Alcohol is one of the most misused substances in the world. This is partly because drinking alcohol is legal once a person is passed a certain age. Alcohol is also often misused because of how accessible it is. Regardless, you must remember that it’s still a drug. Therefore, constantly misusing alcohol can cause you to develop an alcohol addiction. There are numerous warning signs that a person may have an alcohol use disorder. Ten warning signs of alcoholism are given below.
1. You Unsuccessfully Tried to Stop Drinking
One clear warning sign of alcoholism is that you’ve tried to stop drinking but couldn’t. This is because people that suffer from alcohol use disorders feel that they need to drink alcohol to function. As a result, stopping drinking is extremely difficult. That’s why not being able to successfully stop drinking is one of the ten warning signs of alcoholism.
2. You Strongly Crave Alcohol
Part of suffering from an addiction is craving the substance that you’re addicted to. Thus, continuously having strong cravings for alcohol is a clear warning sign of alcoholism.
3. Your Tolerance for Alcohol Has Increased
Another one of the ten warning signs of alcoholism is that your tolerance for alcohol increases. By tolerance, we mean the amount of alcohol that you need to consume to start feeling its effects. As people start to drink more and more, their bodies start to get used to having a certain amount of alcohol in their systems.
As a result, the bodies and brains of people that drink often need larger amounts of alcohol to feel the same, euphoric drunk effects. This also means that the bodies and brains of people that drink often have a higher tolerance for alcohol than those that don’t drink often.
Because people’s tolerance for alcohol increases the more that they drink over time, it only makes sense that people that suffer from alcoholism have an extremely high alcohol tolerance. In fact, many alcoholics continue to drink more and more because their high alcohol tolerance makes them need more and more of the substance to feel any of its desired euphoric effects.
4. Your Alcohol Use Is Causing You to Exhibit Risky Behaviors
Drinking alcohol often makes people make more rash and irrational decisions. Thus, exhibiting sudden risky behaviors while also chronically drinking, is a sign that you may be an alcoholic.
An example of risky behavior that a person that suffers from alcoholism may exhibit is stealing from others to buy more alcohol. Other risky behaviors that people that suffer from alcoholism often exhibit include stealing alcohol itself, drinking alcohol while also using other substances, driving under the influence, and more.
The risky behaviors that a person exhibits while under the influence could have negative consequences that alter a person’s life forever. That’s why it’s so important to nip these risky behaviors in the bud by attending alcohol detox and addiction treatment.
5. You’re Lying About Your Drinking Habits
One of the common ten warning signs of alcoholism is lying about your drinking habits. Many people that suffer from alcoholism lie about their drinking habits because they subconsciously know that their drinking habits are alarming. People also often lie about their drinking habits because they don’t want to explain to their family members, friends, and co-workers why they are looking and behaving so recklessly.
Ultimately, people that suffer from alcoholism feel shame about their drinking habits. Thus, lying helps them avoid embarrassment while also making it easier for them to continue to abuse the substance.
6. You’re Experiencing Alcohol Use Side Effects
Chronically drinking alcohol takes a toll on the body and mind. Therefore, one of the ten warning signs of alcoholism is experiencing physical and psychological alcohol use side effects. The physical side effects of chronic alcohol use range from slurring your speech to experiencing fatigue, to experiencing severe heart and liver damage.
The severity of the alcohol use side effects that an alcoholic will experience will depend on the severity of his or her alcoholism. Thus individuals that suffer from severe alcohol use disorders are more likely to experience heart and liver damage than those that suffer from mild alcohol use disorders. An example of one of the psychological side effects of excessive alcohol use is having a poor memory.
7. You’re Experiencing Withdrawal Symptoms
All individuals that suffer from alcoholism are already physically dependent on alcohol. Therefore, anyone that suffers from alcoholism will experience withdrawal symptoms whenever he or she minimizes or discontinues his or her drinking habits.
Common alcohol withdrawal symptoms include the following:
- Anxiety
- Shaking
- Headaches
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Excessive sweating
- Insomnia
- Confusion
- High blood pressure
- Fever
- Racing heartbeat
8. You Stop Taking Part in Activities That You Once Enjoyed
Many people that suffer from alcoholism become so obsessed with drinking more alcohol. As a result, such individuals stop taking part in other hobbies and activities that they once enjoyed. Therefore, one of the warning signs of alcoholism is no longer participating in recreational activities.
9. Your Drinking Has Caused You to No Longer Take Care of Your Daily Responsibilities
Individuals that suffer from alcoholism will drink so much that they stop taking care of their responsibilities at home and at work. Thus, one of the ten warning signs of alcoholism is no longer taking care of daily work and home responsibilities.
10. You Continue to Drink Despite It Causing You Problems in Life
People that suffer from alcoholism have a hard time stopping drinking. This is true even when drinking has already had negative effects on those people’s lives. Therefore, a major warning sign of alcoholism is continuing to drink even though drinking alcohol has already caused issues in one’s life.
The Importance of Noticing the Warning Signs of Alcoholism Early
There are many other warning signs of alcoholism, although these are ten of the more common ones. Because of how addictive alcohol is and how severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms can be, it’s important to pick up on the warning signs of alcoholism as soon as possible.
If a person doesn’t pick up on the warning signs of alcoholism early, the person’s alcohol use disorder will get more and more severe. This means that it will take more time in alcohol detox and rehab to overcome an alcohol addiction.
Overcome Alcoholism Here At Grace Land Recovery
Grace Land Recovery is a dual diagnosis treatment center that has numerous addiction treatment and dual diagnosis treatment programs specialized by substance. One of the top substances that we here at Grace Land Recovery offer specialized addiction treatment and dual diagnosis treatment programs for is alcohol. Therefore individuals that notice the warning signs of alcoholism and are looking to attend addiction treatment can easily overcome their alcohol use disorders with us.
Other substances that we here at Grace Land Recovery provide specialized addiction and dual diagnosis treatment programs for include heroin, opiates, benzodiazepines, cocaine, prescription drugs, and more.
All of the addiction treatment programs here at Grace Land Recovery contain numerous addiction therapies. These addiction therapies can help people overcome alcoholism and many other substance addictions.
Some of the addiction therapies that we offer here at Grace Land Recovery include individual, group, and family therapies. We also offer cognitive-behavioral therapy, trauma therapy, anger management therapy, and rational emotive behavior therapy.
We here at Grace Land Recovery even offer relapse prevention and case management services for addiction treatment patients that need them. On top of that, we offer numerous, unique clinical schedule groups that our addiction treatment patients can use to better prepare them for recovery. Some of these clinical schedule groups include ones on nutrition, emotion regulation, spirituality, and even HIV education. Thus, there is no reason why individuals should leave our rehab facility without achieving recovery first.
Get In Touch With Grace Land Recovery
To learn more about Grace Land Recovery and the different addiction treatment programs and therapies that we offer, contact us anytime. Our phone lines are available 24/7. You can also visit our offices anytime Monday-Friday, from 9 am-5 pm. We would love nothing more than to help you overcome your alcohol or drug addiction once and for all.