Alcohol use disorder Symptoms and causes

Alcoholism’s progressive nature is another reason it’s considered a chronic disease. Alcoholism moves through stages, and certain symptoms and behaviors mark each stage. For example, during early-stage alcoholism, the person is usually drinking larger amounts and becoming more secretive or elusive about what they’re doing. As alcoholism progresses, behaviors become more out of control and more health symptoms begin to appear.

The alcoholic and the family unit desperately want to believe there is no problem. Alcoholism is caused by multiple environmental and hereditary factors. A medication for alcoholism, such as disulfiram or acamprosate, may https://www.excel-medical.com/5-tips-to-consider-when-choosing-a-sober-living-house/ aid alcohol recovery. People with severe alcohol use disorders often require long-term residential rehab and years of aftercare support. Malnutrition and vitamin deficits can also result from dysfunctional drinking.

The Dangers of Alcohol Abuse

Alcohol alters cortisol levels, vitamin D production, and calcium balance, potentially compromising bone structure. Alcohol may raise the chance of a fall resulting in a fracture, which can impair coordination. According to the National Library of Medicine, the source of the immune system by lowering immune cell counts and raising the danger of infections. Studies explain that drinking excessive amounts of alcohol increases the risk of contracting HIV, TB, and pneumonia. Medically managed withdrawal or detoxification can be safely carried out under medical guidance.

• Before that, alcohol was freely consumed, but drunkenness was not tolerated.
• This can increase the heart’s workload and increase the risk of cardiovascular conditions such as congestive heart failure and heart attacks.
• While this might be true for early abusers, those with a chronic alcohol addiction need intensive treatment.
• Chronic illnesses and other grave issues, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, digestive problems, and brain disease, can develop over time due to heavy alcohol consumption.

This process, however, can bring about the unpleasant and potentially serious symptoms of alcohol withdrawal syndrome. These include increased heart rate, sweating, anxiety, tremors, nausea and vomiting, heart palpitations, and insomnia. In more severe cases, people may also have seizures or hallucinations. Alcoholism is a complex condition with biological, genetical, psychological, and social components that can occur due to both genetic and environmental factors. Many people are unsure whether alcoholism is considered a chronic disease, a mental illness, or both. After leaving a treatment center, recovering alcoholics are encouraged to continue their treatment by following the 12-Steps program and seeking aftercare treatments.

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But, the cadavers only represented 5 percent of the American population. According to the study, 25 percent of the population has the “alcoholism gene marker” or genetic predisposition. It was then found that only 1/5 of the 25 percent that have the marker would develop alcoholic drinking that fit the parameters of those involved in the Blum-Noble study. Therefore, the results failed to demonstrate any increased vulnerability to alcoholism. In later articles, it was revealed that the genetic marker appears to have little to do with becoming alcoholic.

Rather than thinking in terms of cause-and-effect, it’s helpful to view the co-occurring nature of these conditions. Mental illnesses can contribute to substance use disorders, and substance use disorders can contribute to the development of mental illnesses. For example, individuals might drink because they’re depressed (to alleviate symptoms of mental health disorders). On the other hand, excessive drinking could stimulate symptoms of depression or anxiety. As mentioned above, substance use disorder and alcohol use disorder are mental disorders, and therefore alcoholism is among some of the most common chronic conditions in the US. At Lighthouse Recovery Institute, our alcoholism treatment options offer a comprehensive and holistic look at the disease.

How to Support Someone With Alcohol Use Disorder

Many outpatient treatment plans meet daily for the first several weeks or months. Afterward, the number of meetings will be conducted on how far along a person has come in recovery. This is why inpatient and residential rehab stays are beneficial in quitting alcohol abuse. Alcohol intoxication produces a wide variety of disturbances of neuromuscular and mental functions and of body chemistry.

If a health worker suspect alcohol may be a problem, they may ask a series of questions. If the patient answers in a certain way, the doctor may then use a standardized questionnaire to find out more. For AUD to be diagnosed in the U.S., the individual must meet the criteria laid out in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published by the American Psychiatric Association (APS). Alcohol consumption becomes a problem when it takes precedence over all other activities. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), globally, 3.3 million deaths every year result from the harmful use of alcohol. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), in 2015, 15.1 million American adults (6.2 percent of the population) had an alcohol use problem.

The harmful use of alcohol can also result in harm to other people, such as family members, friends, co-workers and strangers. If doctors want to help patients accept their diagnosis as an alcoholic, they should work to understand how the patient is processing what’s happening to him or her, Salloum said. “With alcoholism, there’s a dichotomy — you either are [an alcoholic] or you’re not. And that sort of marks you as an individual — you’re either normal or you’re deviant.” Young said. For more than 100 years, alcoholism has been viewed as a disease; however, this framing has created barriers to diagnosing, treating and even understanding the condition, one psychologist argues. By Buddy T

Buddy T is a writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism.

At this point, their reward system has become pathological, or in other words, diseased. When the drinkers were still relatively healthy, they could control their impulse to drink because the judgment and decision-making circuits of their prefrontal cortex would balance out those impulses. But, their substance use has also disrupted their prefrontal circuits.

Is Alcoholism a Mental Illness or Chronic Disease?

Addiction shares the following characteristics with other chronic diseases, like heart disease or diabetes. “The AMA endorses the proposition that drug dependencies, including alcoholism, are diseases and that their treatment is a legitimate part of medical practice.” The modern disease theory of alcoholism states that problem drinking is sometimes caused by a disease of the brain, characterized by altered brain structure and function. Behavioral treatments—also known as alcohol counseling, or talk therapy, and provided by licensed therapists—are aimed at changing drinking behavior.