Alcoholism has been acknowledged by an assortment of terms, including alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence. Today, it’s stated as an alcohol use disorder. It happens when you drink so much that your body ultimately becomes dependent on or habituated to alcohol. When this occurs, alcohol becomes the most vital thing in your life.
People with alcohol use disorder will continue to drink even when drinking induces negative significance, like losing a job or destroying relationships with people they love. They might know that their alcohol use negatively distresses their lives, but it’s often not sufficient to make them stop drinking.
What causes it?
The cause of alcohol use disorder is still unidentified. Alcohol use disorder grows when you drink so much that chemical fluctuations in the brain arise. These changes upsurge the pleasurable feelings you get when you drink alcohol. This makes you want to drink more often, even if it induces harm.
Finally, the pleasurable feelings connected with alcohol use go away and the person with alcohol use disorder will engrossed in drinking to avert withdrawal symptoms. These withdrawal symptoms can be quite hostile and even dangerous.
Alcohol use disorder characteristically develops gradually over time. It’s also identified to run in families.
What are the symptoms of Alcoholism?
Symptoms of alcohol use disorder are based on the behaviors and physical consequences that happen as a result of alcohol addiction.
People with alcohol use disorder might involve in the following behaviors:
- drinking alone
- drinking more to feel the influence of alcohol (having a high tolerance)
- becoming fierce or angry when asked about their drinking habits
- not eating or eating poorly
- ignoring personal hygiene
- missing work or school due to drinking
- being unable to control alcohol intake
- making excuses to drink
- continuing to drink even when legal, social, or economic problems grow
- giving up significant social, occupational, or recreational activities due to alcohol use
People with alcohol use disorder might also experience the following physical symptoms:
- alcohol cravings
- withdrawal symptoms when not drinking, comprising shaking, nausea, and vomiting
- tremors (involuntary shaking) the morning after drinking
- lapses in memory (blacking out) after a night of drinking
- illnesses, like alcoholic ketoacidosis (comprises dehydration-type symptoms) or cirrhosis
How is it treated?
Treatment for alcohol use disorder differs, but every method is meant to help you stop drinking all in all. This is termed abstinence. Treatment might happen in stages and can comprise the following:
- detoxification or withdrawal to clear your body of alcohol
- rehabilitation to acquire new managing skills and behaviours
- counselling to tackle emotional problems that might cause you to drink
- support groups, comprising 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
- medical treatment for health problems connected with alcohol use disorder
- medications to help control addiction
You might require to seek treatment at an inpatient facility if your addiction to alcohol is severe. These facilities will offer you 24-hour care as you withdraw from alcohol and recover from your addiction.
Once you’re well enough to leave, you’ll need to continue to obtain treatment on an outpatient basis. For such severe problems, trust Ishkama!