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Chronic Alcoholism Horrors

Alcoholism Begins

There are three stages of alcoholism. The first begins when a person is drinking more alcohol and more frequently for reasons other than he or she started drinking for in the first place. The drinking may have started out socially or as a result of peer pressure or for any number of reasons, but now he or she is drinking for the effect that the alcohol produces.

An alcoholic in this early stage may be drinking for a mood adjustment if they are sad or depressed over something or they may have a few extra drinks for stress relief if he or she has had a rough day at work. At this stage the drinker, his friends and family are usually unaware of any of these reasons for his increased drinking or that his drinking has even increased for that matter.

More and More

By the time a drinker enters into the second stage of alcoholism he is usually drinking more for any reason he can manufacture between his ears. He is probably exceeding socially acceptable limits on a daily basis and may be losing control of his physical and mental capabilities at all the wrong times. He may have possibly been incarcerated for a DUI or drunk in public.

By now, friends and family are all too aware that a problem has developed, though our drunken friend remains oblivious to the fact, or surely he'd do something about his drinking. Wouldn't he?

Chronic Stage of Alcoholism

This stage of the alcoholics life finds the family and any friend that may be left in the excessive drinkers life horrified at what has taken place right in front of them. The alcoholic has become sloppy drunk most of the time, his thinking is completely irrational nearly all of the time and now he's likely been arrested for drunk in public numerous times, but he tells everyone his only real problem is that they keep telling him he has a drinking problem. If they'd just get off his back, he'd be fine.

In reality our alcoholic friend's mind and body are slipping away due to irreversible damage to his vital organs. Damage that will likely lead to serious life-threatening medical conditions such as hepatitis, heart failure, cirrhosis of the liver, etc.

Is It Too Late?

In this, the chronic stage of alcoholism it usually takes a very traumatic or sometimes even a near death experience to get the alcoholic's attention to the extent that he actually seeks out help and by now, without help it may be too late. The family may enlist the help of a professional interventionist. Interventions can be very effective if done properly. Loved ones can practice "tough-love" and not participate in his life at all, which has brought many alcoholics to treatment when there was no one left in their life to blame their condition on but themself. The family may even get lucky and simply talk some sense into the alcoholic, though this is very rare, as alcoholics are usually of the most stubborn people on the planet.

One thing you can rest assured of, is that by the time a person reaches the chronic stages of alcoholism, he or she is going to require a lot of long-term professional help to have even a chance at overcoming his drinking, the mental damage and physical damage he's caused himself.

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