Alcoholism Symptoms And Warning Signs

 

Alcohol Abuse Symptoms

Alcohol is legal but remains highly addictive and comes with many risks medically, psychologically, and generationally. What constitutes an alcohol use disorder and what are the signs of alcoholism? Becoming well-versed in addiction and mental health can provide you with the tools to help others who struggle personally with addiction. Alcohol use disorders are determined by many factors like how much the individual drinks, how often, and how much alcohol use gets in the way of the individual’s life and responsibilities or hobbies.

In many cases, signs of alcoholism may be hard to identify, but there are signs you can look out for if you know someone who is struggling with alcohol use.

 Signs of alcoholism include:

• Frequent blacking out from drinking
• Experiencing short term memory loss after a day/night of drinking
• Coming up with “good reasons” to drink
• Drinking despite ignoring job, home life, hobbies, etc.
• Individual may become withdrawn from close friends or family
• Individual may drink in secret or by themselves frequently
• Sick when not drinking, flu like symptoms
• Changes who they are and whom they hang out with to keep up with drinking

When it comes to adolescent drinking, there are many reasons why young adults choose to drink or party. Young adults are often pressured into drinking by other young adults and may feel like saying no would make them seem uncool or not worthy of friendship. Another reason adolescents drink is to help them cope with possible mental health or trauma they may be dealing with untreated. It’s important to talk to your children about addiction and the damage that can be done to their brains body and futures by underage drinking, especially binge drinking.

The Dangers of Alcohol Abuse

There are many risks to be aware of when drinking heavily, and these risks become heightened if you are pregnant, have a history of addiction, have recently had a stroke, have liver or pancreas damage, if you have a weak working heart or if you are on medications where you are supposed to avoid alcohol.

Heavy drinking or constant binge drinking can be permanently damaging to your brain and body and may cause brain damage over time.

This kind of drinking can bring on:

• Cancer of the mouth, breast, throat, esophagus, or liver
• Liver damage or pancreatitis
• Possible sudden death
• Heart failure or a bad heart
• Possible stroke
• High blood pressure
• Liver disease
• Depression and suicide
• Possible accidental death or injury
• Brain damage
• Fetal alcohol syndrome if drinking while pregnant
• Withdrawal symptoms

It should be known that moderate drinking can be safe, especially when doing good things for your mind and body. This includes eating a healthy diet, regular exercise, and drinking a good amount of water daily.

 

Continue reading here: Symptoms And Warning Signs