Alcohol Addiction

"Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism" - Carl Jung (Swiss psychiatrist, student of Freud & founder analytical psychology)

Alcohol, the legally and socially accepted volatile hydroxyl compounds made from hydrocarbons is categorized as depressants for the central nervous system. Consumption of alcohol in any form, though causes a vast array of euphoric effects in the beginning, a prolonged use may even hamper simple, bodily motor tasks and take the consumer to the points of delirium. Though individual effects vary depending on the body weight, gender and metabolism rate, but alcohol addiction can readily be recognized when certain symptoms show up.

It all starts with mild intoxication; what starts off as feelings of warmth, euphoric sensations and flushed skin, often stretches its barriers to the domains of impaired judgment, decreased inhibitions, slowing down of reflexes, double vision, memory loss and an inability to comprehend. But before we proceed further, it's important to know what addiction is.

Defined as an abnormal tolerance to and dependence on something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, one can be sure that alcohol addiction has got him/her in its grasp if three of the following signs match:

• A tolerance for alcohol – An increment in the consumption amount for achieving the same buzz.
• Withdrawal Symptoms – Often characterized by the inability to decrease the amount of alcohol consumption.
• Willful continuation – In spite of recurring physical or psychological problems formerly caused by the alcohol.
• Tendency for continuing the habit regardless of constraints.

The complex behaviors that often shows an individual giving an abnormal importance to an object or activity that often becomes extreme in its magnitude and often up to a harmful degree or continues something despite negative consequences can be termed as dependence. Added with the psychological inability to deny the usage and making it the prime cause behind personality disorder or alterations and life disruption as a consequence, it becomes addiction. And when that swivels around alcohol, it is generally termed as alcohol addiction.

But addiction is person-specific. If correct measures of dosage, duration and discontinuation are maintained, it is tough to become an addict. It's only a handful of psychologically and physiologically inclined derelicts that give in to addiction; alcohol being easily available, alcohol addiction develops faster. Physical dependence can easily be dealt if consumption is kept within a limit; if noticed that the quota is approaching an upward curve, a gradual reduction of dosage (to avoid withdrawal symptoms) is recommended followed by a complete stoppage for sometime. Alcohol addiction only takes place if an individual escalates his alcohol use under the conditions aforementioned, thus earning the epithet of an addict: someone for whom a particular substance or activity has become harmfully important and who manifests rigid, repetitive and stereotypic behavior to pursue a substance or activity or both despite clear indications that he is harming himself and often others by doing so.

To treat alcohol addiction or alcohol abuse, a proper diagnosis is a must. There are a plethora of reasons that are responsible for alcohol addiction; from physiological and behavioral factors to entirely psychological shortcomings, these are the factors that make alcohol to become the highest priority in the life of an individual. While diagnosing an individual for alcohol addiction, it is a must to check for the following:

• Whether the person has a strong desire or sense of compulsion to consume alcohol.
• Intensity and frequency of consumption.
• Withdrawal symptoms appearing when consumption is either ceased or reduced.
• Tolerance levels.
• Progressive negligence normal activities.
• Persistence with harms already caused by alcohol intake and its nature and extent.

Once properly diagnosed, a rehab shall take care of the individual's alcohol addiction with prescribed medical methods.

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