Ten Warning Signs of Alcoholism

Ten warning signs of alcoholism tell you the condition of those near and dear ones who may be suffering from alcoholism. Society has been suffering from the ill effects of alcoholism for quiet some time; even with all our modern technology we have not been able to rid the society of this addiction.

To help us diagnose an alcoholic there are ten warning signs of alcoholism, these give us a general idea of the signs and symptoms of a chronic alcoholic. The sign that sets an alcoholic apart from a social drinker is drinking in isolation, when one begins to drink alone it must be taken as a sign of alcoholism. Drinking alone indicates the need of the body for alcohol. It is a known fact that the amount of alcohol needed to bring on the desired effect of euphoria goes on increasing with its abuse.

The most important of the ten warning signs of alcoholism is lying about your drinking, guilt makes one lie about the amount of alcohol consumed. Since the next sign amongst the ten warning signs of alcoholism is increased consumption, lying and increased consumption go hand in hand. The alcoholic gets offended when questioned about his drinking; this is one of the common causes of anger and violence.

Then come some of the serious signs like consuming much more than your friends, needing a drink first thing in the morning and consuming more and more amounts of alcohol. When an addict needs a drink first thing in the morning his body is going into withdrawal unless he consumes alcohol after a specific time gap. This is a very serious sign of chronic alcoholism and needs immediate intervention to prevent further damage.

This is followed by those signs which can be dangerous to the addict like blackouts, drinking during or after work to cope with stress and fights or falls when drunk. Most cases of drunk driving mishaps happen when the person momentarily blacks out during driving or when his reaction time is greatly reduced. When reaction time is reduced the alcoholic cannot react fast to any situation causing accidents.

The last but most important sign is your loved ones telling you to cut down on your drinking; these are the most important people in your life. When they begin to suffer because of your drinking, life gets worse since domestic fights increase stress levels leading to more drinking. Emotional support from loved ones is very important at this stage; if there is hostility at home it drives the alcoholic towards the bottle for support.

When an alcoholic is suffering from even one of these ten signs he needs treatment, like detoxification and psychiatric help. Counselling is an important part of de-addiction treatment, support and understanding help an addict get over his need for alcohol.

Signs like blackouts can have dangerous consequences, like driving accidents and falls. Fights during the drunken state can land one behind bars, to avoid all these complications its best to recognise the ten waring signs of alcoholism on time and take action.