Symptoms Of Alcoholism: Important Warning Signs

The symptoms of alcoholism can be staring you right in the face and yet you are not able to perceive them. This may be because of self denial or just a lack of information as to what these symptoms are. It is important to take note of these warning signs not only for self evaluation but more importantly to be able to help friends and family members detect serious problems before they get worse.

Of course, there are drug and alcohol tests that one can undergo to determine if he is indeed suffering from alcohol addiction and thus requires medication or other treatment. The earlier alcohol addiction is detected, the more chance you have of treating the root cause of the problem.

No person would want to believe that he is susceptible to becoming an alcoholic, believing that only bums can become one. However, take a look at the statistics and you will realize that many of those suffering from alcohol addiction are white collar people who are successful in their careers and have good family backgrounds

The fact that you drink alcohol socially already makes you a candidate for possible alcoholism. Add to this some other factors like genetics and your chances of becoming an alcoholic greatly increase.

The symptoms of alcoholism is hard to detect at first because it starts with social drinking, self denial and then to addiction. You start drinking because you enjoy it but when you continue drinking because you must, then you are looking at the first stages of the problem.

Here are a few warning signs of alcoholism, some of which can be easily detected and some which can take years to be discovered:

  • Heavy drinking history - a person who started drinking as an adolescent and then goes on to become a drinking adult is an example of a person who may have the symptoms of becoming an alcoholic if he is not one already.
  • Loss of control - it usually starts with one glass but if that is multiplied then there is a problem. This person can go on without alcoholic for quite sometime but when he drinks, it’s really bottoms up and he does not have any control over it.
  • Failure to remember events while intoxicated - a person who could not remember anything that has happened while he is drunk may be facing a greater problem.
  • Self denial - a person who denies, even to himself, that he has a drinking problem is possibly on his way to becoming an alcoholic
  • Being quarrelsome when confronted about drinking
  • Driving under the influence of alcohol - is already a dangerous sign which should be remedied.
  • Solitary drinking - drinking is usually a group activity to loosen up or relax but when you start to enjoy drinking alone you may have a problem.

The symptoms of alcoholism sometimes go undetected until the person has an accident or has severely damaged his health resulting in serious medical problems. Among the more serious symptoms are liver disease, fetal alcohol syndrome (results when a pregnant woman has too much alcohol intake), sexual dysfunction, increased blood pressure and heart problems.

It is imperative that friends and family members act decisively when these symptoms of alcoholism are detected to avoid serious problems later on which can even lead to death due to illness or an accident. A person who is a chronic alcoholic is faced with an uncontrollable disease and he needs the support of close family members before it is too late.

Alcoholism Treatment