Physical Symptoms of Alcoholism in Our Life

Our world today praises the idea of sipping on drinks day in and day out. From alcohol being offered in nearly every store and served at every popular function to being encouraged by the mass media, it’s hard not to give into the dialogue to drink alcohol whenever possible.

No matter what their reasoning is, most people don’t view alcohol consumption as a huge threat. Yet, drinking it too often each week could spark various physical alcohol symptoms that are difficult to manage in the short and long-term.

A healthy person attending college or a highly experienced in the professional workforce isn’t immune from this social pressure either, as happy hours, daily specials, and weekly bar crawls encourage that there’s no harm in alcohol at all. The mantra is that drinking a few shots, margaritas, or beers can make us appear sociable, relaxed, and even more attractive to others especially.

With that belief in mind, one study focusing on college students found that almost sixty percent of all of them drank alcohol heavily in the past month while almost two thirds of that group engaged in binge drinking during that same time.

That’s a huge statistic that can’t be ignored, and it’s not unusual to know someone who has struggled with the post effects of a drunk night out. Stumbling home alone, ending up with a stranger, or losing something important is the typical story that is passed along from friend to friend when alcohol is involved.  While you can be naive and believe that being more responsible will be enough, the truth is that we can still get tempted often.

To prevent harmful damage, we all must be completely educated about alcohol’s effects and seek treatment if any addiction is present.

Signs of Alcoholism

Drinking a lot brings on many physical symptoms of alcoholism in the short and long-term.   Someone could experience subtle to intense drowsiness, slurred speech, and painful headaches when they drink for a few hours.

If they continue, uncomfortable vomiting, blacking out, and impaired motor skills take over and lead to dangerous decisions. Drinking frequently also increases a person’s short and long-term risk of health consequences from doing something regrettable like participating in drunk  driving, falling victim to sexual harassment, and other mishaps and experiences. What’s more, a person who keeps up this level of drinking can eventually develop a tolerance to get the same effect from before. This means that what used to be a few drinks to get drunk can turn into five to ten drinks in one night as the body gets more used to consuming the substance over time.

Besides severe short-term symptoms, they may also develop memory loss or experience a loss in concentration on tasks throughout the day. They could also develop anxiety and depression, increase risk of cancer in the colon, liver, throat, breast, etc., high blood pressure, and a damaged digestive system. There’s also a striking statistic that the number of people in three years who developed heart failure, heart attack, or a condition of irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation, were three times more likely in their risk if they drank a lot of alcohol in the past. It’s in your best interest to steer clear of binge drinking habits!

Stress and Its Causes of Alcoholism

Feeling discomfort and daily stress from your social life, work, and family background can unknowingly contribute to developing alcoholism. Thousands of employees in the workforce can’t sufficiently deal with the extremely high stress that they have to face to combat the high expectations in their profession.

Tight deadlines, a nasty boss, and fear of failure can cause a person to seek outside relief whether it’s healthy for them or not. People who fall into the wealthy population can also fall victim as they find a thrill from a boring lifestyle or seek other ways to spend money.

Since people born into wealthier backgrounds can ultimately experience unwarranted financial freedom, it’s easy to fall into a cycle of purchasing drinks to feel superior, fit in, or network more often with others at the bars.

Most of society doesn’t realize that when having money is a given with your family’s name, it can be hard to discover your personal mark and create genuine friendships who don’t only value your latest gear. Combining all these factors can lead to incredibly low self-esteem, constant boredom, and even loneliness which light the fire of substance abuse and physical symptoms of alcoholism.

PTSD, Depression and Alcoholism

Having a mental disorder plays a huge role as to whether alcohol abuse may develop or not. People who are young kids, teenagers, and even young adults who are not yet completely developed may be at a much higher risk for developing alcohol abuse symptoms and co-occurring mental disorders later in life.

Their own individual personality and genetics are also key factors when help isn’t introduced quickly enough by a professional.

At the end of the day, alcohol addiction is a long-term problem that not everyone may want to discuss with their loved ones, let alone a stranger.

Finding an alcohol rehab center in Florida or taking a simple alcohol assessment can be helpful.

Moving Forward

If you notice that you’ve been struggling with physical or mental symptoms of alcohol abuse and desire to rewrite the path of your future health, there’s no time to waste by behaving naively and ignoring the risks.

It will help so much more for your overall success to see an educated expert who can create an action plan catered to work around your schedule and hobbies. By taking an alcohol assessment, you can also become more reflective of how your current attitude towards alcohol is like and encourage you to think more about the current state of your being.

There’s no need to worry about what others may think about your new decision to stay sober. Instead, focus your time and energy on the positive future you can gain. Put the work in now for a new you!

Staying Sober After Detox and Preventing Relapse

Even after completing a sobriety program, the act of relapsing can still take the lives of people all over the world.  An addiction is classified as a chronic brain disease, which attacks stress management, overall mental health, physical behavior, and spirituality, and is characterized by an individual’s inability to control substance abuse. In fact, according to recent studies by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the likeliness for relapse with addiction matches the rates of other chronic diseases like asthma, hypertension, and type I diabetes at around 40 and 60 percent. That’s a huge amount, so it is pertinent that those who have succesfully detoxed and/or graduated from a rehabilitation program are armed with the tools they need to strengthen their relapse prevention coping skills, and therefore decrease the likelihood of relapsing.

How Does Relapsing Happen?

Staying sober after detox for a former addict can be incredibly hard, and is often considered as a common aspect of the disease of addiction. This indicates that developing strong techniques to avoid relapsing or being exposed to triggers is important.

When a person experiences a long-term addiction to mind-altering substances, be it alcohol or another type of drug, the process in which their brain functions is indefinitely disrupted by the repeated alcohol or drug abuse. The pathways that decide how a person feels pleasure or happiness towards rewards, manages impulse control, controls memory, and establishes decision-making are all shifted through frequent substance abuse.

As a result, the body starts to build a dependency that can negatively lead someone’s mental health down a dark path.

When a person checks into rehabilitation and undergoes a drug detox, they are trying to reteach their body how to build those pathways without the use of substances. A mental health and addiction treatment program may also try to teach the individual better stress management techniques, as well as guidelines for avoiding a relapse once they check out of the treatment center.

Unfortunately, even after the physical dependence is treated, people may still have a strong psychological dependence. Even with a strong aftercare program, some people may still relapse. This can be dangerous as there are many cases of people overdosing on a substance the first time they relapse. Thy overestimate their tolerance, and consume more drugs than their body can handle.

Common Relapse Triggers

As someone going through recovery, the strongest technique for preventing relapse is to identify your personal relapse triggers and create a step by step plan on how to manage them. While some common relapse triggers are obvious, others fall in a grey area that makes staying sober after detox tough for a beginner.

Often, relapse triggers are broken into the categories of affecting the emotional, mental, or environmental aspect of a person’s life.  

If recovery is your top priority, make sure you avoid becoming too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired during your daily activities. The acronym HALT is used to describe the most common high-risk situations for people going through recovery. HALT can be helped by planning meals, sticking to a strict sleep schedule, and aiming to have better stress management techniques.

Another common root of the problem of relapse is also a reluctance to reach out to others for support or accessing different interests outside of engaging in addictive substances. The more a person becomes socially isolated, the easier it is to rationalize drug or alcohol by themselves after they are influenced by their peer’s values. Social anxiety can also be an imminent struggle for many recovering addicts as they aim to become sober after detox. To help with this feeling, having a supportive group can help, such as joining a local sports team, art class, or any other group in the community who can encourage activities that truly wholesome and rewarding (and drug-free).

Lastly, one of the most damaging triggers is voluntarily putting oneself in social situations where drugs and alcohol are widely available. In order to build stronger relapse prevention and coping skills, sit down with someone and make a list of the people, locations, or activities that draw back memories of the old lifestyle that included frequent substance abuse. Then, make a plan of action for strictly avoiding these triggers. Some triggers may be less obvious, such as specific sounds, scents, or visuals that could trigger cravings in yourself.  

Final Thoughts

Having a relapse after you became clean is difficult to accept, but it’s not the end of the world. A relapse after completing treatment does not mean that treatment has totally failed. Seek expert resources that provide customized care and supportive insight for preventing triggers in the future. When a relapse occurs, steps should be taken to reduce the severity and duration of the relapse episode. Make sure you lay out the thought process you experience during a relapse to better realize how to stay substance free.  

If you consider yourself a patient who is struggling to overcome your addiction, consider the holistic therapy approach as well for a more effective recovery. While it may sound complicated, there’s many methods that are simple to try to practice holistic therapy and help you recognize triggers. One tip is setting time throughout the day to exercise mindfulness by taking a few minutes every day to meditate on the present moment.

Because we are constantly infiltrated by technology throughout the day, taking a short break from social media or our smartphones can help fill our mind with ease and force us to address our psychological health. Another method for mindfulness is by doing yoga and meditation, as it combines the body and mind to focus during the strength and flexibility exercise.

In combination with preventing relapse episodes, your mental and physical health can become stronger with the help of a rehab expert. Finding support that understands the importance of catering to each person’s needs is crucial. Put the work in for your future and you won’t regret the results!