Chronic alcoholism: stages, symptoms, consequences

Characteristics of the phenomenon

To answer the questions of what alcoholism is, why people become alcoholics and why people become drunkards, it is necessary to define the basic terms - alcoholism and alcoholics. This will help you understand why the problem of alcoholism is not so easily solved.

An alcoholic is a man or woman who has a psychological or physical dependence on alcohol. They drink alcohol not just once a week, but much more often, and even several times a day, not paying attention to the words about the dangers of alcohol. Therefore, the concept of alcoholism is a characteristic of a disease in which a person becomes dependent on alcohol and the desire to drink is relevant for him every day; he does not want to take into account the opinions of other people.

Alcoholics are characterized by an attitude towards alcohol that can be described as “addiction”. This means that the attitude of alcoholics to alcohol can be characterized as an obsession, so strong that they are not able to control the amount of alcohol they drink. Even if this can lead to serious problems at home, at work, as well as lack of money.

Alcohol dependence syndrome manifests itself in the fact that drinking becomes an obsession, which comes first in relation to all other activities. The desire to drink completely takes possession of a person, forming obsessive behaviors and actions, introducing itself into thinking in the form of obsessive thoughts. Alcohol dependence syndrome creates in a person a constant great desire to drink. Therefore, an alcoholic often strives to satisfy this addiction to alcohol, even if he wants to drink at the most inopportune moments. At the same time, the alcoholic does not even think about how to stop drinking, even though he suffers from alcoholism.

Second stage

At this stage, the physiological and psychological dependence on alcohol continues to intensify. Not only the behavior, but also the patient’s lifestyle changes:

A person feels best when moderately intoxicated. Efficiency, activity, and sociability are maximum in this state;
periods of constant alcohol consumption become longer. A person can drink for several days, interrupting only because of work;
the daily routine changes: problems with sleep appear, the patient finds it difficult to fall asleep without alcohol;
the dose of alcohol increases as much as possible (can increase 6-10 times). At the same time, health and psychological state worsen. Withdrawal syndrome becomes more and more pronounced. After drinking alcohol, a person may feel unable to carry out daily responsibilities, work, or activities. Memory lapses appear: the patient does not remember the circumstances of drinking alcohol, his behavior, or the events that happen to him. This disrupts social and family ties.

At the second stage, existing chronic diseases worsen and health deteriorates. Problems may arise from the central nervous system, cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract, liver and kidneys. Feeling unwell becomes almost constant, and alcohol is used to relieve unpleasant symptoms.

How does the disease manifest itself?

Alcoholism is a chronic and often long-term disease. However, it is believed that alcohol and alcoholism are not inseparable concepts, and the presence of one does not necessarily cause the other. Moderate drinking once a week usually does not cause any psychological or physical harm.

There are different types of alcoholism. For example, regular drunkenness in Russia is called household alcoholism. If we talk about what everyday alcoholism is, it differs from chronic alcoholism in that a person controls the amount of alcohol he drinks. A person with domestic alcoholism has no tolerance to alcohol, which manifests itself in severe hangover syndromes. However, alcohol forms bad habits in him.

For some people, the social consequences and problem of alcoholism can manifest itself in that drinking alcohol in a social setting can cause an ever-increasing amount of drinking. Because of this, alcohol addiction develops over time, which is accompanied by serious psychological and health problems.

The diagnosis of “alcoholism” can be made based on the following symptoms:

Drinking alone - hidden alcoholism can manifest itself in regular (more than once a week) consumption of small doses of alcohol, as well as in situations associated with nervous tension, when a lot is drunk. Hidden alcoholism is a disease that women are more often susceptible to.

Inability to limit the amount you drink.

Memory lapses are when entire periods of time disappear from awareness forever.

The presence of rituals regarding drinking alcohol (for example, the custom of drinking one hundred grams before, during or after meals/work). If they are not observed or if someone dares to criticize these rituals, this causes indignation and irritation of the drinker. Since several people are often involved in these rituals, alcohol addiction in this appears as a social problem in modern society, as well as the social significance of alcoholism.

Gradual loss of interest in hobbies and pastimes that previously aroused interest.

Constant feeling that you urgently want to drink.

Feeling irritable when you want to drink. This feeling is stronger the more inaccessible the booze is or the more likely it is that alcohol cannot be obtained.

The presence of secret places where alcohol is hidden.

Drink in large sips to get drunk and feel good as quickly as possible.

Having problems in relationships with the opposite sex, so a person tries to have them while drinking alcohol.

Nausea, increased sweating, trembling when not intoxicated.

Alcoholism as a social problem in modern society manifests itself in the fact that a person has problems with the law, at work, and an alcoholic’s tendency to violence in the family. Alcoholics often do not have enough money to spend on drink. The diagnosis of alcoholism is indicated by the development of an ever-increasing dependence, which manifests itself in a gradual increase in the dose of drink.

A person who abuses alcohol but has not reached the stage of alcoholism may have many of the above symptoms, but does not have the withdrawal symptoms that an alcoholic has. Also, the desire to drink is present, but it is not so intrusive, and the consequences are less serious. However, this line is thin, and a person who abuses alcohol once a week or more can become an alcoholic at any moment.

Alcohol addiction: how to determine the stage of the disease, symptoms and consequences of alcoholism

To independently determine the stage of addiction to alcoholic beverages, it is not necessary to visit a doctor.

There are no laboratory tests that can answer this question.

Moreover, the doctor prescribes studies to assess the condition of internal organs after prolonged exposure to alcoholic beverages.

In a clinic that promises to eliminate alcohol addiction, a qualified psychologist can assess the patient’s condition.

But you can draw a conclusion about how far the disease has progressed by paying attention to the symptoms characteristic of each stage of the pathology. In addition to the generally accepted classification of alcoholism, there is another system proposed by E.E. Bechtel, a famous Russian psychiatrist, author of more than 80 works on the topic of drunkenness and drug addiction. But many experts consider this classification to be insufficiently informative and not reflective of the general changes occurring in the human body.

Thus, in accordance with the Bechtel taxonomy, the following categories of patients are distinguished:

Abstinence sufferers who consume alcohol no more than 2-3 times a year (that is, only on holidays), and the total volume of alcohol consumed does not exceed 200 ml.
Casual drinkers. To this category E.E. Bechtel refers to people who drink lightly, but several times a month in large groups. The amount of alcohol consumed does not exceed 200 g in one evening.
Moderate drinkers. At this stage, patients already have a craving for alcoholic beverages. As a rule, this is timed to coincide with the end of the work week and 300-400 ml of alcohol is drunk.
Systematic users. A person is constantly looking for a reason to “celebrate” something, drinks alcohol up to 4 times a week, 200-300 ml.
Habitual drinkers. Alcohol dependence syndrome gradually becomes uncontrollable; the patient may drink rarely (no more than 2 times a week), but the volume of alcohol consumed increases to 500-600 ml per evening.

Drugs for alcoholism

Disulfiram

Most doctors prefer the “classical” division of alcoholism into several stages. Like other pathologies, this disease begins with the so-called prodromal period, when a person is quite capable of realizing the worsening addiction and independently breaking the vicious circle of alcohol addiction.

During this period, you can calmly refuse the offered glass or put it aside, only sipping slightly. A person is in complete control of his state and stops when he realizes that he is losing control over himself. A distinctive feature of the prodromal period is vomiting with excessive alcohol consumption and prolonged disgust after intoxication.

First stage

A sign of the first stage from which alcohol dependence begins is an emotionally excited state in anticipation of a feast. Moreover, positive thoughts are caused not by meeting friends and the joy of communication, but by drinking alcoholic beverages.

The previous amount of alcohol is no longer enough to achieve a state of intoxication. Some begin to be proud of this feature of the body, but such symptoms are a “bell” that it is time to take measures to stop the progression of alcoholism (narcologists also call this disease ethylism).

Memories of an evening spent drinking wine cause an emotional upsurge, and a person strives to return to the same state. Forced abstinence from alcohol is accompanied by attacks of irritability, and later - aggression. A person begins to look for any excuse for a feast.

Moreover, regardless of the amount drunk, the gag reflex characteristic of the prodromal stage is absent. Doctors do not note any pathological disturbances in the functioning of internal organs at this stage, but sometimes, in a state of severe intoxication, memory loss may occur when a person is unable to control his behavior.

The duration of the initial stage depends on the willpower of the person and on the willingness of loved ones to provide help and support. At this stage, it is possible to completely and without complications forget what alcohol addiction is. Otherwise, after 5 years (in women, degradation takes no more than 2 years), the patient’s condition worsens.

Second stage

A distinctive symptom of the second stage is withdrawal syndrome. This is the name for a pathological attraction to alcohol, which requires a constant increase in the amount of alcohol. In its absence, a person cannot cope with attacks of uncontrollable aggression and anger, up to the development of delirium tremens.

He is tormented by tremor of the fingers, severe sweating, pallor, nausea, and tachycardia. Mental activity is impaired, all attention is concentrated only on alcohol. Over time, this condition and the constant desire to get drunk leads to regular binges lasting several days.

Treatment

Coding
Chemical protection
Pills

During this period, the patient completely loses touch with reality, behavior becomes inadequate. To bring a person out of this state, the help of a specialist is often required. Between binges, he can lead a completely normal life, with the exception of the constant desire to drink. Chronic alcohol dependence syndrome at the second stage is accompanied by organ pathologies. The products of ethanol breakdown are toxic to the liver, causing irreversible death of its cells and their gradual replacement by fibrous tissue.

Naturally, toxic compounds gradually accumulate, affecting the functioning of all internal organs. Under the influence of alcohol, the nerve cells of the brain undergo necrotic changes, which affects the behavior and mental abilities of the patient. The second stage of alcoholism can last for years (sometimes up to 20-25 years).

It all depends on the volume of alcohol consumed. But as a rule, a person needs an increasing amount of alcohol to achieve the usual state of euphoria. Therefore, the disease often progresses. Irreversible changes occur in the brain that cannot be corrected by any modern treatment methods.

Third and fourth stages

Binges last much longer. If in the second stage the patient came to his senses after 3-4 days, now this period lasts for weeks. The body's sensitivity to alcohol increases. To become intoxicated, a minimum dose of alcohol is sufficient, and the quality of alcohol is the last thing a person pays attention to.

The patient's condition is constantly deteriorating due to progressive renal, cardiac and liver failure, and serious disorders of the central nervous system.

These diseases are aggravated by permanent alcohol intoxication. Due to constant rudeness, rudeness and aggression in the final stages of alcoholism, relatives and friends turn away from a person.

Even with complete abstinence from alcohol, which happens extremely rarely in the third stage, pathological changes in the internal organs are irreversible, and life expectancy is sharply reduced. Often, patients are forced to constantly take medications and maintain the activity of the liver and kidneys with the help of special medical equipment. The fourth stage inevitably ends in death.

The person is constantly drunk, the internal organs are severely damaged, the gastrointestinal tract is simply not able to digest food, the heart cannot cope with the load, the nervous system practically does not work. The patient hallucinates most of the time. It is impossible to help the patient, therefore, at the last stage, alcohol dependence leads to the death of a person from multiple organ failure and intoxication.

Factors influencing the occurrence of addiction

The etiology of alcoholism and the mechanism of formation of alcoholism include several reasons for the development of this bad habit. If we talk about what alcoholism is and why it occurs, then you should know that most often the causes of alcoholism are physiological in nature (manifested in metabolic disorders, in which adaptive reactions to the presence of alcohol in metabolism change).

The answer to the question of why you want to drink is the genetic causes of alcoholism. They are explained by the inheritance of a tendency to alcohol addiction.

According to scientists, there are genes that contribute to the development of alcoholism. This is the answer to the question why people start drinking. For example, one of the factors in hereditary alcoholism is the inheritance of reduced production of endorphins. This is why people who have an alcoholic in their family are at risk and can become alcoholics if they are not raised correctly or under the influence of social or other factors.

However, the genetic predisposition to alcoholism does not have such a strong influence on the emergence of alcohol dependence as the psychological and social causes of alcoholism. The psychological causes of alcoholism depend on a person’s personal characteristics and his ability to adapt to his environment.

The social causes of alcoholism are caused by the nature of interaction between a person and society. One of the phenomena that supports social causes is the myth of alcoholism as a type of promiscuity. While answering the question, alcoholism is a disease or promiscuity, the correct second option: according to the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD 10), alcoholism is defined as a disease.

Alcoholism - a disease or promiscuity?

The problem of alcoholism is more relevant in modern times than ever: more and more people are becoming dependent on alcoholic beverages, destroying their health and their families. Some believe that alcohol addiction is a dangerous disease that needs to be treated, others believe that alcoholics are dissolute people who have achieved nothing in life.

Alcoholism is a treatable disease

Most doctors (narcologists and psychotherapists) are still confident that alcoholism is a progressive pathology with a high probability of death.
The problem is that such dependence has a dual nature; in this case, the disease is combined with dissolute behavior and lack of willpower. The most dangerous symptoms of this bad habit include delirium tremens, hallucinogenic phenomena, epileptic seizures and even death.

These are direct symptoms that indicate pathology.

Manifestations of illness and promiscuity

When a person is in a drunken state and cannot stop on his own, this is the most striking manifestation of the disease.

In this case, the achievements of modern narcology can come to the rescue. Currently, it is easy to remove a person from a state of binge drinking in a hospital setting; some narcologists also offer their services on an outpatient basis.

In a state of delirium tremens, without urgent medical care, a person may simply die.

However, alcoholism is not only a disease, but also a debauched state. A person does not become an alcoholic by force; he drinks alcohol voluntarily and on his own initiative. With most diseases, little depends on the person.

With alcoholism, everything depends on the patient’s actions, including recovery.

How to help an alcoholic get rid of his illness

The only effective way to defeat the manifestations of this pathology and promiscuity is the good will of the alcoholic himself. An addicted person must decide for himself that it is time to get rid of the addiction.

In the twentieth century, there was a system of compulsory treatment for alcohol addiction.

In most cases, it did not bring positive results: the patient became aggressive, and often abrupt withdrawal of alcohol led to death.

As soon as a person understands that he is ready to take the path of correction, it is recommended to seek the help of a professional narcologist. The following techniques can be used in the treatment of alcoholism:

Drug therapy. A specialist may prescribe medications, the use of which causes a persistent aversion to alcoholic beverages. When prescribing these medications, the patient must undergo a full medical examination.
Hypnotic techniques. Often these methods also give positive results: on a subconscious level, a specialist can give the patient instructions for a sober lifestyle.
Social rehabilitation. Social rehabilitation in the form of psychotherapy is an excellent way to overcome the consequences of the disease, including promiscuity and degradation, return a person to normal life, improve his social connections, and solve problems with professional activities.

Thus, alcoholism is a dual problem, which is expressed on the one hand in illness, and on the other in promiscuity, social degradation and a decrease in intellectual abilities. The sooner a person begins to fight this addiction, the sooner he will be able to return to a full life and restore his health. https://viagra-online.rf

Reasons for the development of the disease

The mechanism of development of alcohol dependence is a gradual process that can take from several years to several decades to acquire all the signs of alcoholism. Therefore, it is latent for a long time, which allows the addict to hide this illness. But for some people, alcohol addiction (or alcohol addiction) develops quickly over a period of several months.

The pathogenesis of alcoholism and its symptoms appear gradually during the development of alcohol dependence. Alcohol addiction, which is accompanied by regular drinking, disrupts the balance of gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA) in the brain, which controls impulsivity, as well as glutamate, which stimulates the nervous system.

Also, when drinking alcoholic beverages, the level of dopamine in the brain increases, which is responsible for the feeling of satisfaction. But over time, the levels of these substances become so unbalanced that the alcoholic’s body simply requires alcohol in order to feel good and also to avoid feeling unwell.

Gastrointestinal diseases

About 20% of alcohol is absorbed through the stomach, and the remaining 80% through the small intestine. Therefore, it is not surprising that the organs of the gastrointestinal tract are inevitably damaged by ethanol.

Gastritis

Gastritis is inflammation of the stomach. Alcoholic gastritis is divided into acute and chronic. The acute form can occur even with a single dose of a decent amount of alcoholic beverages. It is difficult to name the exact amount of alcohol that can cause an attack of gastritis. But the stomachs of people who take more than 50 ml are definitely under greater stress. ethanol-containing drinks per day. After prolonged drinking, alcoholic gastritis can become chronic. In this case, the basic functions of the stomach are inhibited, gastric juice is produced in insufficient quantities, which makes it difficult to digest food. Subsequently, the cells of the gastric mucosa begin to gradually die. The main symptoms of alcoholic gastritis:

Pain in the upper abdomen that gets worse after eating. Sometimes vomiting in this situation relieves the pain.
Heartburn and burning in the chest.
Nausea, which most often occurs in the morning, on an empty stomach.
Painful belching, as a result of which sometimes food from the stomach enters the mouth.
Repeated vomiting of bile and mucus.
Constipation and diarrhea.
Constant thirst.
Heaviness and feeling of fullness in the stomach after eating.

If the symptoms suddenly disappeared, but no treatment was carried out, you should not rejoice ahead of time. This fact may indicate erosive processes in the esophagus. Accompanied by erosion of blood in the stool. If you do not see a doctor in time, intra-abdominal bleeding may begin, which is life-threatening.

Pancreas

Another organ that inevitably suffers from alcohol abuse is the pancreas. This largest gland is part of the digestive system. The pancreas is responsible for secreting enzymes and other substances that break down food and drinks in the stomach. As a result of alcohol entering the stomach, the gastric mucosa becomes inflamed and gastritis occurs. And if you don’t stop drinking alcohol or get treatment in time, sooner or later the pancreas will also become inflamed. Inflammation of this organ is called pancreatitis. With pancreatitis, pain occurs under the left rib and gradually seems to surround the person. It is extremely difficult to endure such painful sensations, because the nerve endings are located near the pancreas. Main symptoms of pancreatitis:

severe excruciating pain;
decreased appetite;
flatulence and constipation;
chronic nausea;
repeated vomiting.

Long-term inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract most often cannot be cured. It is only possible to improve a person’s condition, but only if he completely gives up drinking.

Main complications of alcoholism

Since alcohol is a toxin, it poisons the body, destroying every cell in the body. Alcoholism and its consequences are manifested in the fact that the liver, brain, and heart suffer first of all. But the changes that alcohol causes are not immediately noticeable.

At first, drinking alcoholic beverages elevates the mood, and only over time, due to prolonged alcohol consumption, the functioning of the central nervous system (brain) is disrupted. Alcohol disease impairs the ability to think normally and blurs the boundaries of what is permitted and what is not permitted. A bad habit changes the usual way of thinking, mood and behavior, leads to confusion and the development of mental illness.

Since the addict does not want to change his attitude towards alcohol, regular consumption of alcohol in large doses impairs a person’s muscle coordination and ability to speak coherently. Heavy drinking can lead to coma.

The liver suffers greatly from alcohol, which often manifests itself in the form of hepatitis or cirrhosis. If hepatitis is treated, then cirrhosis is a pathological and irreversible disease that relentlessly progresses and almost always ends in death (not only after 50 years, but also at a young age). The answer to why alcohol causes liver damage is that it destroys liver cells so much that they lose their ability to regenerate.

Regular consumption of alcohol in large quantities can lead to damage to the heart muscle, heart failure and heart attack. That's why young people who drink regularly have a significantly increased risk of developing heart disease in later years. The problem of alcoholism in this case is observed because ethanol damages the walls of blood vessels in the same way as high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

Causes alcohol dependence and problems in the gastrointestinal tract. For example, an alcoholic may develop pancreatitis. This is a dangerous disease in which the body’s ability to digest food, absorb vitamins and produce hormones that regulate metabolism is impaired. Gastritis is also possible.

Types and forms of alcoholism

Like many modern diseases, alcoholism has certain features that include the ability to develop this disease.

Today doctors distinguish the following types of alcoholism:

female;
pub;
chronic;
drunken;
hereditary;
secret;
children's

Each alcoholism, like a disease, causes serious disruptions to the functioning of the body, so it is important to identify it in time and begin to treat it. Attention - these types of drunkenness have different symptoms and forms, so every lover of strong drinks should constantly monitor their own health, since alcoholism develops quite quickly.

Alcoholism is considered a serious problem of the current generation, therefore, in order to make the correct diagnosis, as well as prescribe the right solution, doctors identify the following forms of this condition, to which narcologists, first of all, pay special attention:

True binge drinking. They develop as a result of frequent drinking of alcohol and are characterized by a strong craving for these drinks. Remissions in this case occur quite rarely.

Attention: the risk factors for alcoholism, which characterizes true binge drinking, are quite well known and modern, so any reasons for the development of binge drinking will cause this form of the disease in alcoholics.

Malignant alcoholism. It develops mainly in women and children who grow up in families of alcoholics. It is important to note that this form is characterized by frequent breakdowns, which after 5 years can cause personality degradation. Remission from alcoholism brings many unpleasant symptoms to the alcoholic, which can only be gotten rid of by taking anti-alcoholism medications (today you can purchase them on the Internet).
Symptomatic alcoholism. How does this form of binge drinking develop? With frequent consumption of strong drinks, a person develops mental illness. And if, along with this, the alcoholic has “his own” diseases in remission (heart disease, epilepsy, and so on), this leads to the appearance of symptomatic alcoholism, which is more considered binge drinking. In this case, the fight for the health of the drunkard is carried out through complex treatment, which will remove dangerous alcoholic substances from the body, as well as normalize the functioning of internal organs.

Treatment for alcoholism is carried out depending on its form and remission of this condition. It must be carried out according to a doctor’s indications in order to quickly get rid of alcoholism and not cause the development of unpleasant consequences.

Causes

Experts agree that ethanol addiction occurs as a result of the simultaneous influence of several factors:

Environment. Even an avid teetotaler finds it difficult to restrain himself when every meeting with friends is accompanied by drinking alcohol.
Family traditions. If parents or relatives often drink in front of a growing child, he considers such behavior quite normal.
Personal characteristics. Stress is an inevitable part of modern life, and everyone copes with it in their own way. These include classes in a fitness club, cycling, skiing, skydiving, etc. But for some it is easier to escape from problems and reality with the help of alcohol. Over time, this method of dealing with internal tension and bad mood develops into a stable habit.
Genetic predisposition. Features of the synthesis of neurotransmitters and enzymatic metabolism contribute to the rapid growth of tolerance to ethanol, the progression of alcoholism and the development of concomitant diseases.

How to recognize alcoholism in a loved one

If you are attentive to the health of a loved one, you will quickly notice the first signs. You need to start sounding the alarm when people start talking about alcohol, looking for reasons to drink, and holidays are perceived only as an opportunity to buy a lot of alcohol. What other external reasons can help you determine the development of the disease in a loved one:

drinks a lot, but never vomits;
at gatherings he eats little, but drinks a lot;
sleep disturbances, often getting up at night;
craving for alcohol during the week;
hand tremors, swollen cheeks, dark circles under the eyes;
passionately looking forward to the weekend as an opportunity to drink;
does not remember what happened during the drinking session;
the next morning he wants to get over his hangover.

Take measures already at the first stage of addiction development so that it does not develop into a big problem. Alcoholism can be treated, and a loved one can be saved if an addiction to alcoholic beverages is noticed in time.