Understanding alcohol use disorders and their treatment

(A “drink” means 1.5 ounces of spirits, 5 ounces of wine, or 12 ounces of beer, all of which contain 0.5 ounces of alcohol. Furthermore, you may not recognize the signs of can alcoholism be cured an alcohol use disorder in yourself or in someone else. Alcohol is a central nervous system (CNS) depressant, which slows down important parts of the body’s functioning.

• Nearly 100,000 Americans die each year as a result of alcohol misuse, and alcohol is a factor in more than half of the country’s homicides, suicides, and traffic accidents.
• Psychologists who are trained and experienced in treating alcohol problems can be helpful in many ways.
• Outside of seeking help for codependency, you can take multiple steps to help your loved one recognize their drinking problem and seek professional treatment.
• When it comes to treatment for alcohol use disorder it’s important to understand that treatment can work when the individual is willing to work for toward recovery from their alcohol problem.

Windward Way Recovery offers medically supervised detox and round-the-clock medical care to help ease the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. These effects usually wear off in a matter of hours after a person stops drinking. Many law-enforcement agencies regard a .08 percentage of alcohol in the bloodstream as evidence of intoxication. Larger amounts of blood alcohol can impair brain function and eventually cause unconsciousness. Alcohol use disorder (previously called alcoholism or alcohol abuse) can cause major health issues, alienate you from your family, and interfere with your work.

MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

Its effects can be very welcome when a person is feeling overwhelmed with stress. However, the more a person relies on alcohol to reduce stress, the more they need to achieve the same stress reduction. Using alcohol to eliminate stress also means that a person isn’t developing other, healthy ways to deal with stress. AUD looks different for everyone, making it difficult for people to see themselves as having an alcohol problem, especially if they don’t drink every day. The truth is, drinking every day is not a prerequisite for alcohol use disorder. Some of the most dangerous alcohol use conditions often involve binge drinking or drinking large amounts of alcohol in one sitting, rather than consuming a few drinks daily.

• A drink is equal to 1.5 ounces of spirits, five ounces of wine or 12 ounces of beer.
• Alcohol dependency results in significant and recurrent adverse consequences.
• If you think you might have a problem with alcohol, call SAMHSA or talk to your healthcare provider.
• This is how alcohol use disorder can influence people to rethink their priorities and allow alcohol to become a destructive force on their life.
• People may also refer to alcohol use disorder as alcohol abuse, alcohol addiction, alcohol dependence, and alcoholism.
• While there is no obvious answer to why some people seem more prone to addiction than others, researchers are gaining more insight into the biology of addiction.

Unfortunately, this cycle can be experienced for quite a while, with many individuals struggling for decades before they truly realize they have an alcohol use disorder and decide to seek help. However, recovery is out there for those interested in ending the cycle of addiction to live their life again. If you need help with alcohol use disorder and aren’t sure where to start, consider calling the SAMHSA National Helpline. It’s geared toward people living with mental health conditions or substance use disorders.

Take the next step:

In this stage, even if the person wants to stop or cut down on amounts and frequency of drinking alcohol, they are unable to stop drinking. This inability to stop then leads to the third stage which is deterioration. Health problems like liver disease may also result from long-term alcohol problems. This article will explore the nature of alcohol addiction, its causes, and the various treatment options available.

• Relatives, friends and strangers can be injured or killed in alcohol-related accidents and assaults.
• A common misconception is alcohol addiction is simple to overcome.
• Alcohol use disorder is known as a progressive disease, meaning that without proper treatment, it will continue to get worse.
• If you are in a codependent relationship with someone suffering from AUD, they may continue to engage in risky activities and you may continue to unintentionally enable their drinking.
• To learn more about alcohol treatment options and search for quality care near you, please visit the NIAAA Alcohol Treatment Navigator.

Alcohol, on the other hand, functions as a blockade on the highway, cutting off all traffic to certain areas of the brain, resulting in the effects of intoxication from alcohol consumption. Once this phase begins, drinking becomes less about pleasure and more about feeling “normal,” resulting in a cycle of alcohol use characterized medically as alcohol use disorder. Get professional help from an online addiction and mental health counselor from BetterHelp.

Rehab Programs

If you believe your loved one is suffering from alcohol addiction, you can take steps to help them seek treatment. The first step to helping your loved one is to understand what alcoholism is and how AUD impacts your brain, behavior, and body. As we’ve discussed before, AUD is highly complex and involves much more than drinking too much every once in a while — alcoholism involves dependence, high tolerance, and a loss of control. The longer someone suffers from alcohol use disorder, the more these symptoms will have a detrimental impact on their health. Consistent alcohol misuse can lead to liver diseases, heart problems, digestive problems, diabetes, and many more issues. In fact, it is estimated that roughly 95,000 people die from alcohol-related issues every single year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Chronic disease can have devastating physical, emotional, and social consequences if left untreated. The sooner you recognize there may be a problem and talk to your healthcare provider, the better your recovery chances. If you drink more alcohol than that, consider cutting back or quitting.

Risk factors

In many cases, individuals will attempt to self-medicate with alcohol in an effort to relieve stress or deal with insomnia. Diagnosis is based on a conversation with your healthcare provider. The diagnosis is made when drinking interferes with your life or affects your health. It’s possible that you and your treatment team will decide that medication should be a part of your recovery.

• Alcohol use disorder is sub-classified into mild, moderate, and severe categories.
• This makes it much more likely for alcoholics to contract diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis than those who don’t drink.