One of the difficulties in recognizing alcoholism as a disease is it
just plain doesn't seem like one. It doesn't look, sound, smell and it
certainly doesn't act like a disease. To make matters worse, generally
it denies it exists and resists treatment. Alcoholism has been
recognized for many years by professional medical organizations as a
primary, chronic, progressive and sometimes fatal disease. The National
Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence offers a detailed and
complete definition of alcoholism, but probably the simplest way to
describe it is "a mental obsession that causes a physical compulsion to
drink."
Early signs of alcoholism include frequent intoxication,
an established pattern of heavy drinking and drinking in dangerous
situations, such as when driving. Other early signs of alcoholism
include black-out drinking or a drastic change in demeanor while
drinking, such as consistently becoming angry or violent. The main
symptom of alcohol abuse occurs when someone continues to drink after
their drinking reaches a level that causes recurrent problems.
Continuing to drink after it causes someone to miss work, drive drunk,
shirk responsibilities or get in trouble with the law is considered
alcohol abuse.
If you don't get diagnosed by your physician, you
are more likely not to believe you have a disease, even if you admit
that you might over-indulge occasionally on alcohol. It's when you
begin to feel you cannot live without alcohol that you should realize
you have a problem. When heavy or frequent drinkers suddenly decide to
quit "cold turkey" they will experience some physical withdrawal
symptoms -- which can range from the mildly annoying to severe and even
life-threatening.
Compounding the problem is the progressive
nature of the disease. In its early stages, taking one or two drinks
may be all it takes to get the "song" to stop. But soon it takes six or
seven and later maybe ten or twelve. Somewhere down the road the only
time the song stops is when he passes out. The progression of the
disease is so subtle and usually takes place over such an extended
period of time, that even the alcoholic himself failed to notice the
point at which he lost control -- and alcohol took over -- his life.
Alcohol
withdrawal refers to a group of symptoms that may occur from suddenly
stopping the use of alcohol after chronic or prolonged ingestion.Not
everyone who stops drinking experiences withdrawal symptoms, but most
people who have been drinking for a long period of time, or drinking
frequently, or drink heavily when they do drink, will experience some
form of withdrawal symptoms if they stop drinking suddenly.
Sometimes
admitting to yourself and others that you need help can be one of the
most difficult steps to take on your road to recovery. In our society,
the myth prevails that an alcohol problem is somehow a sign of moral
weakness. "As a result, you may feel that to seek help is to admit some
type of shameful defect in yourself. In fact, however, alcoholism is a
disease that is no more a sign of weakness than is asthma or diabetes."
Some
of the psychological symptoms are: feelings of jumpiness or
nervousness; feelings of shakiness; anxiety; irritability or easily
excited; emotional volatility, rapid emotional changes; depression;
fatigue; difficulty with thinking clearly; having bad dreams. Some of
the physical symptoms are: headache - general, pulsating; sweating,
especially the palms of the hands or the face; nusea; vomiting; loss of
appetite; insomnia, sleeping difficulty; paleness; rapid heart rate
(palpitations); eyes, pupils different size (enlarged, dilated pupils);
clammy skin; abnormal movements; tremor of the hands; involuntary,
abnormal movements of the eyelids.
