Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the extent and nature of drinking problems; the ways in which these problems were perceived; and how people with drinking problems felt about getting help in comparison to the responses which hospital and community services felt they could or should make, and to consider ways in which these responses could be more effectively and appropriately matched to the prevalence and perceptions of the problems. Drinking problems refer to the whole range of problems associated with drinking, from the problems of persons exceptionally damaged by alcohol to those affected only indirectly such as people who feel disapproved of socially because they abstain from drinking.