Signs of Alcoholism

Signs of Alcoholism:
1. Craving for alcohol
2. Loss of control over the dose of alcohol
3. No vomiting (vomiting is a protective reflex that protects the body from poison)
4. Increased tolerance to alcohol
5. Regular drinking

The first sign of alcoholism is a craving for alcohol

Drinkers usually say: a craving for alcohol has appeared. Drinkers often deny this first sign of alcoholism, they claim that they drink like everyone else on holidays, with friends, during severe stress, to relieve fatigue. Craving for alcohol is the earliest and most persistent sign of alcoholism (the foundation of the disease). Craving for alcohol can be identified by the following signs:
1. A large number of reasons for drinking alcohol. All alcoholics start out in roughly the same way and according to this pattern: at first, a person drank in a circle of friends and only on big holidays after persistent persuasion, then he did not need to be persuaded, he drank like all his alcoholic friends, and then he became the initiator of all sorts of festivities. The reasons can be different: the end of the work week, the first salary, an advance, to relax, a business trip, etc. Gradually, his social circle changes, new people appear among his friends and these people, as a rule, like to drink (replacing non-drinking friends with drinking ones). At home, supplies of alcohol gradually appear, motivating this by the fact that friends can unexpectedly come and you need to treat them with something. A person can no longer imagine communicating with friends without alcohol. To the question of why he drinks, there can be several answers: “it is necessary”, “I need to treat”, “it is inconvenient to refuse”, “tradition”, such reasons become more and more. A person increasingly strives for a state of intoxication, but camouflages it with the above-mentioned reasons.
2. Change in behavior in anticipation of a drink. A drinking person noticeably becomes more cheerful, livens up, starts to fuss, tries to finish things quickly in order to sit down at the table and drink. All his actions show that he is in anticipation.
3. A positive attitude towards everything related to drinking alcohol. A drinking person jealously protects his drinking friends. He does not consider his alcoholic friends to be alcoholics, but on the contrary, finds many positive qualities, which explain why he is friends with them. Drunkenness is assessed only from the positive side, and everything that hinders drunkenness is assessed from the negative side. A drinking person does not like talking with his family about his regular drunkenness, and he firmly defends his right to drink. He often makes a scandal when his wife reproaches him.
4. Psychological and physical comfort in a state of intoxication. It is in a state of alcoholic intoxication, and not in a sober state, that a drinker feels comfortable.
5. The emergence of a system of excuses for one's own drunkenness. The following statements are given as evidence of the benefits of alcohol: doctors recommend alcohol in small doses, alcohol relieves fatigue and emotional stress, alcohol increases performance, etc. Such a person cannot be convinced that alcohol does more harm than good, and this benefit is questionable. An alcoholic will hear only good things about alcohol, rejecting bad reviews about alcohol, and he tries to convince others of this.
6. Restructuring of life values ??and moral principles. Everything that contributes to drinking is assessed only positively, and what hinders is assessed sharply negatively. Work, family, children, family responsibilities - interfere with drinking and become a burden.
7. Lack of criticism of one's condition. Most alcoholics do not consider themselves alcoholics. They do not agree that drunkenness has changed their lifestyle for the worse.

A person does not realize the above signs of craving for alcohol, and does not admit them in conversations with relatives or doctors.

The second main sign of alcoholism is the loss of control over the dose of alcohol.

This sign of alcoholzmaoccurs at the initial stage, but is present throughout the disease. This sign of alcoholism implies the difficulty or impossibility for an alcoholic to stop at small doses of alcohol, an alcoholic cannot consciously limit alcohol intake. If he starts drinking, then only to the point of losing consciousness. Before drinking, such people solemnly promise their relatives that they will not get drunk, but as soon as he drinks a certain dose of alcohol, he forgets about his promises and loses control over drinking. Loss of control over the dose is caused by the following reasons:
1.         The drinker's dissatisfaction with the degree of his intoxication. Alcoholics always try to achieve (consciously or unconsciously) the desired degree of intoxication.
2.         All drinkers know that a dose of alcohol acts for a certain time and in order to maintain the level of intoxication, you have to drink more often. An alcoholic is not interested in wine, the strength of the alcoholic drink is much more important to him.
3.         When intoxicated, an irresistible craving arises, which the alcoholic is unable to cope with. As a rule, it occurs after a certain dose of alcohol, each person has their own. Most alcoholics claim that they "know their dose", but as soon as they take up a glass, they immediately get drunk.

The third sign of alcoholism is the absence of vomiting (loss of a protective reflex)

Loss of a protective reflex is an objective sign of alcoholism. What is a gag reflex? The body has its own protective reflex for any toxic effect, and for the entry of poison into the human body through the gastrointestinal tract, there is a reflex and this is vomiting. At first, the body actively tries to remove the poison from the body and while the defense mechanism is active, it protects it. However, the more often a person gets drunk, the weaker the protective reflex will be, and after some time it will stop being triggered altogether. After this, an alcoholic can drink himself to death, but he will not vomit. As soon as the gag reflex disappears, you can safely diagnose alcoholism.
The presence of a protective - vomiting reaction is typical for everyday drunkenness and shows the limit of alcohol tolerance - that is, the maximum dose of alcohol that is excessive, poisonous to the body.

The fourth sign of alcoholism is an increase in immunity.

You may have noticed how drinkers boast that they can drink 0.5 and 1 liter of vodka per person. Some of them think that this indicates good health, a strong liver, etc., but this is not true. The more often a person begins to drink alcohol, the more it is required to get drunk (it is the same with drugs). An increase in the dose of alcohol (compared to the initial one) by 3-5 times indicates a transition from a state of everyday drunkenness to the initial stage of alcoholism.

The fifth sign of alcoholism is regular drinking.

Alcoholism is characterized by systematic alcohol consumption. For the first stage of alcoholism - this is once a week, for subsequent stages even more often. In the first stage of alcoholism, short breaks in alcohol consumption are possible due to control by relatives, lack of money and other reasons. If a person continues to drink alcohol regularly - this indicates that serious changes have occurred in his body of a drinking person.

These are signs of alcoholism, if you or your friends fall under one of the above-listed signs, then it's time to sound the alarm. And remember that, according to American doctors, alcohol is a drug, it is among the 20 most dangerous drugs and occupies an honorable 5th place.