Alcoholism

Alcohol use can progress to alcoholism very insidiously. A person can go from drinking socially to drinking every day and many times a day. This is alcoholism. If you have alcoholism, you need to get expert help to address the problem.

It is sometimes not that important to determine whether or not alcoholism exists. This is because any time the drinking of alcohol has advanced to the point where the drinking has become a problem, then it is enough to require immediate attention. If a person has tried to quit on their own and cannot do so, they may have become dependent or addicted to alcohol and are considered alcoholics.

Alcohol problems can be severe, moderate or life threatening. Alcoholism is also known as alcohol dependence and is the worst stage of the drinking process. The person can suffer from internal and medical effects that can cause death unless treated.

Alcoholism is a progressive disease occurring over several months or years. The symptoms in the early stages are different from late stage alcoholism and it is important to recognize which stage a person is in so that treatment can begin as early as possible.

Early signs of alcoholism include being intoxicated on a frequent basis and having an established pattern of drinking heavily or drinking under dangerous situations, such as drinking and driving. You can have black out problems while drinking or drastic changes in your demeanor while drinking, including things like being violent or angry while intoxicated.

As the drinking progresses, the person continues to drink after drinking as reached a level that causes problems. The person can drink themselves to a stupor and can drink even though it is threatening their job, their home life, or their legal situation. The exact amount a person drinks varies from person to person but the idea behind drinking is to get drunk. Becoming drunk is the goal of every alcoholic and they often drink many drinks to get that way. They have often developed tolerance to alcohol so it takes more alcohol to achieve a drunken state.

The DSM-IV Manual of Psychiatric Disorders states that alcohol abuse and alcoholism is drinking in spite of alcohol-related psychological, social and physical problems or drinking when it is dangerous to do so. The WHO defines alcoholism as the harmful use of alcohol which results in drinking that causes mental or physical damage in the absence of alcohol dependence. This means that alcohol abuse involves any intake of alcohol which is harmful to the person.

Signs and symptoms of alcoholism include alcohol-related illnesses like cirrhosis or jaundice, the need for more alcohol in order to get drunk and blackouts after drinking heavily. There are always resultant withdrawal symptoms when the alcohol use is discontinued.

Some of the symptoms of alcohol use include continuing to drink even though one's life is adversely affected, drinking alone, hostility when confronted about drinking, episodes of violence while drinking, lack of control while drinking and being unable to stop or reduce drinking, making excuses to drink, having violent behavior while drinking, missing work, school or activities of daily living due to drinking and the need for daily drinking.

There is no known cause of alcoholism. Some of the problem may be hereditary or just run in families due to behavioral situations. Some people seem destined to become alcoholics while others can never develop the problem. Those at risk for developing alcoholism include men that drink more than fifteen drinks a week or women that drink more than 12 drinks per week. Any person who drinks more than 5 drinks in a single occasion per week is defined as being at risk for alcoholism. Those who have depressive or anxiety disorders are more likely to drink too much and those under peer pressure are more likely to drink too much. Those with a low self esteem or relationship problems are at risk for alcohol abuse and alcoholism. A culture that supports drinking can contribute to more people becoming alcoholics.

Tests for drinking include asking the person how drinking has affected their lives. There are several questions to ask including, "Have you ever felt that you should cut down on your drinking?" A toxicological screen can show elevated blood alcohol levels and liver function tests can show abnormalities in the liver.

Alcoholism is treated with inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation, counseling and medications that can curb alcohol use or make the drinking of alcohol unpleasant.