This article will help you to identify alcohol problem signs that will establish whether the drinker has either the warning signs of alcohol abuse or whether the drinking has already lead to alcohol dependence.
It’s really best to treat alcohol problem signs as early as possible as alcoholism is a progressive illness that gets worse over time. If allowed to continue drinking, alcoholics will likely cause serious physical harm to themselves and endanger others around them.
It’s important to distinguish between alcohol problem signs that may because of “alcohol abuse” and full blown “alcoholism” as the symptoms will be somewhat different between these two disorders.
Alcohol abuse is characterised chiefly by the persistent consumption of alcohol in an unhealthy manner, in inappropriate situations and amounts with the result that the person is not able to maintain responsibilities.
Alcoholism is the combination fo all the above abuse criteria as well as the drinker having developed “tolerance” and “withdrawal”. This means that (s)he needs to drink more to get drunk and suffers from withdrawal symptoms such as shakes, sweats, nausea if (s)he tries to stop drinking abruptly.
Severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms could include hallucinations and convulsions. These are very serious signs with severe health implications and if yourself ro a lvoed one display them at any point, you should see your doctor immendiately.
The other potential solution if the patient is stable is to talk to one of our intake coordinators about the potential of being admitted to a quality alcoholism rehab centre.
Now that we’ve drawn a distinction between the two conditions we can look in more detail at some of the chief alcohol problem signs that you or a loved one may be displaying and get some idea of how serious it is.
Here is a brief list of some potential alcohol problem signs. Please go through the list and see if you can identify any of them in your life:
You have missed work or been able to meet your duties as a result of alcohol use;
You have stayed away from home as a result of being drunk;
You have faced disciplinary action at a work as a result of drinking;
You’ve neglected to take proper care of your children or household duties;
You’ve driven a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol;
You’ve been arrested for an alcohol related event (e.g.: drunk in public);
You’ve had problems in your social life as a result of drinking;
You’ve been involved in fights while drunk;
All of these symptoms are alcohol problem signs and mean that you may be an alcoholic. If you find that you have answered “yes” to some of them you should seriously consider seeing an addictions counsellor for advice on how to stop drinking.
People who abuse alcohol run the risk of becoming alcoholic. In fact the best predictor of who becomes alcoholic is really to look at your pattern of drinking. There is no particular age, race, sex, religion or other social group that is somehow more prone to alcoholism. This disease affects everybody and so you should never ignore any alcohol problem signs.
There are two major physical symptoms of alcoholism which I mentioned earlier in this article, namely “withdrawal” and “tolerance”. Along with these there are a number of behavioural symptoms which describe problems that the alcoholic suffers as a result of drinking.
Tolerance to alcohol is the situation where the heavy drinker’s body has adapted to be able to cope with the presence of alcohol in the blood. People who have a high degree of tolerance to alcohol are able to drink more and suffer less impairment to their functioning. Because the alcoholic desires the state of being drunk this means that they will drink more so as to get the effect that they used to get from just a few drinks. Tolerance is one of the alcohol problem signs that leads to a diagnosis of alcoholism.
Withdrawal symptoms lie on the flip side of tolerance. Unlike tolerance where the body adapts to cope with alcohol, physical dependence is the situation where the body adapts to REQUIRE alcohol just to feel “normal”. In these cases if the person stops drinking they suffer withdrawal symptoms such as sweats, shakes and irritability. The presence of withdrawal symptoms is the second of the alcohol problem signs that is required for a formal diagnosis of alcoholism.
Behavioural symptoms are described as the alcoholic continuing to drink despite there being negative consequences. These consequences could include problems in their social life, work life or home life.
If you find that your drinking is out of control and you would like more information about how to reclaim your life please contact us for expert assistance.