Know the most common signs of alcohol dependence

Heavy drinking in and of itself doesn’t make someone an alcoholic. In fact, an estimated 40 million adults in America drink
too much, and most — 90 percent — are not alcoholics. Some medications can assist you throughout detoxification and withdrawal. More importantly, doctors can help you explore your treatment options for alcoholism.

This is why it’s better to catch alcoholism early and focus on prevention. If you’re trying to conceive, your partner should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, which should be spread evenly over 3 days or more. Drinking in pregnancy can lead to long-term harm to the baby, and the risk increases the more you drink. There are 2 main types of medicines to help people stop drinking.

While you are drinking

You have to know a person well enough to be able to notice these changes. If you know them personally, you can easily identify these behavioral signs. Alcoholics will show a gradual decline in appearance and mental health. These symptoms can be mild to severe, depending on how many drinks you had. According to the latest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), you must have two (2) symptoms to be diagnosed with an alcohol use disorder. In other cases, you might use alcohol to cope with problems or difficult times.

Very high concentrations of alcohol in the blood can cause breathing problems, coma, or death. AUD refers to what is colloquially known as alcoholism, which is a term that the DSM-5 no longer uses. The following list of medications are in some way related to or used in the treatment of this condition.

Psychological dependence

So you may find yourself drinking more as your alcoholism worsens. Alcohol use disorder (AUD), or alcoholism, is a chronic relapsing brain disease. You may like the effects of alcohol and want to keep drinking to keep experiencing symptoms of alcohol dependence those effects. Motivational interviewing is a counseling approach that aims to assist individuals in recognizing and addressing their current problems and encourages them to make positive changes in their behavior.

It can also lead to serious symptoms like seizures, fever, or hallucinations, and can be a medical emergency. Most addiction professionals agree that an at-home detox or “going cold turkey” is never advisable. The best practice would be to talk with an addiction counselor or mental health professional about safe options to detox from alcohol. Ultimately, sobriety is the responsibility of the person who has the alcohol addiction.

Physical symptoms of alcohol misuse

A doctor may diagnose alcohol dependence if you show two or more of the above symptoms based on the ongoing pattern of how you use alcohol. Usually this is based on behaviour over the last 12 months or more, but alcohol dependence could be diagnosed based on continuous daily (or almost daily) use of alcohol over a period of at least three months. As dependence gets more established, you might find you end up spending most of your time thinking about alcohol or engaging in activities necessary to obtain, consume, or recover from the effects of drinking. Being dependent on alcohol can also affect your relationships with your partner, family and friends, or affect your work and cause financial problems.

Or a doctor could prescribe drugs to assist with other emotions common in recovery. As an addiction tends to get worse over time, it’s important to look for early warning signs. If identified and treated early, someone with an alcohol addiction may be able to avoid major consequences of the disease. The severity of the disease, how often someone drinks, and the alcohol they consume varies from person to person. Some people drink heavily all day, while others binge drink and then stay sober for a while. It can cause changes to the brain and neurochemistry, so a person with an alcohol addiction may not be able to control their actions.

Taking regular breaks from alcohol is the best way to lower your risk of becoming dependent on it. Between 3 and 43 percent of alcoholics suffer from thrombocytopenia, a low level of platelets in the blood. Low platelet
counts affect the body’s ability to make clots to stop bleeding. Alcoholics often have defective red blood https://ecosoberhouse.com/ cells that die prematurely, which can cause a lower-than-normal red blood cell
count. Gastrointestinal bleeding, a symptom some alcoholics experience, can also cause anemia, as can iron deficiency. People who are addicted to alcohol may also show a deteriorating physical appearance from poor nutrition and personal neglect.