Essay On Alcoholism In Hamlet

Alcoholism is referred to in Shakespeare’s Hamlet as custom, though Hamlet himself doesn’t drink, it is implied that drinking is a big part of the play. Hamlet gives a speech about drinking in the first act where he comments on his step father’s alcoholism and says that, “to the manner born, it is a custom” (Hamlet 20) meaning to the whole kingdom, drinking as recreation is considered normal. Alcoholism affects how people react to things, and may be a big factor in how people react to a lot of situations in the play.

Alcohol has a major effect on social behavior. According to an article called The psychology of drunken excess, “Drinking alcohol clearly has important effect on social behaviors, such as increasing aggression, self-disclosure, sexual adventuresomeness, and so on.” (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3981386) These behavioral differences may have caused a lot of the characters in the play to have responded out of their usual character, had they not have been used to social drinking, as well as made harsher judgements on certain things than they usually would have. Increased aggression and anxiety, which are common effects on people who are used to drinking, may account for a

Drinking all the time can become an addiction which raises the risks of all the long term effects and increases the severity of the short term effects. One of the most dangerous parts parts of addiction is withdrawal, according to an article called Alcohol Withdrawal Treatment, Symptoms, and Timeline, Stopping alcohol all at once can be very dangerous because, “Alcohol withdrawal can be fatal, as the brain and central nervous system experience a rebound after being suppressed by alcohol repetitively for an extended period of time.” (http://americanaddictioncenters.org/withdrawal-timelines-treatments/alcohol/) Which basically implies that stopping drinking after you’re already addicted can be a very difficult thing to