The other day we talked about 5 signs and symptoms of alcohol abuse, a problem distinctly different from alcohol dependence, our topic for today. It’s difficult sometimes to distinguish between alcohol abuse and alcoholism because many of the signs and symptoms overlap. In some cases, it’s a question of severity, but for the most part, the symptoms of alcoholism are physical in nature while the symptoms of alcohol abuse are more social. Let me be more specific….

Symptom of Alcoholism #1: Physical Tolerance

Physical tolerance to alcohol is exactly what it sounds like: when your body requires more and more drinks to “feel” the alcohol. When you first started drinking, it may have only taken a few drinks to give you a buzz when you first started drinking but when you develop a tolerance, you may not even feel the first few drinks. It will take many more to feel inebriated.

Another physical aspect of alcoholism is the inability to stop drinking once you start. What begins with your solemn promise, “Just one drink and then I’m going home,” turns into you closing down the bar or finishing the bottle.

Yet another aspect of physical tolerance to alcohol is your ability to drink large amounts of alcohol without appearing intoxicated. Maybe those closest to you can note a change, but when matched drink for drink, your inebriation appears to be much less than those around you.

All of these show that your body is accustomed to having a certain amount of alcohol in the bloodstream most of the time. This can translate into something akin to withdrawal symptoms when you go without drinking for a day or two, much more severe than a hangover.

Symptom of Alcoholism #2: Cravings

Cravings may seem like a mental thing, but when alcoholism is present, they can be very physical indeed. The desire to drink can be so overwhelming that it seems to overtake your mind and body, so unable are you to think of or focus on anything else. If you have a regular drinking schedule and one of your regular drinking times passes without you indulging in an alcoholic beverage, then you may be overcome by cravings. For many alcoholics, this happens in the morning after they wake up from a night of drinking: they can’t function without a drink.

For others, it’s the ritual of drinking that they crave. When they smoke a cigarette or after they eat, their bodies are conditioned to expect a drink. Take alcohol out of the equation and they experience cravings or at the very least recognize that something is missing and become agitated. All of these are symptoms of alcoholism.

Symptom of Alcoholism #3: Loss of Motivation

Do you ever forget whole conversations or that you’ve agreed to do something or be somewhere at a certain time? Do you forget meeting people or certain things that happen? Did these agreements or events happen while you were drinking? This phenomenon is called a blackout and it happens to alcoholics on a regular basis.

In the same way, if you find that you are losing interest in the things you used to love, the people you used to hang out with or causes you used to care about, this disinterest and lack of motivation may be attributable to alcoholism if you are dependent upon the drug.

Alcohol Rehab: The Only Fix for Alcohol Dependency

The only good thing about alcoholism is that you can get treatment. It is a medical disease and The Canyon provides a comprehensive alcohol rehab that could be exactly what you’re looking for. Check it out!

As if alcoholism, liver failure and a wrecked home and work life weren’t enough reason to get help for issues with alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction, a new study is out saying that alcohol abuse can cause brain damage. It’s about deficiencies of thiamine and insulin and the genes required for brain cells to produce these chemicals. In fact, they compare the effects of chronic alcohol abuse with that of diabetes.

Alcohol Abuse and Insulin

Suzanne de la Monte is a professor of pathology/ neuropathology and clinical neuroscience at Rhode Island Hospital and the Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University. She says,

“Insulin is one of the most important hormones in the body. It has many functions, including regulation of metabolism. Cells throughout the body depend upon insulin just to stay alive and carry out ‘ordinary daily functions.’ The best known diseases associated with abnormalities in insulin’s availability or actions are Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.”

De la Monte says that it doesn’t matter whether you drink everyday or binge every so often; the effect of alcohol is the same:

“Alcohol is a toxin that clearly can injure or kill brain cells. Fortunately, alcohol has to pass through the gastrointestinal tract and liver where enzymes detoxify alcohol, and consequently reduce the levels that reach the brain. However, in either high concentrations, or at lower levels over a longer period of time, alcohol will dissolve some of the lipid in the cell’s membrane.”

Other Problems Caused by Alcohol Abuse

It’s no secret that chemical deficiencies and subsequent brain damage isn’t the only problem caused by alcohol abuse. Short-term effects can be even more devastating and include a tendency toward violence, car accidents, and a lifting of inhibitions that can end in any number of disastrous results.

But if you’re concerned that you or someone you love is suffering from dementia caused by long-term alcohol abuse, notify your doctor immediately. It’s never too late to get help for alcoholism.

Find out more about this study and others at Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research (ACER).

Like every drug, alcohol suffers under the weight of a number of unfounded myths and stories. Is it really true that if you mix beer and wine and spirits you’ll get more drunk than if you stick to one type of alcoholic beverage? Um, no. That’s a freebie. Here are five more myths about alcohol that we at The Canyon would like to debunk.

Myth About Alcohol and Alcoholism #1: Alcoholics Have No Will Power.

There seems to be this idea among those who don’t have problems with drugs and alcohol that if someone who suffers from addiction would just steel themselves against the impulse to imbibe or use that they would be just fine. As if all it takes to control the disease is a little “mind over matter,” a little will power.

If only that were true. Unfortunately, medical research shows that that just isn’t the case. Long-term drug and alcohol use alters the brain permanently. Your chemical makeup changes as it becomes dependent upon a substance to the point that your body becomes dependent upon a certain amount of the drug just to feel normal. If you don’t have enough alcohol in your bloodstream when you’re dependent upon it, your cravings are just as physical as they are mental and will power has nothing to do with it. The only way to stop drinking is to enter an alcohol rehab and undergo treatment.

Myth About Alcohol and Alcoholism #2: Weekend Binge Drinking Is Not Alcoholism.

A huge amount of the American population drinks only on the weekend, and a huge percentage of these people drink more than what is considered healthy and repeats this pattern each week. Despite the fact that you may forego alcohol during the week, weekend drinking in large amounts may add up to binge drinking, which is commonly referred to as alcohol abuse. This abuse may be rare and fleeting, it may be alcohol abuse, or it could be alcoholism. It depends upon your reason for drinking. If you use alcohol as a way to escape uncomfortable or sad feelings, then weekend binge drinking can be a precursor to weekday or daily drinking and physical dependence upon alcohol, the very definition of alcoholism.

Myth About Alcohol and Alcoholism #3: You Have To Be Drunk Constantly To Be An Alcoholic.

No, of course not. It’s difficult to be drunk all the time, especially if you are an alcoholic. When you develop a tolerance to alcohol, you need to drink more and more in order to even feel the effects of the drug. In fact, no one “holds their liquor” better than an alcoholic. They are the ones most likely to drink and drink and drink and not appear drunk at all.

Myth About Alcohol and Alcoholism #4: If I Have A Job, I Can’t Be An Alcoholic.

There is a term for this phenomenon and it is “functional alcoholic.” In fact, a number of alcoholics are products of the work place: the working lunch, the working dinner, in which alcohol plays a crucial part in sales and client relations. It’s a fine line and many who use alcohol to do what they need to do to excel at work soon find themselves at the mercy of the drug that they originally set out to manipulate. Others use alcohol as a way to cope with the hardships and high expectations of their jobs, and soon, the drug that once freed them from the stress of their work begins to cause even more of it, creating even more problems that they can’t control.

Myth About Alcohol and Alcoholism #5: If I Can Stop Drinking, I’m Not An Alcoholic.

If you’re even in a position to have this thought, chances are, you’re an alcoholic. Don’t let it get this far. Call The Canyon and get the help you need with a comprehensive alcohol rehab that addresses the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of alcoholism, giving you the tools you need to stay clean and sober when you return home.