How To Stop Drinking Alcohol : Alcohol Addiction
If you're having problems with alcohol,
it's time to treat your addiction.
Alcohol addiction is one of the most difficult addictions to master. It causes physical dependence which negatively affects many parts of the body and mood-like the central nervous system, liver, and heart. There is no quick fix for when you've been drinking too much for too long. alcohol addiction can be destructive in a sense that it can cause depression, anxiety, guilt/shame feelings with negative consequences like suicidal thoughts or even death from an accident or overdose from mixing drugs with alcohol. Depending on how severe the addiction, it can be fatal. Overdose is common for alcohol and even someone who has the smallest amount of alcohol consumption can experience this. As an alcoholic, you will have a lot of struggles and a lot to look forward to if you do decide to get help with your addiction. Here are a few signs that you have an alcohol addiction:
1- You become blackout after drinking, even if it's one or two drinks. Sometimes this will cause you to be fine until the next morning, but other times you will not remember anything from the previous night.
2- You feel like life is passing by and not very important when you're drinking. Drinking is just one of your favorite things to do. You have a hard time disconnecting from your addiction and when you do stop drinking, it causes very strong cravings to drink more.
3- You can't seem to be honest with people about how much you're actually drinking. When people ask if you've been drinking and you haven't, you get in an awkward situation where it's hard for you to tell the truth about what happens when you drink because of the guilt.
4- People start seeing changes in your moods. Maybe it goes up or down depending on how much alcohol is consumed.
5- You start to feel very anxious, depressed, or guilty if you don't drink. This is a sign that you have a mental addiction to alcohol.
6- You start to drink harder beverages such as liquor and wine instead of beer because you're looking for something that will give you a quicker buzz. If you do drink beer, it's hard for you to stop once you've started drinking because of the state of mind that it puts your body in.
7- People close to you have starting talking about your drinking and how they're worried about what might happen if they don't get help.
8- Your health has started to suffer because of how much you're drinking. You may notice that you have more insomnia, waking up in sweats, irritability, nausea/vomiting, trouble breathing, loss of appetite and extreme fatigue.
9- You spend most of your time drinking alone or with other alcoholics even though you know it's unhealthy for you. If a lot of your friends are also drinking a lot and there's a lot of pressure placed on them when they consume alcohol too much because there is an expectation they will participate in binge drinking.
10- There are times that you're hiding alcohol around the house or maybe even throwing up if you've consumed too much to avoid getting caught by people close to you.
11- You have blacked out from drinking and woken up in an unfamiliar place not knowing how you got there.
12- You want to stop drinking but every time you try, it's harder for you to stop as soon as the previous time.
13- When you don't drink, you always think about when you will be able to drink again or what you're going to do when your next opportunity comes around.
14- You have a hard time feeling normal without alcohol.
15- You start to blame yourself for how much you drink because you're an alcoholic and alcohol is taking over.
16- If you're always in a depressed state, this might be your alcoholism. You'll always act sad or down and won't understand why until it's too late.
17- You've gotten really good at lying to people when they ask how much you drank or if you've been drinking. You know that if they ask the truth, it will cause them a lot of problems with the consequences of your actions.
18- Your relationships are starting to suffer because of how much time has been spent drinking. You think that people might leave you because of how you act when not drinking. You can't imagine having a normal relationship with someone, but if it's only alcohol or a drink that gets you through the day, how much is enough?
19- Your family has had to put a lock on your alcohol cabinet, and they've even taken out your car keys because they want to make sure that they don't find any alcohol.
20- You're spending over one hundred dollars on alcohol each week, and the only thing you spend the extra money on is other forms of chemically-based drugs. How much is too much? Only time will tell if this line will become clearer.
If you're experiencing any of these issues, it's time you realize that your alcoholism is a problem. You will have to be able to cut back on your alcohol consumption and not just quit cold turkey. If you're suffering from suicidal thoughts or if you feel like your addiction is becoming too hard to handle, please call the sober helpline at 1-866-294-9756
This is a free hotline and they can help you with anything that has to do with your addiction. They are available 24 hours a day and will always be there for anyone that needs them.
If you're looking for help with your addiction, please check out these lines to find out more about how you can get to the lowest point of your addiction before it takes over your life. Call one of them so that you can make the change for good.
(1) http://www.addictionhelpline.com (2) https://www.addictionhelpline.com/alcohol-is-the-biggest-addiction-in-the-world (3) http://www.findtreatmenthelpnow.org/alcoholism/what-is-alcoholism#comment_20904 (4) https://www1.samhsa.gov/atod/overview-alcohol-use-disorders (5) http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/understanding-alcoholism (6) http://theconversation.com/the-inevitable-rise-of-personalized-pipe (7) http://www.helpguide.org/articles/addictions/alcoholism.htm (8) http://www.samhsa.gov/atodweb#UnderstandingUnderlyingCauses (9) https://medlineplus.gov/teenhealth/.about_suicide_prevention_and_education.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are a lot of signs that can alert you to the fact that you have a problem with alcohol. Even though you might be thinking you're a functioning alcoholic and not one of them, this article is written for those who think that they don't fit into the category. It's important for everyone to realize that there are other forms of addiction besides alcohol addiction and even though this article is very brief, it does give insight into the different signs of alcoholism.
If you believe your drinking has become too much, please reach out to someone who can give you advice on how to get your drinking under control as soon as possible because alcoholism is a very dangerous thing and if left untreated, it can lead to death.