How To Recognize an Alcoholic

Drugs, which are both doctor prescribed and not prescribed, have been abused by many over the past years. The bad news is that drug abusers are increasing, while the worse thing is they do not show any signs of letting up. Alcoholics, on the other hand, do not want to be left behind.

Alcohol has become the cause of various health problems like cancer and liver problems. Excessive alcohol consumption can cause alcohol poisoning, which may lead to death. Apparently, the commercial tagline "Drink Moderately" was never followed. Since alcohol has become part of social culture, it is quite difficult to know if a person is already an alcoholic or merely having fun. To save yourself, family, friend or colleague from this kind of trouble, you might as well find out as early as possible to start the treatment.

Here are ways to determine if someone is already into alcohol abuse:

1. Be aware of the signs of an alcohol addiction:

• An alcoholic drinks multiple times a day.
• He prefers to drink alone.
• He uses alcohol as a tonic.
• Too shy to admit he has become alcohol dependent, he eventually hides bottles of wine or any alcoholic drinks to drink secretly.
• He finds all the reasons to drink. For example, he drinks to relieve stress, ease depression, frustration, etc.
• He is not able to lessen the amount of alcohol intake and it keeps on increasing.
• When asked about controlling his habit, he becomes irritable and defensive.
• He does not eat well and prefers alcohol as the main dish.
• He does not show any sign of personal hygiene.
• He feels shaky either before consuming alcohol or not being able to ingest alcohol for quite some time.

2. CAGE Questionnaire (Cut, Annoyed, Guilty, Eye) - This is a questionnaire developed by Dr. John Ewing, which is used worldwide to detect alcohol problems. It has only four questions regarding alcohol. If the person asked admits to at least two of the questions on the following, then he needs further investigation since he is probably suffering from alcoholism.

• Having felt the need to Cut down on drinking
• Having been Annoyed when criticizing with the drinking
• Having felt Guilty about drinking
• Having felt the need to drink first thing in the morning (Eye-opener) in order to steady the nerves or get rid of hangover

If you find out that someone you know could be alcoholic, then you should do something about it. The longer it takes to control alcoholism, the greater the damage it gives, the harder the recovery. The best thing to do is to approach the person and talk to him about it. Try your best not to be pushy, since people who are alcohol dependent can be very sensitive.

There is a group called Alcohol Anonymous (AA), an international group of men and women that share one common goal: stop drinking alcohol. They avoid drinking alcohol and assist others to recover from alcohol dependence since withdrawal is not easy.