An alcohol use disorder is not difficult to hide, especially because of the social acceptance and wide availability of alcohol. Would you be able to recognize the signs, if a loved one is an alcoholic?
Stages of Alcohol Use Disorder
Alcohol addiction goes through 3 phases.
- Binge drinking – The person drinks excessively on weekends or holidays. They may wake up with a hangover but feel alright later.You may notice your loved one experiencing lapses in judgment, such as DUI. You may not consider these as the signs of an alcoholic.
- Increase in alcohol bingeing– Your loved one now also drinks during the week or in daytime. Hangovers start becoming more common. They might be calling in sick more often.
- Daily abuse –Your loved one now needs to drink even to function. They may wake up with shaky hands and need to drink to calm down.
When you try talking to the person, they may say everything is fine but you may notice them carrying alcohol in a water bottle or you find empty alcohol bottles at the bottom of the trash can. Sometimes, there are legal problems like DUI or even relationship problems.
These are all signs your loved one needs help and the answer is alcoholism treatment.
