Alcohol use disorder typically develops gradually over time. They had been happily married for 40 years until the accident. After satisfying careers – Marilyn as a dental nurse and Ray as a fireman – and bringing up three children, they were enjoying their retirement. Both did voluntary work, Marilyn in a charity shop and Ray as a mentor at the local secondary school. They didn’t have a lot of money but enjoyed long rambles in the countryside, as part of a local group, liked to socialise, and relished spending time at their allotment.
Seeking professional help early can prevent a return to drinking. Behavioral therapies can help people develop skills to avoid and overcome triggers, such as stress, that might lead to drinking. Medications also can help deter drinking during times when individuals may be at greater risk of a return to drinking (e.g., divorce, death of a family member). For example, alcohol causes increased release of “pleasure chemicals” in the brain, such as serotonin and dopamine.
Other ways to get help include talking with a mental health professional or seeking help from a support group such as Alcoholics Anonymous or a similar type of self-help group. It leads to turmoil in the home, resentful relationships, and even emotional or physical health problems. Unfortunately, people who become alcoholics often require professional treatment in order to recover.
Unfortunately, drinking alcohol is a coping mechanism in which the long-term adverse effects significantly outweigh the temporary benefits. Several evidence-based treatment approaches are available for AUD. One size does not fit all and a treatment approach that may work for one person may not work for another. Treatment can be outpatient and/or inpatient and be provided by specialty programs, therapists, and health care providers. You may need to seek treatment at an inpatient facility if your addiction to alcohol is severe. These facilities will provide you with 24-hour care as you withdraw from alcohol and recover from your addiction.
- As people develop alcohol dependence, they normally experience urges or cravings for alcohol.
- Both did voluntary work, Marilyn in a charity shop and Ray as a mentor at the local secondary school.
- It’s a disease that can impact anyone regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, body type, or personal beliefs.
- People with poor drinking habits also have fewer brain cells than usual in the brain’s prefrontal cortex and orbitofrontal cortex.
- Drinking too much can cause a range of consequences, and increase your risk for a variety of problems.
High cortisol levels are linked to stress, depression, and anxiety. This contributes to increased tolerance and the individual needs to drink more to produce the same effect. Genetic, psychological, social and environmental factors can impact how drinking alcohol affects your body and behavior.
Treatment Options for Alcohol Addiction
Simply having a risk factor does not ensure that a person will develop the condition. Many people have significant risk factors for diseases or disorders and never develop them. Essentially, it can be boiled down to the understanding that the potential easy ways to read drug test results causes of alcoholism are not well understood. However, alcoholics generally continue to drink because they develop alcohol dependence and become physically addicted. Many people with AUD do recover, but setbacks are common among people in treatment.
Drinking alcohol causes a change in the way certain brain chemicals function, leading to imbalances. A health care provider might ask the following questions to assess a person’s symptoms. Severity is based on alcohol and weed the number of criteria a person meets based on their symptoms—mild (2–3 criteria), moderate (4–5 criteria), or severe (6 or more criteria). You can prevent alcohol use disorder by limiting your alcohol intake.
‘But perhaps it is genetic – it runs in his family,’ said Marilyn. If Ray could have been persuaded to seek help then from a mental health practitioner, for what was clearly depression, all might have ended very differently. Even if someone has already turned to drink, our methods of working with addiction are powerful, if a client is open to help. It’s a disease that can impact anyone regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, body type, or personal beliefs.
Behavioral Treatments
It’s extremely common for people who suffer from alcohol use disorder to have a co-occurring mental health condition. For example, someone who suffers from depression may drink as a means of self-medicating their symptoms. Similarly, people with anxiety, panic disorders, bipolar disorder, and PTSD are all at a higher risk of developing a drinking problem. Teenagers who hang out with others who drink or peer pressure them to drink might be more susceptible to the dangers of alcohol abuse due to the popularity of binge drinking. If these drinking patterns become a habit, individuals may struggle to socialize with others without drinking or feel as though they need to drink in order to be accepted.
In the end, nobody intentionally gets addicted to alcohol. After all, nobody wants to deal with the physical and mental pain that addiction brings. Still, millions of people worldwide struggle with a drinking problem.
Other Risk Factors of Alcoholism
If you are addicted to alcohol or to drugs, don’t let your problem become progressively worse. Seek treatment in an inpatient addiction treatment facility. There are many facilities who offer different treatment programs so one can be designed to fit your individual needs and preferences. Alcohol can alter the chemicals in the brain that control pleasure and reward, such as dopamine. If a person continues to use alcohol, then the brain will crave it in order to restore pleasurable feelings.
Alcohol manufacturers show advertisements that depict drinking as a relaxing, fun, and acceptable pastime. People may know they have a mental health problem but don’t know a healthier way to cope with it and turn to alcohol instead. Someone may also have an undiagnosed mental health issue and use alcohol to deal with it. People with poor drinking habits also have fewer brain cells than usual in the brain’s prefrontal cortex and orbitofrontal cortex.
Specific Chemical Imbalances in the Brain
Once you’re well enough to leave, you’ll need to continue to receive treatment on an outpatient basis. Some people may drink alcohol to the point that it causes problems, but they’re not physically how does increased alcohol tolerance affect a person dependent on alcohol. Alcoholism, referred to as alcohol use disorder, occurs when someone drinks so much that their body eventually becomes dependent on or addicted to alcohol.
She contacted me a few weeks later to say that she had decided it was time to think about her own dangerously compromised emotional needs and her own mental health. Scary and sad as it was for her, after all those years together, if Ray continued to refuse to accept help, she was going to file for divorce. To find alcohol addiction treatment, talk to a medical professional. They can diagnose your addiction and recommend the right treatment. However, though there is no easy ‘cure’ for an alcohol use disorder, the condition is treatable. If a person grew up in an alcoholic home, there’s a high chance of developing alcoholism.
Those who live near alcohol establishments, bars, and retail stores have easy access to alcohol. They’re more likely to participate in drinking activities. Drinking alcohol may result in temporary positive feelings and relaxation. Some people drink as a coping mechanism to help them deal with difficult situations. The brain can respond differently to the outside world than it usually would.