What Are The Symptoms of Alcohol Abuse?
Do you have a loved one you think might be abusing alcohol, but you are unsure of what symptoms to look for? Discerning recreational alcohol use apart from serious alcohol dependency and abuse can be difficult when you don’t know how to tell the difference, but knowing the facts about alcohol abuse symptoms could save your loved one’s life.
What Do The Symptoms Look Like?
There are many emotional, mental and physical symptoms of alcohol addiction to be aware of. The first (and most obvious) sign of alcoholism are the physical effects. Slurred speech, instability or lack of balance, alcohol on the breath, an apparent “need” for alcohol beginning early in the day, sickness or discomfort as a result from even the slightest withdrawal from alcohol–all of these seen over a period of time in a chronic way could mean alcohol abuse.
Alcohol addiction, over time, produces an increasing physical tolerance to alcohol and a physical dependence as well. Long-term alcohol abuse can cause cirrhosis of the liver, polyneuropathy, pancreatitis, and can even cause alcohol poising which can be fatal.
For this reason, many alcoholics require a supervised medical detox to come off of alcohol safely without risk. Alcoholics who quit “cold turkey” often suffer great physical discomfort, intense anxiety, hallucinations, the “shakes”, seizures and, in extreme cases, heart failure. This is one of the reasons why alcoholics continue to drink–to avoid the symptoms of withdrawal.
Some individuals who abuse alcohol develop a social “veil,” behind which they can hide these symptoms and other mental and emotional indications of their dependency. Some are obviously emotionally “roller-coastering” and displaying highs and lows in a major way–one minute everything is awful, and the next minute the person is the life of the party.
But many alcoholics are deceiving and hide these symptoms very well, making them very tricky to spot. Long-term alcohol addiction can cause a wide range of psychological and mental health problems as well. The most prevalent mental disorders for alcholism are anxiety, depression, and bi-polar. These worsen during withdrawal, which can sometimes lead to a misdiagnosis. Dual-diagnosis treatment of alcoholism is vital to a successful recovery.
What Should I Do?
It might take some work, the ability to be unemotionally attached and extremely impartial–but you unveiling the truth about someone’s alcohol dependency could save their life. If you need help spotting these symptoms or are looking for alcohol treatment, there are social workers and clinical psychologists who specialize in addiction treatment.