Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: Signs, Symptoms, and Diagnosis

Rather, it is the result of a complex group of genetic, psychological, and environmental factors. Treatment may include medical detox, medications, supportive care, and counseling to help you stop alcohol use. If you are experiencing alcohol use disorder, help is available.

Alcohol & Your Health

People who have progressed to the more advanced stages of alcoholism are typically treated intensively, using a combination of the medical, individual, and familial interventions already described. Alcohol abuse, now included in the diagnosis of an alcohol use disorder (AUD), is a disease. While many have described this disorder as dipsomania, the latter term more accurately describes the intense craving that can be a symptom of alcohol use disorder.

What Are the Early Signs and Symptoms of Alcohol Misuse?

• In most places, it’s legal and socially acceptable for an adult to enjoy an alcoholic drink.
• Behavioral therapy helps individuals identify triggers, change negative thought patterns, and develop coping strategies for long-term sobriety.
• According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), moderate drinking is typically defined as two drinks or fewer for men per day, or one drink or less for women.
• It also includes binge drinking — a pattern of drinking where a male has five or more drinks within two hours or a female has at least four drinks within two hours.

Use alcohol chronic ethanol use misuse instead of alcohol abuse when referring broadly to drinking in a manner, situation, amount, or frequency that could cause harm to the person who is engaging in drinking or to those around them. Individuals who are codependent are at risk for engaging in addictive behaviors, including alcoholism, drug or sexual addiction, as well as eating disorders or self-destructive or other self-defeating behaviors. Psychotherapy and participation in support groups are the usual treatments for codependency.

What are signs of alcohol use disorder?

If you would like to reduce your alcohol use but aren’t sure where to get started, it’s best to talk with a healthcare professional. Engaging in heavy, habitual alcohol use may make withdrawal symptoms likely if you stop suddenly. A doctor can help assess your situation and recommend treatment to reduce these symptoms. Heavy alcohol use can disturb the endocrine alcoholism treatment system, disrupting the hormones that help maintain the body’s stability and health. There is also evidence that alcohol can disrupt or delay puberty.

• Surrogate and illegally produced alcohols can bring an extra health risk from toxic contaminants.
• Failed attempts to cut down and frequent binge drinking, defined as five or more drinks for men or four or more for women within two hours, signal potential misuse.
• If you’re considering detoxification from alcohol at home, it’s important to understand the risks and strategies for doing it safely.
• How alcohol misuse is treated depends on how much alcohol a person is drinking.

For anywhere from 2 days to a week, a doctor keeps a close eye on you while alcohol fully leaves your system. Because you could have withdrawal symptoms, medication that makes you sleep a lot is often part of detox. If your doctor thinks you need more support to stop drinking, they’ll likely refer you to a mental health provider, such as a counselor or therapist. If you’ve had two or three of those symptoms in the past year, that’s a mild alcohol use disorder. Treatment used to be limited to self-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous (established in 1935).

Alcohol use disorder includes a level of drinking that’s sometimes called alcoholism. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that primary care providers and health systems use alcohol screening and brief intervention (SBI). Clinicians can use SBI to identify adults who drink excessively and offer behavioral counseling to those who need it. Dealing with a loved one’s alcohol abuse or alcoholism can be painful and challenging for the whole family, but there is help available.