ritual.

Initially, the alcoholic may demonstrate a high tolerance to alcohol, consuming more and showing fewer adverse effects than others. Subsequently, however, the person begins to drink against his or her own best interests, as alcohol comes to assume more importance than personal relationships, work, reputation, or even physical health. The person commonly loses control over drinking and is increasingly unable to predict how much alcohol will be consumed on a given occasion or, if the person is currently abstaining, when the drinking will resume again. Physical addiction to the drug may occur, sometimes eventually leading to drinking around the clock to avoid withdrawal symptoms.

Effects 

Alcohol has direct toxic as well as sedative effects on the body, and failure to take care of nutritional and other physical needs during prolonged periods of excessive drinking may further complicate matters. Advanced cases often require hospitalization. The effects on major organ systems are cumulative and include a wide range of digestive-system disorders such as ulcers, inflammation of the pancreas, and cirrhosis of the liver. The central and peripheral nervous systems can be permanently damaged. Blackouts, hallucinations, and extreme tremors may occur. The latter symptoms are involved in the most serious alcohol withdrawal syndrome, delirium tremens, which can prove fatal despite prompt treatment. This is in contrast to withdrawal from narcotic drugs such as heroin, which, although distressing, rarely results in death. Recent evidence has shown that heavy—and even moderate—drinking during pregnancy can cause serious damage to the unborn child: physical or mental retardation, or both; a rare but severe expression of this damage is known as foetal alcohol syndrome.

                    HISTORY OF ALCOHOL

Thousands of years ago people began to make alcohol for practical reasons. Wine making began with the early Egyptians who found that grape juise spoiled quickly,but that fermented juise or wine would keep without spoiling.They also had problems with impure water,and the Egyptians noticed that people did not sick ower wine,but they often became ill when they drank inpure water.In later years,wine became inportant to the Roman Catholic Church throughuot Europe because wine was used to celebrate the sacrament of the Mass.By the 1300`s,beer industry had emerged in Central Europe.At this time,wine was also continuing to grow in popularity;many brands named for the places in which they originated.At first alcohol was desined for the practical reasons,its use changed.People began to experiment with different types of alcohol.Alcohol became an integral part of European culture.We need to understand the harmful effects of alcohol,because it can be fatal.

Ad’s impact to creaton of woman’s image

Introduction

Looking at advertisement s today is a bit like walking through a carnival hall of mirrors, when the elements of our ordinary lives are magnified and exaggerated, but are still recognizable. Ad is one of marketing mix tools, which is widely used to stimulate demand and create an image of product and an image of those of those who possess this product. But the purpose of this research paper is to look at ad as a communication process and to show how image of human can be created trough this communication.

So, the object of study is a print ad.

Subject is ad’s impact in creation image of woman.

This research paper consists of four parts. In chapter 1 and 2 there is talking about the main conditions, which have to be for ad existing and the

1. The Fundamental Social and Economic Influences That Fostered Ad's Rise

In many discussions of the evolution of ad, the process is often portrayed as having its origins in ancient times. But whatever those ancients were doing, they were not advertising, because ad exist only as mass-mediated communication. So, while cavemen and cavewomen were communicated with persuasive intent and even in a commercial context, they were not using ad.

There are four major factors, which made ad to exist:

1. The Rise of Capitalism. The tents of capitalism warrant that organizations compete for resources, called capital, in a free market environment. Part of this competition involves stimulating demand for the organization's goods and services. One of the tools used to stimulate demand is ad.
2. The Industrial Revolution. The industrial Revolution (it began about 1750 in England) was basic force behind the rapid increase in mass - produced supply of goods that required stimulation of demand, something that ad can be very good at. So, by providing a need of ad, the Industrial Revolution was a basic influence in its emergence.
3. Manufacturer’s pursuit of power in the channel of distribution. Manufacturers had to develop brand names so that consumer could focus his attention on a clearly identified item. They began branding their products in the late 1800s. Ones a product had a brand mark and name that consumers could identify, the process of demand stimulation could take place. And the essential tool in stimulating demand of brand is ad.
4. The rise of mass communication. With the invention of the telegraph in1844, a communication revolution was set. But probably even more important in terms of ad was the rise of the mass circulation magazines. Many new magazines designed for lager and less social privileged audiences made magazines both available mass advertising medium and a democratizing influence an Americans society. The ads took on social class identities and helped to link product with class, circumstance and aspiration.

Before the Industrial Revolution, ad presence in the United States was barely noticeable. With an explosion in economic growth around the turn of the century, modern ad was born. The 1920s established ad as a major force on the U.S. economic system. With the Great Depression and World War II, cynicism and paranoia began to grow regarding ad. This concern led to refinements in practice and more careful regulation of ad in1960s and 1970s. Consumption was again in vogue during the Republican era of the 1980s. The present era has one significant character about the ad – it became interacting. But the very nature of ad is not going to change. Ad will still be a paid, mass-mediated attempt to persuade. The most dramatic change will be in the way ad is prepared and delivered to target audience.

Talking about Lithuania and ad, it is necessary to point out that all upper written conditions were there until World War II, after which 50 years lasted occupation began. So, until 1940s, I think, the using of ad was similar as in any West European country or U.S. During occupation there were no ads in that sense in which we understand it today in Lithuania. Everything was under ideology control, and in some cases, I think, this ideology play role of ad. At that time, in 1950s, the issue of “mind control” became an American paranoia and many people suspected that ad, which existed only in West Europe and U.S., was tool of mind control. There were only two little differences – you cannot choose and the ideology wasn’t paid.

In 1990s the new era has begun. Lithuania received independence and all four conditions, in which exists ad, were set again. In 1991 there was no so much ad in all media. But when the foreign or join stock companies appeared, the bum of ad has begun. It was a modern and in many cases made in foreign ads, because there was no traditions of making ads, no advertising agencies in Lithuania.

Nowadays the situation has changed a little: there were set advertising agencies, research institutions. But major part of ad’s market still has foreign companies. Thus ad is in use almost 10 years there is no one main low which could regulate ad.

So, social, economic, politic trends, along with technological development are major determinants of way ad is practiced in any society.

2. Magazines as Medium

During the long period of maturation of the reading public in modern society, magazines took a special niche in mediated communication located some where between newspapers and books and borrowing ideas and writing style from both. Magazines underwent several periods of development and transformations being influenced by other media and in turn exerting notable influences on them. They were the first major competitors with newspapers of ad and remain a significant part of the ad marketplace today.

Magazines responded to the challenge by offering new attraction to prospective advertisers. A number of them set up a department with research services that they offered to interested advertisers. So, magazines became innovators of services by advertisers as well as contents. The knowledge of researches allowed advertisers more tactical leeway in placing ads. Beginning in the 1930s, social researches served to unify business, advertising, and the mass media and through them the further development of American culture.

The introduction of TV created frantic competition for the magazines industry during the 1950s and magazines both won and lost the battles. The magazines represented not all group interests, but the mass circulation magazines reoriented their relationship to national ad by narrowing their focus in term of the products they could attract to their pages. Many women’s magazines have personal care and clothing ad and a little else.

The specialist magazines market today shows the dynamic relationship between magazine format and content and ad. However, the special-interest journals first developed during the 19^th century (without carrying ad) for markets ranging from high class literary or news journals, to religious, farm, hobby, and business magazines. Many of them viewed it, as matters of pride not sully their pages with ads.

When we speak about ads in magazines, we speak about print ad. A print ad without illustration has much lower probability of attracting and holding receiver’s attention. Illustration, in the context of print ad, is a drawing, painting, photography or computer-generated art that forms the picture in ad (//). The growing preponderance of illustrations in ads has increased the ambiguity of meaning message structure. Earlier ad usually stated message quite through the written text, but starting in the mid–1920s visual representation became more common and relationship between text and visual became complementary. In postwar period in the U.S., the function of text moved away from explaining the visual and towards a more cryptic form, where text appeared as a kind of “key” to visual. And here semiotics, the science of signs (F. de Saussure), came for help. The first two who studied ad from this perspective was French theorist R. Barthes, who applied semiotic to all aspects of popular culture, and Canadian literacy critic M. McLuhan. Faster linotype type setting and the invention of halftone technology stimulated the popularity of magazines among advertisers. A pioneer was the Canadian Illustrated News that combined these techniques with the new paper made from wood pulp, which took ink differently from rag paper and made illustrations a far superior technology. Munsey ‘s Journal was one of the firsts to exploit the dynamic relation between ad and magazines. It decreased prices and the result of this was a fantastic circulation and a flood of ads. McClure and Cosmopolitan followed suit and the era of cheap magazines had begun.

The illustrated magazines, leading the way with innovations in photographic and color reproduction techniques, altered the print media and industry alike, because they demonstrated the economic vitality of cheap, high circulation journals that relied on ad revenue. Under these conditions magazines are under pressure to orient themselves to audiences that advertisers particularly want, and these tend to lie predominantly on the wealthier and of the scale

3. Theoretical Foundation of Research

3.1. Ad as Mass Communication

Advertising is a paid, mass-mediated attempt to persuade. So it is a communication process. To understand ad at all you must undrstand something abuot mass comunication and the most basic aspects of how ad works as a means of communication.

Ad is communication that occurs not face-to-face, but thruogh a medium (such as radio, magazines, TV or a computer). A contemproery model of mass-madiated communication is printed in Exhibit 1.

This model shows mass communicatin as a process of interacting individuals and institutions. It has two major componenets, each representing quasi-independent process: production and reception.

Moving from left to right in the model, we first see the process of communication production. An ad, like other forms of mass communication, is product of institutions (such as networks, advertising agencies, goverments and etc.) interacting to produce content (what physically appears on apage or on an audiotape, or videotape, or computer screen). The creation of ad is a coplex or interactions of advertiser - the advertiser's expectations regarding target audience, the advertiser's assumptions about how the audience will interpret the ad - and the conventions, rules and regulations of the medium itself.

Moving to the right we see the communication reception process. Individual members of audience interpret ad according to a set of factors governed largely by their social networks (their family, friends and etc.), their previous experience and their motivations.

The advertiser has significant input into the creation of content, but what the audience members make of the ad (the interpretation) is the meaning the audience members give it. So the content and the meaning of the ad are not synonymous.

The audience acts with intents. Individuals exercise choice in their selection of ad or at least of medium that carry ad. They also bring with them their own rules of membership in the audience, their own rules how they will approach a message and interpret it.

The process of production and reception are partially independent, because the producers of the message cannot control or even closely monitor the actual reception of content. Audience members are exposed to advertising outside of the direct observation of the advertiser and are capable of interpreting ad any way they want. So, audience members have a little control over the actual production of the message. Both producers and receivers are "imagined", in the sense that the two don't have significant direct contact with one another but have a general sense of what the other is like.

3.1. Ad in Cultural Context

Culture is what people do or the total life ways of people, the social legacy the individual acquires from his group (4, p.37). It is invisible to those who are immersed in it. Culture affects every aspect of human behavior, including consumer behavior and response to ad. Culture surrounds the creation, transmission, reception and interpretation of ads.

Talking about the ad in a cultural context, it is necessary to set down two major points:

1. Ad has to be consistent with, but can not easily or quickly change, values. Values express in words and deeds what is important to a culture. They are cultural bedrock Human attitude is influenced by cultural values.
2. If a product or service cannot be incorporate into already existing ritual, it is very difficult for advertisers to effect a change. Cultures affirm, express and maintain their values through rituals. They are a way in which individuals are made part of the culture and a method by which the culture renews and perpetuates itself.

The link between culture and ad is still a key. Anthropologist Grant McCraken has offered the model in Exhibit 2 to explain how ad (along with other cultural agents) functions in the transmission of meaning.

The product is geven social meaning by being placed in an ad that represents some social reality. This slice of life is the type of social settings which potential customers might find, or disire to find, themselvs. According to McCrachen’s model, meaning has moved from tha world to the product by virtue of its sharring space within the social frame of ad (2, p.141). When a consumer purchases or otherwise incorporates that good or service into his or her own life, the meaning is transferred to the individual consumr. Meaning is moved from the world to product, to the individual. When the individual uses the product, that person cinveys to the others he or she and the ad have now given it.

It is sensless to speak of using ad to change values in any substantive way. If ad influences ad at all, it does that very slowly, over years and years – and even that is debatable.

4. The Woman Image in Ieva & Harper’s Bazaar

The main statement of this research is: ad creates woman’s image. To this purpose it was chosen Ieva – the most feministic journal in Lithuania. Its main editor and establisher is Eva Tombakiene, to who also belongs Cosmopolitan.

Ieva was published about 10years. In 1999 it joined with Harper’s Bazaar, an American journal of fashion, advices and pleasures, which started in 1867. Today Harper’s Bazaar is published in the U.S., Great Britain, Honk Kong, Italy, South America, Australia, Russia and Turkey. It has name of the best arbitrator in fashion, beauty and art fields. The main themes in this journal are reports about fashion, elitical literature, art, new books, articles about etiquette, pedagogy, science, household and gardening. So, the target audience of Ieva &Harper’s Bazaar is clearly defined.

To prove the main statement content analysis was made. To notice main tendency of creation of woman’s image there were taken Ieva and Ieva & Harper’s Bazaar journals from 1991 to 1999. I was searching for main themes in ads, main ad’s formats colors and etc., keeping in mind a theoretical foundation and trying to write down everything what I can gather from these ads. But this is only my subjective opinion, so it can be criticized.

When we speak about Ieva and Ieva &Harper’s Bazaar, we speak about subculture of women – a subculture of feminist. The main values in this case are independence, similar rights to men’s.

As it is shown in Exhibit , the main themes of ads in Ieva are things of house interior, perfumes, clothes and cosmetics.

The main purpose of women is to take care of herself and her home. Ad’s content analysis also has showed that in 60% of ads the face of women or her figure is showed. This woman is always tall, thin, very pretty and elegant. There are all values of target audience represented. All messages are that the advertised product is chic, sophisticated and elegant. By wearing or using it woman would be added something to her character, specifically, glamour and flawless beauty. And one more message can be received: your pretty is your weapon, with which you can get independence and power; when you look good, everything it is so simple.

The clothes, perfumes, cosmetics, watches, jewels and etc. are the highest quality. And the same is about make-up and hair-do of woman in ad. They are done scrupulous and pedantly. It makes image of rich, independent, strong woman, who has not any troubles in her life. But also she is very restrained and even cold. In major part of ads woman’s smile is restrained (46%), in 30% of ads she don’t smile, in 16% her smile is coquettish, in 8% - happy and even playful.

When the ad’s format is the product and woman, its background in many cases is faded bluish or green. These two colors are cold, they mean seriousness, rest and thoughtfulness. But here is also a part of ads in which reddish, claret, yellow color dominant. These colors are warm and some of them, which has red tone, significance a sexual power and a passion. So the message can be: modern woman is very mystery, a passion woman behind her coldness is hiding, who wants to be loved. But in the very past period it is noticeable tendency of black-white photography in ads. This is mean that old values come back. Thus photos are very reliable and, I think, the main purpose of using them is to create curiosity and interest of receiver.

The woman in the ad is mobile, she likes traveling, visiting restaurants. But in a bout half of ads (49%) she is alone: alone in restaurant, alone in beach. She uses mobile telephone, drives car and credit cards. It creates the image of modern woman, who enjoy modern technology and services, she is self-confidence and isn’t afraid of any unexpectedness. In the end of 1998 near the woman appears a child. So she also a mother. But maternity don’t hinder to a previously image.

For this woman is also important create a cozy home. She news everything about fashion, interior, she news how much this everything costs and where she must go to possess it. As everything she does or has, her home is modern, every little detail is good incorporate in whole view of room. The style of furniture is various from bright colored, unregular furniture to luxurious, mediaeval. The most often kitchen furniture is represented. But in many cases (51%) it is empty, very clean and only several apples and other fruits are on the table.

When in1999 Ieva joined with Harper’s Bazaar the image of woman in it didn’t changed. It’s because there was anything about the national values of Lithuanian woman. The target audience remains the same. But the tactic has changed: there is less ”uncovered” ad in the new journal and more hidden ad. The plenty of colored photos in which fashion homes represent their models, modern colors in this season and etc. but the impact of these photos is the same as of ad, because the ad always goes together with fashion.

So, within ad found our values, which are important to our culture or subculture. We imagine that with possession of one or another services or good we will get this value into our life and will create an image, which is a reflection of our culture.

Essay about suicide

Introduction

Suicide, intentional, self-inflicted death. A uniquely human act, suicide occurs in all cultures. People who attempt or complete suicide usually suffer from extreme emotional pain and distress and feel unable to cope with their problems. They are likely to suffer from mental illness, particularly severe depression, and to feel hopeless about the future.

Crows in the Wheatfields Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh, who suffered from symptoms of mental illness, shot himself in 1890 just after completing Crows in the Wheatfields. He died two days later. A portion of the painting is shown here.FPG International, LLC  

II  PREVALENCE AND TRENDS 

Suicide ranks as a leading cause of death worldwide, making it a significant public-health problem. In addition, some researchers believe official statistics underestimate the actual number of suicides.

Suicide Rates in the United States Suicide ranks as one of the top ten causes of death in the United States. People over the age of 75 have the highest suicide rates, apparently due to the debilitating effects of physical illness, loss of social roles, and untreated depression.

In the United States, suicide ranks in the top ten causes of death, accounting for about 1.5 percent of all deaths. The annual number of suicides has averaged about 30,000 since the late 1980s and has consistently exceeded the annual number of homicides. The suicide rate (number of suicide deaths per 100,000 people) in the United States has remained relatively stable since the 1950s, ranging between 10 and 13 per 100,000 each year.

The suicide rate varies by age group. Of all age groups, the elderly have the highest suicide rates, particularly white men over the age of 75. The increased rate of suicide among elderly people appears mostly due to the debilitating effects of physical illness, loss of social roles and relationships, and untreated depression. Suicide rates for people between the ages of 15 and 24 tripled between 1950 and 1993. The reasons for this increase are not entirely clear, but researchers have associated it with a greater prevalence of mental illness in young people, an increased use of drugs in this population, and the increased availability of firearms in the home.

Suicide rates also vary between men and women and between ethnic groups. Men complete about 80 percent of all suicides. However, women attempt suicide three times as frequently as men. Among men, Native Americans have the highest suicide rate, followed by whites. White men and women account for about 90 percent of all suicides. 

 



In Other Countries 

Canada’s suicide rate has historically been similar to or slightly higher than that of the United States. About 3800 suicides are recorded in Canada each year. Countries with the highest suicide rates include Latvia (42.5 suicides per 100,000 people), Lithuania (42.1), Estonia (38.2), Russia (37.8), and Hungary (35.9). Countries with the lowest suicide rates include Guatemala (0.5), the Philippines (0.5), Albania (1.4), the Dominican Republic (2.1), and Armenia (2.3). However, an accurate comparison of suicide rates among countries is difficult because of the unreliability of official suicide statistics and varying methods of certifying how deaths occurred.

III  METHODS 

 Researchers believe that a small proportion of fatal single-occupant automobile accidents are suicides.

Methods of suicide vary from culture to culture. Hanging is the leading method of suicide worldwide. In the United States about 60 percent of all suicides are committed with firearms. In Canada, where guns are less accessible, about 30 percent of suicides are committed with guns. Poisoning, such as taking an overdose of medication, accounts for about 18 percent of U.S. suicides. Researchers believe that a small proportion of fatal single-occupant automobile accidents are actually suicides. Only 15 to 25 percent of those who kill themselves leave suicide notes.

IV  CAUSES 

Suicidal behavior has numerous and complex causes. The biology of the brain, genetics, psychological traits, and social forces all can contribute to suicide. Although people commonly attribute suicide to external circumstances—such as divorce, loss of a job, or failure in school—most experts believe these events are triggers rather than causes in themselves.

The majority of people who kill themselves suffer from depression that is often undiagnosed and untreated. Because depression so often underlies suicide, studying the causes of depression can help scientists understand the causes of suicide (see Depression: Causes). Other mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and anxiety disorders may also contribute to suicidal behavior.

Biological Perspectives 

Ernest Hemingway American author Ernest Hemingway suffered from bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness) and committed suicide at the age of 61, during a period of depression. The author’s father, brother, and a sister all committed suicide, and in 1996 Hemingway’s granddaughter, American actor and model Margaux Hemingway, also committed suicide. Scientific research on suicide suggests that genetic and biological factors play a role in suicidal behavior.Archive Photos  

Research indicates that suicidal behavior runs in families, suggesting that genetic and biological factors play a role in one’s suicide risk. Among one community of Amish people in Pennsylvania, almost three-quarters of all suicides that occurred over a 100-year period were in just four families. Studies of twins reared apart provide some support for a genetic influence in suicide.

People may inherit a genetic predisposition to certain psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and alcoholism, that increase the risk of suicide. In addition, an inability to control impulsive and violent behavior may have biological roots. Research has found lower than normal levels of a substance associated with the brain chemical serotonin in people with impulsive aggressiveness.

  Psychological Theories 

In the early 1900s Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud developed some of the first psychological theories of suicide. He emphasized the role of hostility turned against the self. American psychiatrist Karl Menninger elaborated on Freud’s ideas. He suggested that all suicides have three interrelated and unconscious dimensions: revenge/hate (a wish to kill), depression/hopelessness (a wish to die), and guilt (a wish to be killed).

An American psychologist considered to be a pioneer in the modern study of suicide, Edwin Schneidman, has described several common characteristics of suicides. These include a sense of unbearable psychological pain, a sense of isolation from others, and the perception that death is the only solution to problems about which one feels hopeless and helpless. Cognitive theorists, who study how people process information, emphasize the role of inflexible thinking or tunnel vision (“life is awful, death is the only alternative”) and an inability to generate solutions to problems. According to psychologists, many suicide attempts are a symbolic cry for help, an effort to reach out and receive attention.

 
Sociological Theories 

Émile Durkheim French sociologist Émile Durkheim believed that suicide is related to the degree to which an individual feels connected to society. Durkheim found suicide was more likely when a person lacked social bonds or close relationships.THE BETTMANN ARCHIVE  

Most social scientists believe that a society’s structure and values can influence suicide rates. French sociologist Émile Durkheim argued that suicide rates are related to social integration—that is, the degree to which an individual feels part of a larger group. Durkheim found suicide was more likely when a person lacked social bonds or had relationships disrupted through a sudden change in status, such as unemployment. As one example of the significance of social bonds, suicide rates among adults are lower for married people than for divorced, widowed, or single people.

 Suicide rates among adults are lower for married people than for divorced, widowed, or single people. 

Studies consistently show that although suicidal people do not appear to have greater life stress than others, they lack effective strategies to cope with stress. In addition, they are more likely than others to have had family loss and turmoil, such as the death of a family member, separation or divorce of their parents, or child abuse or neglect. The parents of those who attempt suicide have a greater frequency of mental illness and substance abuse than other parents. However, suicide occurs in all types of families, including those with little apparent turmoil.

 Fluctuations in social and economic conditions frequently result in changes in the suicide rate. 

Fluctuations in social and economic conditions frequently result in changes in the suicide rate. In the United States, for example, suicide rates declined during World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945), when unemployment was low, but increased during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when unemployment was high. Occasionally, people commit suicide as a form of protest against the policies of a particular government. Mass suicides, in which large numbers of people kill themselves at the same time, are extremely rare. The most famous mass suicides occurred in ad 73 at Masada in what is now southern Israel, when 960 Jews killed themselves rather than face enslavement by Roman captors; and in 1978 in Jonestown, Guyana, when more than 900 cult members committed suicide on the orders of their leader, Jim Jones.

V  PREVENTION 

Because depression precedes most suicides, early recognition of depression and treatment through medication and psychotherapy are important ways of preventing suicide (see Depression: Treatment). In general, suicide prevention efforts aim to identify people with the highest risk of suicide and to intervene before these individuals become suicidal.

  Risk Factors 

Certain aspects of a person’s life increase the likelihood that the person will attempt or complete suicide. Studies have shown that one of the best predictors of suicidal intent is hopelessness. People with a sense of hopelessness may come to perceive suicide as the only alternative to a pained existence. People with mental illnesses, substance-abuse disorders such as alcoholism or drug dependence, and behavioral disorders also have a higher risk of suicide. In fact, people suffering from diagnosable mental illnesses complete about 90 percent of all suicides. Physical illness also increases a person’s risk of suicide, especially when the illness is accompanied by depression. About one-third of adult suicide victims suffered from a physical illness at the time of their death.

Other risk factors include previous suicide attempts, a history of suicide among family members, and social isolation. People who live alone or lack close friends may not receive emotional support that would otherwise protect them from despair and irrational thinking during difficult periods of life.

 Signs of Suicidal Intent 

About 80 percent of people who complete suicide give warning signs, although the warnings may not be overt or obvious. These usually take the form of talking about suicide or a wish to die; statements about hopelessness, helplessness, or worthlessness; preoccupation with death; and references to suicide in drawings, school essays, poems, or notes. Other danger signs include sudden, dramatic, and unexplained changes in behavior and what are called “termination behaviors.” These behaviors include an interest in putting personal affairs in order and giving away prized possessions, often accompanied by statements of sadness or despair.

 Most suicides can be prevented because the suicidal state of mind is usually temporary. 

A person who observes these signs should ask the person in question whether he or she is thinking of suicide. If so, the observer should refer the person to a trained mental health professional to reduce the immediate risk of suicide and to treat the problems that led the person to consider suicide. Most suicides can be prevented because the suicidal state of mind is usually temporary.

  Suicide Prevention Programs 

In the United States, mental health professionals established the first major suicide-prevention telephone hotlines in the 1950s. Counselors or trained volunteers usually staff the hotlines around the clock. The staff members provide a listening ear to those in despair and tell callers where they can go to receive professional help. Although hotlines provide a valuable service to people in crisis, research has shown that hotlines help only those that call. Young women call more frequently than do men, who have a greater risk of suicide.

An increasing number of schools have suicide-prevention programs that train students, teachers, and school staff to recognize warning signs and tell them where to refer students at risk of suicide. These relatively new programs have not yet demonstrated their effectiveness at preventing youth suicide.

Another prevention method involves restricting access to means of killing oneself. Barriers that prevent people from jumping off bridges, for example, and restrictions on access to firearms have shown some effectiveness in reducing suicides. Such methods introduce a delay during which suicidal feelings and decisions may change or rescuers can physically intervene.

VI  IMPACT ON OTHERS 

Kurt Cobain and Nirvana Nirvana popularized Seattle’s “grunge” music scene and sparked a revival among the smaller, independent-label record companies in the music industry. Nirvana’s album Nevermind (1991) expressed an antiestablishment attitude that resonated with the so-called Generation X and paved the way for other alternative rock bands. The group broke up after front man Kurt Cobain’s suicide in 1994. Nirvana was comprised of, left to right, Cobain, Dave Grohl, and Krist Novoselic. The Everett Collection, Inc. 

Suicide has a devastating emotional impact on surviving family members and friends. The intentional, sudden, and violent nature of the person’s death often makes others feel abandoned, helpless, and rejected. A family member or friend may have the added burden of discovering the body of the suicide victim. Parents often suffer exaggerated feelings of shame and guilt. Because of the social stigma, or shame, surrounding suicide, survivors may avoid talking to others about the person who died, and others may avoid the survivors. Despite these extra problems, research has shown that suicide survivors go through the same grieving process as other bereaved people and eventually recover from grief. Support groups may be particularly helpful for grieving suicide survivors.

Some evidence suggests that highly publicized suicides—those of celebrities, for example—may cause vulnerable individuals, especially teens, to kill themselves. However, these findings are controversial and other studies have found no such imitative effect.

VII  ATTITUDES TOWARD SUICIDE 

Many people feel uneasy talking about suicide, in part because of a social taboo on talking or learning about suicide. One popular myth is that suicide should not be mentioned around depressed people because it would plant the idea in their minds. But most mental health professionals agree that people who have suicidal wishes can benefit by talking about their feelings.

Attitudes toward suicide have varied widely throughout history. In ancient Egypt people considered suicide a humane way to escape intolerable conditions. For centuries in Japan people respected instances of hara-kiri (ritual suicide with a dagger) as a way for a shamed individual to make amends for failure or desertion of duty. During World War II Japanese kamikaze pilots considered it an honor to perform suicidal missions by crashing their airplanes into an enemy target. In India women were once expected to burn themselves on a funeral pyre after their husband died, a custom known as suttee.

 In ancient Egypt people considered suicide a humane way to escape intolerable conditions.

In many other societies, however, suicide has been strongly condemned or made illegal. The Greek philosopher Plato strongly disapproved of suicide. In general, ancient Roman governments opposed suicide when the state stood to lose assets, such as soldiers and slaves. Suicide was clearly prohibited by Judaism unless one faced capture by an enemy, as in the mass suicides at Masada.

Christianity has generally condemned suicide as a failure to uphold the sanctity of human life. In the 4th century ad, Saint Augustine decreed suicide a sin. By the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church forbade the burial of suicide victims in consecrated ground. English law considered suicide to be a crime punishable by the forfeiture of goods and property to the government unless the suicide was the result of madness or illness. This criminal view of suicide emigrated to colonial America and was adopted by individual states.


Today, with more modern views of mental illness and concern for the rights of survivors, most major religions offer compassion and traditional funeral rites in cases of suicide. No U.S. state now considers suicide a crime. Helping someone complete suicide, however, is criminally punishable in several states.

Drug Dependence

Drug Dependence, psychological and sometimes physical state characterized by a compulsion to take a drug in order to experience its psychological effects. Psychological dependence, or habituation, is present when the compulsion to take a drug is strong, even in the absence of physical withdrawal symptoms.

The drugs that are commonly abused, besides substances such as alcohol and tobacco, can be grouped into six classes: the opioids, sedative-hypnotics, stimulants, hallucinogens, cannabis, and inhalants.

Opioids 

The class of opioids includes drugs derived from opium (such as morphine and heroin) and its synthetic substitutes (such as methadone). Medically, morphine is a potent pain reliever; indeed, it is the standard by which other pain-relieving drugs are measured. It and other opium derivatives also suppress coughing, reduce movements of the intestine (providing relief from diarrhoea), and induce a state of psychological indifference. Heroin, a preparation synthesized from morphine, was introduced in 1898 as a cough suppressant and nonaddicting substitute for morphine. The addictive potential of heroin was soon recognized, however, and its use was prohibited in many countries, even in medical practice. Users report that heroin produces a “rush” or a “high” immediately after it is taken. It also produces a state of profound indifference and may increase energy.

Opioids produce different effects under different circumstances. The drug taker's past experience and expectations have some influence, as does the method of administering the drug (by injection, ingestion, or inhalation). Symptoms of withdrawal include kicking movements in the legs, anxiety, insomnia, nausea, sweating, cramps, vomiting, diarrhoea, and fever.

During the 1970s, when scientists isolated substances called enkephalins, naturally occurring opiates in the brain, they discovered what many believe to be the reason behind physical dependence on opioids—that is, the drugs are thought to mimic the action of enkephalins. If true, this hypothesis suggests that physical dependence on the opioids may develop in those who have a deficiency of these natural substances.

Stimulants 

Commonly abused stimulants are cocaine and drugs of the amphetamine family. Cocaine, a white, crystalline powder with a bitter taste, is extracted from the leaves of the South American coca bush. It is used medically to produce anaesthesia for surgery of the nose and throat and to constrict blood vessels and reduce bleeding during surgery; but abuse, which increased considerably in the late 1970s, can lead to severe physiological and psychological problems. A highly addictive, smokable form of cocaine, “crack”, appeared in the 1980s. 

Amphetamines, introduced in the 1930s for the treatment of colds and hay fever, were later found to affect the nervous system. For a while they were commonly used as an appetite suppressant by people trying to lose weight. Today their use is restricted primarily to the treatment of narcolepsy, a sleep disorder characterized by sudden sleep attacks throughout the day, and of hyperactivity in children, in whom amphetamines produce a calming effect. For adults, however, amphetamines rightfully earn their common name, “speed”. These drugs heighten alertness, elevate mood, and decrease fatigue and the need for sleep, but they often make users irritable and talkative. Both cocaine and amphetamines, after prolonged daily use, can produce a psychosis similar to acute schizophrenia.

A designer drug, 3,4-methylene dioxymethamphetamine, also know as “Ecstasy” or “E”, gives users a great sense of wellbeing; affection for all those around them; increased energy; and, sometimes, hallucinations. Associated with rave culture, its adverse effects can make users feel ill or experience a sense of loss of control, dehydration, and long-term memory and weight loss. There have been some deaths associated with taking Ecstasy and other drugs at raves.

Tolerance to both the euphoric and appetite-suppressing effects of amphetamines and cocaine develops rapidly. Withdrawal from amphetamines, particularly if the drug is injected intravenously, produces depression so unpleasant that the drug user has a powerful incentive to keep taking the drug until he or she collapses.

Hallucinogens 

Hallucinogens are not used medically in most countries except occasionally in the treatment of dying patients, people with mental illness, drug abusers, and alcoholics. Among the hallucinogens that were widely abused during the 1960s are lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD, and mescaline, which is derived from the peyote cactus. Although tolerance to these drugs develops rapidly, no withdrawal syndrome is apparent when they are discontinued.

Phencyclidine, or PCP, known popularly by such names as “angel dust” and “rocket fuel”, has no current use among human beings but is occasionally used by veterinary surgeons as an anaesthetic and sedative for animals. It became a common drug of abuse in the late 1970s, partly because it can easily be synthesized. Its effects are quite different from those of other hallucinogens. LSD, for example, produces detachment and euphoria, intensifies vision, and often leads to a crossing of senses (colours are “heard”, sounds are “seen”). PCP, by contrast, produces a sense of detachment and a reduction in sensitivity to pain; it may also result in either triggering or producing symptoms so like those of acute schizophrenia that even professionals confuse the two states. The combination of this effect and indifference to pain has sometimes resulted in bizarre thinking, occasionally marked by violently destructive behaviour.

Cannabis 

The plant Cannabis sativa is the source of both marijuana and hashish. The leaves, flowers, and twigs of the plant are crushed to produce marijuana; its concentrated resin is hashish. Both drugs are usually smoked. Their effects are similar: a state of relaxation, accelerated heart rate, perceived slowing of time, and a sense of heightened hearing, taste, touch, and smell. These effects can be quite different, however, depending on the amount of drug consumed and the circumstances under which it is taken. Marijuana and hashish are not thought to produce psychological dependence except when taken in large daily doses. The drugs can be dangerous, however, especially when smoked before driving. Although the chronic effects are not yet clear, marijuana is probably injurious to the lungs in much the same way as tobacco. A source of concern is its regular use by children and teenagers, because the intoxication markedly alters thinking and interferes with learning. A consensus exists among doctors and others working with children and adolescents that use is undesirable and may interfere with psychological, and possibly physical, maturation.

Cannabis has been used as a folk remedy for centuries, but it has no well-established medical use today. Experimental work has been done using its active ingredient, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), for treating alcoholism, seizures, pain, the nausea produced by anticancer medications, and glaucoma. Its usefulness for glaucoma patients seems fairly certain, but its disorienting effects make its possible employment by cancer patients more doubtful.

Inhalants 

In the class of inhalants are substances that are not usually considered drugs, such as glue, solvents, and aerosols, such as cleaning fluids. Most such substances sniffed for their psychological effects act to depress the central nervous system. Low doses can produce slight stimulation, but in higher amounts they cause their users to lose control or lapse into unconsciousness. The effects, which are immediate, can last for as long as 45 minutes. Headache, nausea, and drowsiness follow. Sniffing inhalants can impair vision, judgement, and muscle and reflex control. Permanent damage can result from prolonged use, and death can result from sniffing highly concentrated aerosol sprays. Although physical dependence does not seem to occur, tolerance to some inhalants does develop. 

Drugs are very dangerous and everyone must keep away from them.