Alcoholism signs – do you know ten warning signs of alcoholism? Understanding alcoholism signs can help you determine whether there is alcohol abuse or dependency.
Consuming one or two drinks per day for healthy men and one drink a day for healthy non-pregnant women is generally considered acceptable consumption without health risks. However, as the amount of drinking per occasion or per week increases, one or more of the ten warning signs of alcoholism can develop as a result.
In the USA alone, as many as 12-14 million adults are chronic heavy drinkers who abuse alcohol or are alcoholics.
What is considered ‘heavy drinking’?
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, drinking more than the amounts shown below would be considered heavy drinking:
• 1- For healthy men under age 65, consuming no more than four drinks a day nor more than fourteen drinks a week.
• 2- For healthy women under age 65 or healthy men over age 65, consuming no more than three drinks a day nor more than twelve drinks a week.
What are ten warning signs of alcoholism? Here are alcoholism signs that are listed in no special order:
1. Drinking alone
2. Making excuses, finding excuses to drink
3. Daily or frequent drinking needed to function
4. Inability to reduce or stop alcohol intake
5. Violent episodes associated with drinking
6. Drinking secretly
7. Becoming angry when confronted about drinking
8. Poor eating habits
9. Failure to care for physical appearance
10. Trembling in the morning
Additional alcoholism signs can include inability to remember some of the events of the previous evening or feeling anxious in a social situation where there is no alcohol. As you may know, it can be called ‘problem drinking’ when it becomes ‘drinking that causes problems’.
Does heavy chronic drinking have health consequences? Absolutely. Chronic heavy drinking can result in serious damage to the liver, heart, brain and other vital organs. Such severe physical damage may result in serious illnesses or even early death. Knowing alcoholism signs is important to help oneself or others with a drinking problem.
If the above ten warning signs of alcoholism create an interest in exploring possible alcohol addiction, consider contacting your physician, counselor or other qualified professional.
Another time-tested source of help would be contacting Alcoholics Anonymous. AA has local groups that meet regularly throughout the USA and many other countries around the world.
No matter how many alcoholism signs may exist, it is never too late to begin recovery from alcohol addiction. Whether it is one, two or more of the ten warning signs of alcoholism – help is available. Obviously, the sooner one begins the recovery process, the better.
Recommended books for alcoholism signs
Seven Weeks to Sobriety: The Proven Program to Fight Alcoholism through Nutrition by Joan Mathews Larsen.
This book on recovery covers much of what is missing in traditional approaches to alcoholic rehabilitation.
This alcoholism book can save lives. Read and learn how to break your addiction to alcohol and end your cravings and do it under your own power – alcoholism signs.
Here is a step-by-step seven-week program developed by Dr. Joan Matthews Larson at the Health Recovery Center in Minneapolis, that subdues your body’s addictive chemistry and puts you on the path to full recovery.
Related alcoholism signs articles…
Here are additional alcoholism facts.
The three stages of alcoholism.
Alcoholism signs and symptoms.
Alcohol and health effects of alcohol on the body.
Short term physical effects of alcohol.
Which alcoholism physical symptom can indicate alcohol abuse?
Search for an alcohol abuse treatment center near you.
I self medicate with alcohol. I suffer from anxiety and have suffered from depression. although I am not depressed at the moment. I am a CNA at a Memory Care facility and my anxiety levels have shot through the roof. My children are also quarantined with their father because they hadn’t seen him for 6 months. He is a concert artist and all his concerts were cancelled due to Covid-19. I have physical custody of our 2 boys but he is using the Pandemic to keep them up in the mountains, not pay child support and the boys want to live with their father until school starts again. Btw, we had a very nasty divorce in which I had to get a restraining order against him and he left us destitute for a year and a half.
My stress level is at an all time high and I drink to calm myself and escape. I have a drinking problem and am considering attending AA on Zoom and seeing a therapist which I never could afford or had the opportunity when I went through my divorce. I instead got a therapist for my boys because they have Medicaid and it was covered. Fortunately I have a very supportive sister who insists that I see a therapist and she wants to pay for it.
I certainly need help because I see myself loosing my kids, my health and any kind of balance. Going right back into depression.
Dear Josefina,
Thank you for visiting our website and sharing your journey with us and other visitors. I wholeheartedly agree with you and your wonderful supportive sister that professional help begin as soon as you can. Many of us have struggled with alcohol addiction and related issues and firmly believe you are on the right path toward a successful recovery. We wish you all the best as you begin to move forward with your life – you are most deserving!