An alcoholic is someone who has a drinking problem that becomes severe. Someone who is an alcoholic doesn’t know how or when to stop drinking. They will spend a lot of time thinking about alcohol and they can’t control their consumption. They will continue to consume alcohol even if it’s causing serious problems at work, at home, in their relationships, or financially.
The symptoms of alcohol dependency include the following:
- Drinks alcohol alone or secretly drinking
- Not being able to control how much you drink
- Need more alcohol to feel the effects
- Having relationship problems, work problems, or problems with the law that come from drinking
- Blacking out and not being able to remember certain periods of time
- Drinking very quickly to feel good
- Having rituals and being irritated if someone else comments on them such as drinking before meals, or immediately after work
- Storing alcohol in unlikely places
- Losing interest in hobbies that you were previously into
- Feeling irritable when drinking times are approaching
- Feeling a constant urge to drink
- Regular binge drinking
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What Causes Alcoholism?
Alcohol addictions can take several years to develop. In some cases, it can happen within a few months.
There are several risk factors that may be linked with excessive drinking. These include:
- Genes – Some genetic factors can make some people more likely to develop an alcohol addiction
- The age of their first alcoholic drink – Studies have suggested that people who start drinking before the age of 15 may be more likely to have drinking problems later in life
- Easy access – Easy access to alcohol can make someone more likely to have a drinking problem
- Stress – If someone is very stressed or anxious, they may consume alcohol as a way of coping with these feelings
- Peer drinking – People who are surrounded by friends who drink regularly or excessively may eventually have alcohol-related problems
- Low self-esteem – People with low self-esteem are more likely to consume too much alcohol
- Depression – People with depression may use alcohol as self-treatment but consuming alcohol too much can increase the risk of depression
There is no specific reason why people become addicted to alcohol. Every addict has a different story about how they got to the position they’re in.
What Is The Difference Between Casual Drinking And Alcohol Abuse?
Casual drinkers are people who occasionally drink alcohol. These are people who usually drink responsibly, meaning they don’t get completely drunk or black out regularly. They won’t usually drink every day and may only drink a small amount of alcohol.
Alcoholics, on the other hand, can’t control how much they drink and will often drink heavily. Most alcoholics will drink every day. They will often experience problems in various parts of their lives due to how much they’re drinking. These people require rehab or support groups in order to recover and remain sober.
Impact Of Alcoholism
Alcohol can have many effects on your physical health and mental health, including the following:
- Brain – alcohol interferes with the communication pathways in the brain and can affect how it works. These can change a person’s mood, behaviours, and can make it harder for them to think clearly.
- Heart – Drinking a lot over a long time can damage the heart and cause various issues such as an irregular heartbeat, cardiomyopathy, a stroke, or high blood pressure.
- Liver – Heavy drinking can have a huge effect on the liver and can cause things like steatosis, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and alcoholic hepatitis.
- Pancreas – Alcohol causes the pancreas to produce toxic substances that can lead to dangerous inflammation and swelling of the blood vessels and prevents proper digestion.
- Cancer – Alcohol abuse and alcoholism can increase the chances of certain cancers including head and neck cancer, liver cancer, oesophageal cancer, colorectal cancer, and breast cancer.
- Immune system – Excessive drinking can also weaken the immune system.
- Mental health issues – Alcoholism can cause various mental health problems.
Alcohol addiction can also cause several other problems such as problems with the law, relationship problems, or problems at work. Paying for a drinking problem can also have a very negative effect on a person’s finances.
Treatment For Alcoholism
The best course of treatment for alcohol addictions is a treatment plan in residential rehab. When in rehab, you will go through various therapies and treatments to tackle the drinking problem.
Some examples of treatments include the following:
- Behavioural treatments – These are aimed at changing drinking behaviours through counselling.
- Medications – Medications can assist with the withdrawal symptoms that come with detoxing from alcohol.
- Support groups – These groups, like alcoholics anonymous, provide peer support for people who are recovering from alcohol and allow you to receive support from others who are going through the same things that you are.
How We Can Help You
If you think that you or a loved one is suffering from substance abuse, we are here to help with alcohol rehab. We are available 24/7 with our free, dedicated helpline. Get in touch with us today on 0800 012 6088. We are happy to answer any questions you may have at any time. We are here to listen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Seth is an author, addiction recovery expert and fully accredited member of the national counselling society. He has experience working with a wide range of addictions and mental illnesses using a number of evidence-based therapies and programmes such as the SMART models of addiction recovery.
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