Alcoholism is a progressive disease.

by Ed Philips

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.”

Mental obsession? Did you ever wake up in the morning with a song playing over and over in your head? It might have been a commercial jingle you heard on television or a song from the radio, but it kept playing and playing and playing. Remember what that was like? No matter what you did, that silly tune kept on playing. You could try to whistle or sing another song or turn on the radio and listen to another tune, but the one in your head just kept on playing. Think about it. There was something going on in your mind that you didn’t put there and, no matter how hard you tried, couldn’t get it out!

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.

For someone who is alcoholic or alcohol dependent, the symptoms include all of those associated with alcohol abuse (above). But alcoholics also continue to drink in spite of all the problems it has caused in their lives.When alcohol abuse reaches the alcohol dependence stage, the person also experiences at least three of seven other symptoms, including neglect of other activities, excessive use of alcohol, impaired control of alcohol consumption, persistence of alcohol use, large amounts of time spent in alcohol-related activities, withdrawal symptoms and tolerance of alcohol.

No wonder denial is an almost universal symptom of the disease. For those who have come to the realization that they do have a problem, help may be as close as the white pages of the telephone directory. But for those who need help and do not want it, intervention may be the only alternative. However, if you have decided, for whatever reason, that you want to stop drinking, there is a world of help and support available. To get a better picture of where you are now, so that you can make an informed decision about how to proceed, perhaps the first person to talk with should be your family doctor.

For those who have committed themselves to not drinking again, or forced by circumstances to not have access to alcohol, the struggle to fight the withdrawal symptoms can become a dangerous battle, one that can actually become life threatening. For some, who are less chemically dependent, withdrawal symptoms might be as “mild” as merely getting the shakes, or the sweats — or perhaps nausea, headache, anxiety, a rapid heart beat, and increased blood pressure. Although these symptoms are uncomfortable and irritating, they are not necessarily dangerous. But they are often accompanied by the “craving” for more alcohol, making the decision to continue abstinence much more difficult to make.

Even the “morning after” hangover of someone who only occasionally drinks to excess, is actually a mild form of alcohol withdrawal from the excesses of the night before, as the alcohol content of their blood begins to drop. The symptoms can appear within a few hours after not drinking. However, within six to 48 hours after not drinking, hallucinations may develop. These usually are visual hallucinations but they can also involve sounds and smells. They can last for a few hours up to weeks at a time. Also within this time frame after quitting, convulsions or seizures can occur, which is the point at which alcohol withdrawal can become dangerous, if not medically treated. The symptoms may progress to delirium tremens (DT’s) after three to five days without alcohol. The symptoms of DT’s include profound confusion, disorientation, hallucinations, hyperactivity, and extreme cardiovascular disturbances.

About the Author:

Find out how to quit Drinking Alcohol by Ed Philips and Quit Alcohol Today.

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