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Note: If you are serious about learning how to stop drinking
alcohol make sure you get the awesome Quit Drink 4 Life home based program! |
| Problem Drinking vs. Alcoholism |
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There is a fine line identifying the differences between problem drinking versus alcoholism. Many ask can one be a problem drinker, but not an alcoholic. The simple answer is no! The signs, symptoms, effects, treatments and results are essentially the same for a problem drinker, in comparison to an alcoholic. An alcoholic often can not cope without having alcohol on board; they also are unable to control their drinking. A problem drinker may be able to get through a period of time i.e. a day or week or month without drinking. However when they consume alcohol, they often will have no control drink excessively and make poor decisions.
So what are the signs and symptoms of alcoholism? How would you know if you or someone you love suffers from this disease? The thing is with alcoholism the sings and symptoms vary. A person may have one or all of the major signs. It is important to understand also that there are specific stages. Some people go through them all, or may sit in one stage for the duration of their sickness.
Early signs include:
- Individuals who turn to alcohol rather than deal with personal issues or problems can be an early sign
- Excessive drinking where the individual is experiencing blackouts, or passing out without any recollect of their actions or what happened the night before
- Those that feel the need to hide their alcohol, or sneak around in order to consume alcohol
- Your main focus is on when and where you can get a drink, you begin to plan your events and activities around the use of alcohol
Some individuals may reside in the early stage for a long period of time. This can lead to a life or problem drinking and inappropriate use of alcohol. The majority of problem drinkers however will more than likely advance to stage two where things become more serious.
Second Stage:
- In ability to stop and drinking more than you mean too. e.g. out for dinner, and instead of having a couple of social drinks the individual will often down a number of drinks and continue to do so until inebriated
- Denial is usually found in stage 2. At this point loved ones may express concern. Denial can be towards those individuals, and often the individual themselves will deny it to themselves
- Setting rules for your self. "I will not drink on Sunday's" "I will not drink before 5pm" if a person needs to set rules or guidelines, chances are they are making excuses for themselves
- Changes in personality, moods, excessive anger, sadness, happiness or all of the above. Drinking at times that are meaningless. What this means is alcohol use is typical in certain circumstances i.e. parties, weddings, family get together, dinners etc. Waking up at 7am and starting to consume alcohol is not one of those times and is a serious sign of trouble.
By the time the person reaches the third stage of alcoholism generally their lives are in danger. At this point there are serious health, mental and personality issues.
Third Stage:
- Unable to cope without having alcohol readily available
- Health problems such as weight loss, liver problems, and possibly mental problems
- Severe withdrawal between drinking periods
- Unable to function without having alcohol in their system
- Inability to quit
- Problems with diet, sleep and personal relationship
As you can see there are a number of identifiable symptoms and side effects. One could actually list likely many more for each stage, and not each individual is going to experience all symptoms. Some of the signs may also be seen in an earlier stage and also later on as well.
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