Recognising the Early Signs of Alcohol Addiction

According to the doctors and the American Medical Association, two drinks for men and one drink for women in a day are good for health, but too many drinks make you addicted to alcohol. The number of cases of Alcohol Addiction increases day by day in the world. According to the World Health Organisation, 400 million people in the world have Alcohol Use Disorder, 209 million live with alcohol dependence, and 3 million die each year due to alcohol misuse, like road accidents and organ failure. Due to too much alcohol, people also face dangerous mental and physical problems that affect their personal life and also affect their relationships with family and their loved ones. In many cases, alcohol addiction is the main reason for breaking relationships or divorce. In this blog, we discuss in detail what alcohol addiction is, the symptoms of alcohol addiction, precautions, and treatment.

Understanding Alcohol Addiction

Alcohol use disorder means knowing how, sometimes casual drinking can slowly turn into a serious problem in the early stages. It happens when a person loses control over their drinking. Early sign of this problem, you have a strong craving and need for alcohol, and you are unable to control this situation, and most of the time you spend drinking alcohol, and every time you make failed attempts to leave and limit alcohol use, your body becomes dependent on alcohol, and you may feel sick or anxious without it. This addiction can affect the brain and lead to problems like sudden mood changes and low concentration on things.

Early Alcohol Misuse

An early alcohol misuse happens when young people start drinking before they are mature enough to handle it. Sometimes these may begin out of curiosity and to fit in with friends, but after some time, it can quickly turn into an addiction. At an early age drinking alcohol can harm the brain and affect learning skills, and make it harder to make decisions. It may also cause trouble in school, health issues, and emotional problems. Over time, it can lead to strong dependence or addiction.
Warning signs of alcohol addiction include changes in behaviour, secret drinking, and losing interest in normal activities.

Why Early Detection Matters

Early detection is the basic step to identifying the condition for the treatment of Alcohol addiction or Alcohol Use Disorder and any type of disease. It identifies the stage in the early or final stages. In the early stages, the cost of the treatment is low, and if you detect the stages in the final stages, the cost is high, or sometimes there is a low chance of improvement. It helps to decide what the right treatment is for you and what the following procedure is that you follow. It decides the cost of the treatment by examining the condition.

Common Early Signs of Alcohol Addiction

Check the symptoms of alcohol dependence here. There are some behavioural and physical signs of alcohol addiction. The following signs of alcohol addiction are:

Behavioral Signs of Alcohol Addiction

Signs of alcohol addiction in the early stages by behaviour, there are some behavioural signs to diagnose alcohol addiction: feeling fearful, anxious, or paranoid, with no reason, lack of motivation, spaced out, nervousness, irritability, and personality change.

Emotional & Psychological Signs

The toxic properties of alcohol affect your brain, and sometimes it leads to negative changes in Emotions and psychology.
Here are the Emotional & Psychological Signs of alcohol addiction:
Anger, Depression, Negative feelings, Sudden mood changes, Anxiety, Panic disorder, and Impulsive behavior.

Physical Signs of Alcohol Addiction

If you want to detect alcohol addiction in the early stages, there are some physical signs to check for alcohol addiction: the skin, organs, headache, and numbness in the feet or hands.
Here are some more physical signs:

Skin: Extreme alcohol consumption damages or weakens your immune system, and you may experience some skin diseases, like rashes on your skin and itching.Sometimes your skin tone changes due to extreme alcoholism, for example if you skin tone is yellow, it is the sign jaundice, and jaundice is a sign of a liver-related problem. You can also detect it by the redness on the face.

Organs: Extreme alcoholism always affects your liver and stomach. Signs of liver & stomach-related issues in the early stages, symptoms like jaundice, spider-like blood vessels, swelling in the legs and ankles, abdominal pain or swelling, and gaseous stomach, feel uncomfortable after eating, and burning stomach pain.

Hand or feet: one of the signs of extreme alcoholism is the numbness in the hands and feet, and shaking hands, because of the toxic properties of the alcohol.

How to Support a Loved One

If someone close to you is struggling with alcohol addiction, so you will be patient and kind with them, and avoid judging and blaming that person, and give some support to leave this problem. You have to listen and encourage them and talk to them about their feelings and offer help by suggesting they see a doctor or counsellor. Celebrating his each and every small step toward recovery.The most important thing is to stay supportive even if progress is slow.

Suggestions & Tips to leave that problem:

• Always think positively
• Make a schedule for a daily routine
• Wake and sleep on time
• Do exercise & yoga
• Read books to busy your mind

How to Treat Alcoholism

The treatment of alcohol addiction always depends on the case being treated. If you have early signs of alcohol addiction, following the medication treatment is different, and you recover faster. If you have the worst symptoms, your medication treatment and dosage are different, and sometimes recovery is slow. If your condition is abnormal, then your healthcare provider may recommend other medical treatment or rehabilitation to prevent alcohol relapse.
Other treatments for alcohol addiction that doctors may suggest are:

• Counseling: Group counseling
• Therapy treatment: Cognitive behavioral therapy
• Medication: Acamprosate and Naltrexone
• Healthy habits: Exercise, good food, and staying busy can also help in the healing process

Conclusion

The conclusion is that alcohol addiction is tough, but recovery is always possible. The most important and first thing is understanding the early-stage symptoms and being patient in this recovery journey. The right treatment and therapy can help a person recover quickly. And with determination, anyone can overcome alcoholism and build a happier and healthier future.
On this journey, having strong support from family & friends builds inner confidence. But everything depends on your discipline & dedication.