Alcoholism is defined as a chronic disease, when the body loses tolerance to the alcohol and becomes addicted to it. An alcoholic does not have control over his/her drinking and he/she is unable to control how much and when he/she drinks. Furthermore, an alcoholic continues to drink even though he/she is completely aware that it causes many problems for the health, for the good judgment and for relationships with other people.
Some people have problems with alcohol but they do not experience all the symptoms that are characteristic for alcoholism. These people are not entirely addicted to alcohol but they drink too much. This condition is called alcohol abuse. However, the people who are alcoholics and those who abuse alcohol have the problems to quit consuming alcohols and they are unable to do that alone without a professional help.
An alcoholic craves for alcohol as much as he/she craves for food or water. Excessive consummation of alcohol causes many damages to the vital organs in the body and in severe cases, an alcoholic may even die.
Diagnosing alcoholism
An alcoholic should seek a professional help alone. When he/she goes to see a doctor, a screening test will be ordered in order to diagnose the disease. The main symptoms of alcoholism (such as memory loss, dyspepsia and general feeling of weakness and fatigue) are the symptoms of several body ailments and because of that, the screening test is necessary for diagnosing accurately this condition. When an alcoholic does not drink for a certain time, he/she will start to show some withdrawal symptoms like sickness, headaches and uneasiness.
The doctor also orders the blood alcohol test in order to establish the severity of the disease since in this test, the level of alcohol consumption at a particular time is discovered. Furthermore, various tests are also performed in order to see if the vital organs are damaged by the excessive consummation of alcohol.
Treatment for alcoholism
The counseling is the best method to discover the real level of the alcohol dependence and when this is done, then the plan for alcohol reduction should be made as to smooth out the negative reactions of the body. Behavior therapy, prevention therapy, behavioral modification therapy and learning how to deal with traumatic events are just some of the available therapies for the alcoholics. The residential alcoholism testaments are also available for alcoholics and they refer to the group and individual therapies, abstinence and partaking in alcoholism support groups.
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