Alcohol Addiction or Alcohol Dependence Disorder
What Is Alcohol Use Disorder?
Alcohol use disorder is a Psychiatric or clinical problem in which a person can’t stop or control your drinking even it’s hurting social life, professional life, or physical/ mental health.
It is also known as alcoholism, In alcohol addiction, one has lost control of drinking.
Symptoms and signs of alcoholism or Alcohol addiction
– An urge or craving to drink alcohol
– Poor control over the amount of alcohol intake
– Sometimes alcohol intake in risky situations
– Alcohol intake starts interfering in previously enjoyable activities
– The patient keeps Continue to drink even it causes problems or makes them worse
– The patient stops important activities of daily life or doing them less often due to over-involvement in alcohol
– The patient can’t relax or feel difficulty in sleeping without alcohol.
– The patient starts alcohol intake during day time, or in the morning also.
– The patient starts ignoring/ avoiding/ postponing his social/ family responsibilities.
– Alcohol serves as your escape from the stress of life.
– Alcohol becomes a bigger problem if one drives a vehicle after drinking.
For female patients, alcohol becomes a major problem when they drink during pregnancy or caring for children.
Alcohol becomes a family problem when caregiver family members ask how much you drink, and the patient doesn’t tell the truth or the patient becomes irritable, argumentative.
The patient becomes irritable, angry or the patient may hit caregivers after taking alcohol. Sometimes patient forgets his abnormal/ aggressive behavior what he did during alcohol intoxication.
Sometimes alcohol addiction causes legal problems.
– Patient tries to stop Alcohol intake but fails to do so.
– Patient thinks about alcohol drinking, he makes plans to drink. Patient tries to find reasons to drink.
– Patient increases the amount of alcohol to feel the same effects of alcohol. So over the time patients increase the dose of alcohol to feel the same pleasure from alcohol addiction.
Patients feel withdrawal symptoms of alcohol. Withdrawal symptoms occur when a patient stops alcohol suddenly after taking it for a long time. Patients complaint about tremors, shakiness, nausea, vomiting, difficulty in sleeping, seizures, out of control, nervousness.
Alcohol addiction Effects
Memory loss, heaviness in head, Blackouts, gastric problems, Heart problems, Cancer, dementia, Pancreatitis, High blood pressure, Liver Cirrhosis, road traffic accidents, Suicide, Drowning
Alcohol addiction affects people around the patient too. Alcohol drinking may harm relationships with loved ones because of anger problems, violence, neglect, and abuse.
Alcohol addiction Causes and Risk Factors
Low self-esteem, Trying to cope with emotional stress, Peer pressure, Easy access to alcohol, Physical or sexual abuse, A family history of alcohol addiction
Treatment of alcohol addiction:
Treatment of alcohol addiction can be given on OPD basis and hospital admission as well.
Treatment of alcohol addiction includes:
1. Medical help: useful to control withdrawal symptoms, to control urge or craving. Medicines are helpful in counteracting the side effects of alcohol addiction in the body. Medicines also help in controlling behavioral problems due to alcohol addiction.
2. Counseling and psychotherapy
