Living With An Alcoholic » Symptoms of Alcoholism

Who Are These Alcoholics?

Daniel — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:00:00 +0000

To know them, requires defining the disease Alcoholism first. The definition in simplest terms: A chronic disease in which the person suffering from it has a dependence on alcohol, experiences withdrawal symptoms when trying to avoid or decrease intake of alcohol, suffers bodily organ damage due to the alcohol and has a decreased ability to function at work or in relationships as a direct result of this disease. The disease Alcoholism has been shown in studies to be the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States.

Alcoholism can have a damaging affect on every organ system in the human body. Knowing this, we can see that the Alcoholic is someone who is going to suffer long-term from the results of this very devastating disease. The damage is not only to the sufferer’s body, but also to every aspect of life – work, home, socially. The outward appearance and mannerisms of an alcoholic does not endear them to those who might otherwise offer, through compassion, some assistance to them. An alcoholic does not wear a sign proclaiming that he is suffering from a disease. Society looks at the alcoholic and may see instead invisible signs that say: low-life, scum, deserter, waste, bum etc. Society as a whole tends to blame the alcoholic for the destruction surrounding them and demands that they just “get their act together and stop immediately”. The sad fact is, that the alcoholic cannot stop drinking immediately. Treatment for alcoholism is many faceted and involves time and commitment, because of the addictive nature of the disease.

According to the US National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Study, the person suffering from Alcoholism can be seen in the following statistics:

Those who currently drink alcohol – 44%

Those who formerly drank alcohol – 22%

Those who abused or were dependent on alcohol over the past year – 7.5-9.5%

Lifetime occurrence – 13.5-23.5%

The person suffering from Alcoholism can be male, female, elderly, middle-aged, young adult, a teen, even a child as young as twelve or thirteen. One shudders to think of any younger possibilities. You may also find this person in the company of family members who also suffer from this same disease.

The Alcoholic can also be seen in the affects that alcohol renders on the body’s systems promoting further diseases such as Cirrhosis of the liver, or breast, mouth and oropharyngeal, liver and esophageal cancers. Alcoholism can even contribute to hemorrhagic stroke.

We notice the Alcoholic in the following scenarios playing the part of the accused, victim, participant or as a statistic in some national news story:

Vehicular accidents

Homicides

Suicides

Divorces

Domestic Violence

Alcoholism affects not just the one who consumes alcohol; it has a devastating affect on the lives of those around them as well. You can find the Alcoholic mirrored in the sad eyes of three quarters of all American foster children and in the eyes of the 60 – 70% of abused spouses and partners who suffer from domestic violence and report it.

Read more on Who Are These Alcoholics?…

When To Seek Medical Care

Daniel — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:16:00 +0000

Alcoholism refers to a chronic disease that is often progressive and can cause fatal damage to an individual’s health, when left untreated. Typically, there are three stages of alcoholism: early stage, middle stage, and late stage. In the early stage, the symptoms are not very prominent and the patient tends to ignore them. In the middle stage, an alcoholic realizes that he has a problem but has already lost the ability to control alcohol intake. It is in this stage that the medication must start to avoid the person’s arrival at the late stage.

However, raising the level of awareness on the subject can make a significant difference in the lives of the affected. Therefore, we must focus on educating people, particularly youths, on the dangers of alcoholism. The sooner you identify the symptoms, the earlier you can come to your rescue. Ask yourself the following questions to find out whether you may fall prey to alcoholism.

* Do you find yourself drinking alone regularly?

* Do you keep on finding excuses to drink?

* Do you feel an inability to stop yourself from drinking?

* Do you find it difficult to reduce the amount of alcohol intake?

* Do you have a history of alcoholism in your family?

* Do you get violent when somebody advises you not to drink or stops you from drinking?

* Have you developed poor eating habits after taking up drinking regularly?

* Are you unable to take care of your physical appearance after taking up drinking excessively?

If you have answered these questions as no, then you are perhaps a “problem drinker,” meaning that you drink only to cope with momentary crisis situations. However, if your answers to most of these questions are yes, then there are chances that you may fall prey to alcoholism. But do not panic because progress in medical science has created many avenues for treatment of alcoholics such as:

* Detoxification and withdrawal: This is a serious procedure that usually takes one week, wherein the patient is given sedating medication to avoid withdrawal seizures.

* Assessment and treatment: This process identifies and cures diseases related to alcoholism such as high blood pressure and blood sugar and heart and liver diseases .

* Psychological and psychiatric treatment: This program gives group counseling and therapy to help patients to recover from traumatic effects of alcoholism.

* Acceptance and abstinence: This helps an alcoholic to realize that he needs medical help to overcome the stage of alcoholism. After this, the goal is abstinence in the patient.

Read more on When To Seek Medical Care…

What to do when a Family Member Drinks Too Much

Daniel — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:03:00 +0000

In the last ten to twenty years society has learned a wealth of information about alcoholism and the consequences involved with drinking too much. Even with this increase in knowledge, it is still shocking when someone discovers a family member with a drinking problem. To add to the difficulty with knowing how to handle this type of situation is the fact that every alcoholic is individual and different. To complicate this issue, one of the main symptoms of alcoholism is denial. Denial can come from the alcoholic, the family, or both.

The first step to overcome denial and to begin helping the alcoholic family member work through the problem is for all of the members of the family to separate themselves from the problem. There are three principles to help each person as the work through this process called The Three C’s.

1. Cause

2. Cure

3. Control

In order to help the loved one work through their alcohol addiction, the family members must accept that they did not cause the alcoholism, they cannot cure the alcoholism, and they cannot control the alcoholism. Neither medicine nor psychology nor any other discipline, with all its scientific knowledge and its continuing controversies about alcoholism and addictions in general, disputes these simple statements. The causes of alcoholism include genetic factors, upbringing, psychological makeup and culture–but not the fact that the family members did not love, please or bully someone enough.

So far, there is no cure for alcoholism. The proponents of abstinence-based treatment, including AA, the American Society of Addiction Medicine and most professional addiction specialists, believe that alcoholism can be arrested on a daily basis, as long as the alcoholic abstains from drinking. Those who disagree promote a philosophy of harm reduction, believing not only that there is no cure but that lifelong abstinence is an impossibly ambitious goal for certain alcoholics. As far as control, it might be possible to control someone’s drinking behavior for a short time but in the long run it is an impossibility. The alcoholic must control his or her own drinking behavior.

The following are some Do’s and Don’ts regarding how to cope with a family member who drinks too much:

Do talk to someone, do find a safe place to go when the drinking gets out of hand, do seek professional help from a counselor or a program such as Al-Anon or Al-Ateen, and do talk to other family members about what is going on with the alcoholic. Don’t be ashamed, don’t place blame, don’t ignore the problem, don’t try to solve the problem alone, don’t try to reason with a drunk person, and don’t get into the car with a driver who has been drinking.

Regardless of what happens or how many family members are there to help, some alcoholics will never get sober no matter what anyone does. It is most important while looking out for the safety and well-being of the alcoholic family member that the other family members are diligent to take care of themselves and their own needs.

Various Stages Of Alcoholism

Daniel — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:45:00 +0000

Alcoholism refers to a chronic disease that is often progressive and can cause fatal damage to an individual’s health when left untreated. Regular heavy intake of alcohol causes chemical imbalances in the brain or leads to depletion of certain chemicals, which makes your body crave alcohol to feel good. This compels you to remain addicted for the sake of warding away negative feelings.

Stages Of Alcoholism

Typically, there are three stages of alcoholism: early stage, middle stage, and late stage. These stages have characteristic symptoms that the patient himself must be aware of, so that he can help himself before it is too late. The sooner you identify the symptoms, the earlier you can come to your rescue.

Early Stage Of Alcoholism

In this stage, an individual drinks to merely get relaxed or to deal with temporary problems that are causing him anxiety. The “feel-good” factor encourages him to resort to drinking whenever he has a problem, which may develop into a habit at a later stage. Gradually, the patient’s tolerance to alcohol decreases. Such an individual may completely appear normal in the initial stages but loses control over his postures and tongue after some time, entering the next stage of alcoholism.

Middle Stage Of Alcoholism

If an individual does not exercise control over his alcohol intake in the early stage, when it is particularly easy to do so, he begins to become physically dependent on alcohol. His desire to consume alcohol gradually increases. He begins to lose control over alcohol intake, and his body’s ability to process alcohol reduces. As a result, he gets intoxicated very easily, even with very little alcohol intake. In this stage, an alcoholic realizes that he has a problem but has already lost control.

Last Stage Of Alcoholism

In this stage, an alcoholic becomes obsessed with drinking and desperately looking for an excuse to drink. By now, everyone around him knows that there is a major problem, as the alcoholic’s mental and physical health are severely deteriorating. Also, the body’s immunity falters and he is prone to other diseases as his appetite decreases. In fact, if the alcoholic does not sop drinking, he may even die. He has to seek abstinence and specialized medical assistance immediately to save his life. There are specialized health-care institutions providing such treatment in groups. For those who do not want group treatments, there are several treatment programs on a one-on-one basis.

Understand the Symptoms of Alcoholism and Come to Your Rescue

Daniel — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 07:12:00 +0000

Alcoholism is a state in which the body is completely dependent on alcohol to feel normal and good. There are two types of alcohol addiction – alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Alcohol abuse is a state in which an individual indulges in excessive intake of alcohol, which takes a toll on his health, but retains the capacity to refrain from the habit. Alcoholism, on the other hand, is a dangerous stage wherein the individual completely loses control over alcohol intake and continues to consume it in spite of suffering from severe health hazards. This state is characterized by physical dependence on alcohol, which can be attributed to various social factors as well genetic and psychological issues.

Symptoms of Alcoholism

Typically, an alcoholic shows four signs that are characteristics of alcoholism: his body craves alcohol, he loses control over alcohol intake, he becomes physically dependent upon alcohol, and he has a reduced tolerance level to alcohol. These four symptoms are briefly described below:

Craving: The patient suffers from the strong urge to drink all the time.

Loss of control: The patient fails to control his alcohol intake and, as a result, gives in to excessive drinking.

Physical dependence: The patient shows withdrawal symptoms like nausea, dizziness, profuse sweating, and anxiety when he is not drunk.

Tolerance levels: The patient’s tolerance to alcohol decreases, as his body gradually loses its ability to process alcohol. Hence, he gets intoxicated very easily, even with little alcohol consumption.

Do not panic

If you are showing these symptoms, do not panic. If you want to get rid of the habit, medical science has several ways to help you. Treating alcohol addiction may require intensive personalized treatment. There are specialized health-care institutions providing such treatment in groups. For those who do not want group treatments, there are several treatment programs on a one-on-one basis. These sessions last for hours and are conducted by top therapists. Some of such treatments are as follows:

* Detoxification and withdrawal: This is a serious procedure that usually takes one week, wherein the patient is given sedating medication to avoid withdrawal seizures.

* Assessment and treatment: This process identifies and cures diseases related to alcoholism such as high blood pressure and blood sugar, and heart and liver diseases.

* Psychological and psychiatric treatment: This program gives tgroup counseling and therapy to help patients to recover from traumatic effects of alcoholism.

* Acceptance and abstinence: This helps an alcoholic to realize that he needs medical help to overcome the stage of alcoholism. After this, the goal is abstinence in the patient.

The Reasons behind Alcoholism

Daniel — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 03:12:00 +0000

Substance use disorders are the major public health issues facing the United States today. It is estimated that more than 15 million Americans suffer from alcoholism. Several factors mitigate the onset of excessive alcohol use in people. These include genetics, general risk factors, gender, family links and people with emotional and behavioral disorders.

Genetics:

It has been discovered that there is one gene called DRD2 that causes humans to a predisposition toward alcoholism. The presence of this gene does not cause alcoholism itself but it does make the person feel the effects of alcohol more intensely which in turn can lead to the excessive use of alcohol. By itself, this gene is not a predictor of alcoholism but is thought to account for half of the total risk for alcoholism.

General Risk Factors:

Other factors behind the excessive use of alcoholism include drinking in adolescence as well as drinking in the elderly. Although it is more common for young people to drink in excess, the elderly are not exempt and because of the serious life changes that can come about in the elderly they can be at an extreme risk.

Gender is another factor. Most alcoholics are men however; the incidence of alcoholism in women is increasing in recent years.

People with emotional and behavioral disorders are more susceptible to the abuse of alcohol as are people in low-income situations. It has also been found that people who live in urban areas are more likely to drink in excess leading to alcoholism than people who live in non-urban areas.

Sugar Cravings:

Studies have shown that people who crave sugar have a higher tendency to drink alcohol in excess. It has not been proven yet whether sugar cravings can be used as an indicator for alcoholism or if people with alcohol addiction satisfy their cravings with sweet alcohol rather than sweet foods.

Family Links:

People who come from families of alcoholics have more of a tendency to begin drinking alcohol at a younger age and eventually become alcoholics in the same manner as their alcoholic family members. This risk for alcoholism in sons of alcoholic fathers is more than 25% but the familial link seems to be weaker for women. People with a family history of alcoholism are also more likely to begin drinking at earlier ages, which increases their risk factors toward abuse.

Alcoholic beverages have been in existence for some say 15,000 years. Drinking steadily and consistently over time can cause a physical dependence on alcohol as well as withdrawal symptoms when going without alcohol for very long. Physical dependence will not lead to alcoholism by itself. There must first be issues involved that cause the person to abuse alcohol and to abuse alcohol in an effort to deal with painful emotions and/or experiences. Many factors lead to alcoholism and alcohol abuse. These things are important to recognize when the alcoholic goes through recovery and quits abusing alcohol. Any factors that can be removed or solved need to be addressed as part of the alcoholism treatment.

The Bold, Hard Facts About Alcoholism

Daniel — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:31:00 +0000

Alcoholism is not a symptom of a problem or an indication of emotional trouble. It is a chronic, progressive disease. Alcoholism can lead to death. It is able to create such a grip on the body, because of the chemical makeup of alcohol. It permeates nearly every type of cell contained in the human body; especially those of the nervous system. The nervous system contains two distinct parts: the central (spinal cord and brain) and the peripheral (our nerves and the electrical impulse system). Alcohol is an addictive drug that induces the brain to crave it. These cravings can be very damaging to the body as well as to the relationships of the person suffering from Alcoholism.

The first clue that alcoholism may be responsible for what is happening is that the person will experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when they try to abstain from drinking. Another clue is that they will have very little ability to control how much they drink, the frequency of their drinking or how long the bouts of drinking last; the cravings and addictive nature of the disease determines these factors. The alcohol controls the person to such a degree that they may be in denial of their drinking problem or they may drink despite their awareness of the dangers that exist for them.

Alcoholism has a direct affect on the person’s performance at work. They usually miss workdays due to hangovers and blackouts. It is not unusual for Alcoholics to experience job loss due to absences, the inability to perform required tasks, or coming to work drunk. Work is not the only area of their life affected by their disease. They often are involved in alcohol related accidents involving machinery or vehicles. It also has a huge impact on all their relationships.

Alcoholism has a direct affect on personal relationships, usually destroying them like a bowling ball knocking down pins. It is difficult for others to recognize that what they are witnessing is a person with a disease. It is much easier to be patient with a person with cancer or cerebral palsy as those are recognizable as diseases. In the eyes of the majority of people, the person who suffers from Alcoholism is usually criticized and shamed as a result of their drinking and resultant behavior. Over time, the alcohol controls the person’s behavior, thought processes and emotions. Their drug of choice has consumed the one doing the consuming. The end result will be that they will lose everything; career, respect, loved ones, perhaps even their very life.

Being physically dependent on alcohol is not the only factor involved in being diagnosed with Alcoholism. Other factors are: the person’s culture, genetics, physiological and psychological elements. A medical doctor who examines the patient, conducts necessary tests and evaluates the patient’s history makes the diagnosis. Once the patient has been diagnosed with Alcoholism, the doctor will establish a treatment plan that will include follow-up appointments, treatment, and support. Similar to other chronic diseases, the patient will require long-term care and a constant vigilance kept for returning symptoms. The patient will need to understand the disease and be willing to accept responsibility for getting proper treatment. The prognosis good or bad has a lot to do with early intervention, proper treatment, acceptance and patience.

The Basic Facts About Alcoholism

Daniel — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 02:22:00 +0000

Alcoholism is a widespread problem that affects people of all races, socioeconomic classes, genders, ages and so forth. There are an estimated 14 million individuals presently living in the U.S. who either abuse alcohol on a regular basis or are alcoholics. This works out to be every one in three adults. The highest rates of alcohol dependency appear to be in young adults ranging from the age of 18 to 29 years of age while the lowest rates are for those adults who are 65 years of age and older. There are several million other adults in the United States who may not be alcoholics per se but they still engage in risky types of drinking patterns on a more or less regular basis that could put them in the high-risk category for alcohol dependency.

An estimated 53 percent of both males and females have admitted to having one or more family members or friends who have a problem with alcohol. Less than an estimated five percent of alcoholics fit the stereotypical picture of what a drunk is “supposed to look and act like.”

Alcoholism is a chemical type of disease as it breaks down in the stomach differently than anything else does and it has a tremendous negative impact on a person’s brain. It is considered to be biological in nature as well because it is believed that there is a chemical predisposition towards alcohol addiction that is inherited. Alcoholism is considered to be a primary disease because it is not the consequence or result of any other type of disease. Alcoholism stands on its own and it has its own diagnosis as well as pathology.

Alcoholism is a progressive disease, as it will worsen over time if it is not treated. In this way it is very easy to predict the start of many symptoms such as for example, euphoric recall, blaming others and blackouts. Stopping drinking can stop the damage that has been done to a variety of organs, except for the liver. Once the liver has developed cirrhosis, the damage cannot be reversed. While the cessation of drinking will not cause the condition of the liver to get any worse, it will not make it possible for it to heal itself either.

Alcoholism is a chronic disease because it generally develops over a long period of time and it never stops all at once for no reason. Instead it just keeps getting worse until intervention takes place.

Alcoholism can become fatal. Alcoholics on average die approximately 12 to 13 years earlier than their non-alcoholic counterparts due to the devastating effects that alcohol has on the human body. Alcoholics also tend to have higher rates of suicides, motor vehicle accidents as well as accidental deaths such as falls and even homicides sometimes have a measure of alcohol connected to them. Many alcoholics are also known to mix other types of drugs and take them in conjunction with alcohol, sometimes leading to lethal combinations that can end lives. The mixing of more than on substance is known as “amplification” or a “magnified effect.” Two alcoholic beverages taken with two pills for example can bring about an even greater high or they can cause the body to shut down and render the person comatose or worse, dead.

Symptoms of Alcoholism

Daniel — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 01:38:00 +0000

The distinction between heavy drinking and alcoholism is typically based not on the quantity that is being drunk but on the way, the drinking is affecting the life of the drinker. There are seven key signs of alcohol dependence:

1. The person develops a tolerance for alcohol. This means that it takes more and more alcohol to feel the same level of intoxication.

2. The person has withdrawal symptoms. This means that they feel sick when there is no alcohol in their body. These symptoms include nausea, sweating, shakiness, and anxiety.

3. The person often drinks more than he does or she had originally intended to drink.

4. The person attempts to cut down or to stop drinking but all attempts on their own are failures and they just continue to drink more and more.

5. The person spends a lot of time and effort making sure he or she can get alcohol.

6. The person gives up opportunities for social, recreational, and professional activities because of their drinking.

7. The person continues to drink despite having physical and psychological problems because of the drinking.

For the purposes of diagnosis among professional diagnosticians, if a person has three of these seven signs then they are considered alcohol dependent. There are some other “less official” type signs that can be used to determine if someone is drinking too much.

* The person begins to miss work or is less successful at work.

* The person seems angry or sad a lot.

* The person hits or physically abuses members of the family.

* The person emotionally abuses members of the family.

* The person has blackouts (cannot remember what he or she did while drunk).

* The person has hangovers (feels really sick the day after drinking).

Alcoholism doe not go away by itself so it is extremely important for friends and family members who recognize any combination of these symptoms or signs to encourage the person to seek treatment. In the long-term alcoholism can cause cirrhosis and cancer of the liver, heart and central nervous system damage, memory loss, impotence and a high risk of over dosing. People who abuse alcohol may not want to admit that they have a problem because they are ashamed or embarrassed or maybe even they do not want to change their lifestyle.

Alcoholism can affect anyone and does not discriminate based on race, age, or circumstances. It is a treatable disease, but the person seeking treatment must be willing to give it up entirely. The treatment community for alcoholism typically supports a zero tolerance complete abstinence-based approach to treatment. Research has shown that very few alcoholics can simply cut down on their drinking and be able to know when they have had enough and can stop. Once that tolerance is built up, the body craves the feeling of intoxication and the only way to rid the body of those cravings is through total abstinence. Alcoholism, most importantly, is a treatable disease. I cannot always be controlled but there are large success rates with treatment. The alcoholic must remember that they will still have the disease even if they are no longer drinking and they will always be considered to be “recovering”.

Relation between insanity and drunkenness

Daniel — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:47:00 +0000

Dr. John Nugent said that his experience of twenty-six years among lunatics, led him to believe that there is a very close relation between the results of the abuse of alcohol and insanity. The population of Ireland had decreased, he said, two millions in twenty-five years, but there was the same amount of insanity now that there was before. He attributed this, in a great measure, to indulgence in drink.

Dr. Arthur Mitchell, Commissioner of Lunacy for Scotland, testified that the excessive use of alcohol caused a large amount of the lunacy, crime and pauperism of that country. In some men, he said, habitual drinking leads to other diseases than insanity, because the effect is always in the direction of the proclivity, but it is certain that there are many in whom there is a clear proclivity to insanity, who would escape that dreadful consummation but for drinking; excessive drinking in many persons determining the insanity to which they are, at any rate, predisposed. The children of drunkards, he further said, are in a larger proportion idiotic than other children, and in a larger proportion become themselves drunkards; they are also in a larger proportion liable to the ordinary forms of acquired insanity.

Dr. Winslow Forbes believed that in the habitual drunkard the whole nervous structure, and the brain especially, became poisoned by alcohol. All the mental symptoms which you see accompanying ordinary intoxication, he remarks, result from the poisonous effects of alcohol on the brain. It is the brain which is mainly effected. In temporary drunkenness, the brain becomes in an abnormal state of alimentation, and if this habit is persisted in for years, the nervous tissue itself becomes permeated with alcohol, and organic changes take place in the nervous tissues of the brain, producing that frightful and dreadful chronic insanity which we see in lunatic asylums, traceable entirely to habits of intoxication. A large percentage of frightful mental and brain disturbances can, he declared, be traced to the drunkenness of parents.

Dr. D.G. Dodge, late of the New York State Inebriate Asylum, who, with. Dr. Joseph Parrish, gave testimony before the committee of the House of Commons, said, in one of his answers: “With the excessive use of alcohol, functional disorder will invariably appear, and no organ will be more seriously affected, and possibly impaired, than the brain. This is shown in the inebriate by a weakened intellect, a general debility of the mental faculties, a partial or total loss of self-respect, and a departure of the power of self-command; all of which, acting together, place the victim at the mercy of a depraved and morbid appetite, and make him utterly powerless, by his own unaided efforts, to secure his recovery from the disease which is destroying him.” And he adds: “I am of opinion that there is a “great similarity between inebriety and insanity.

“I am decidedly of opinion that the former has taken its place in the family of diseases as prominently as its twin-brother insanity; and, in my opinion, the day is not far distant when the pathology of the former will be as fully understood and as successfully treated as the latter, and even more successfully, since it is more within the reach and bounds of human control, which, wisely exercised and scientifically administered, may prevent curable inebriation from verging into possible incurable insanity.”

Living With An Alcoholic » Symptoms of Alcoholism

Who Are These Alcoholics?

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When To Seek Medical Care

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What to do when a Family Member Drinks Too Much

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Various Stages Of Alcoholism

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Understand the Symptoms of Alcoholism and Come to Your Rescue

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The Reasons behind Alcoholism

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The Bold, Hard Facts About Alcoholism

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The Basic Facts About Alcoholism

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Symptoms of Alcoholism

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