Alcohol as a legal opiate is widespread throughout the world, and its addiction, alcoholism, occurs among all strata of society. Alcoholism in a person’s life brings decay in every sense. A person destroys his body on a physical and mental level, family, friendships, business relationships are destroyed. When it comes to personal decay of the body, the organ most affected by alcoholism itself is of course the liver because it processes alcohol. The harmful effects of alcohol on other organs and organ systems in the body, as well as the effects on the psyche, should not be neglected. The factors that influence the appearance of alcoholism can be various. From life traumas through genetic predisposition and family problems to the pressure and influence of society and the environment on a person's development. Some begin their journey toward alcohol addiction at an early age when they do not yet have the capacity to understand the seriousness of the consequences. However, not everyone ends up with the same goal and not all alcohol consumers can be called addicts or alcoholics. Treating alcoholism is a long and complicated process that requires a lot of effort, but also time. Therefore, people involved in the treatment of addicts should have a lot of patience, strength and will to enable the person to recover as well as possible and continue living. Families whose members are people addicted to alcohol play a big role in the process of treating their loved ones, and if they are not sufficiently involved and aware of the problem, it is much harder for the addict himself who then exploits them. Unfortunately, once an addiction becomes a part of a person’s life it is very difficult to get rid of it. Abstinence is the only permanent solution and goal of any treatment attempt. Alcoholics Clubs and Alcoholics Anonymous Clubs help maintain abstinence.