Mutual-support groups provide peer support for stopping or reducing drinking. Group meetings are available in most communities at low or no cost, and at convenient times and locations—including an increasing presence online. This means they can be especially helpful to individuals at risk for relapse to drinking. Combined with medications and behavioral treatment provided by health care professionals, mutual-support groups can offer a valuable added layer of support. Likewise, there is no single identified cause that leads to the development of alcoholism. Risk factors are conditions or experiences that can increase the chance or probability that an individual will develop a specific disease or disorder.
Alcoholism affects all people, regardless of age, gender, socio-economic status, or race. The causes of AUD are a combination of genetics, psychology, environment, and social factors. People with AUD often lose friends or family because of their drinking. They might have difficulties sustaining meaningful relations, resulting in breakups or divorce. These traumatic events can lead to feelings of isolation, self-harm activities, and thoughts of suicide. In some cases, alcohol abuse may exacerbate conditions but not cause them.
Alcohol’s Effects on the Body
The presence of scar tissue also impairs the body’s ability to clean toxins from the blood, control infections, process nutrients, and absorb cholesterol and certain vitamins. In addition to chronic health diseases and conditions, persons in the end stage of alcohol abuse may be at a heightened risk of falls and other accidents due to balance and coordination problems. Most often, when death occurs after a fall, it is due to bleeding in the brain and not the fall itself. The more you turn to alcohol to ease feelings of pain and hardship, the more your body becomes tolerant to the drug and relies on its effects.
Drinking in an effort to reduce stress can quickly turn problematic. Career paths that are more likely to face high levels of stress due to long hours and strenuous tasks include doctors, nurses, emergency rescue workers, construction workers and military. It’s important for professionals of any industry to find other ways to de-stress in order to prevent alcohol abuse. In addition, risk factors are cumulative, such that having more than one risk factor significantly increases the probability that one may develop a specific disease or disorder. See your doctor if you begin to engage in behaviors that are signs of alcohol use disorder or if you think that you may have a problem with alcohol.
Who can I call for help with alcohol use disorder?
Americans 55 and older, on the other hand, are more likely than their counterparts two decades ago to say they do all of these things. Among those ages 35 to 54, the shares who do these things have remained relatively stable over time. He or she will talk to you about how these incidents have affected you long-term, and you’ll learn how to cope with trauma without turning to alcohol.
The sooner you recognize there may be a problem and talk to your healthcare provider, the better your recovery chances. Your treatment setting will depend on your stage of recovery and the severity of your illness. You may need inpatient medical (hospital), residential rehabilitation (rehab), outpatient intensive therapy or outpatient maintenance. A big part why do people become alcoholics of AUD recovery is working with a trained professional to better understand your relationship with alcohol and to learn how to cope with daily living without alcohol. Behavioral treatment can also help with any co-occurring mental illnesses contributing to the AUD. Another important factor that influences the risk of alcohol on the body is nutrition.
What Are the Types of Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder?
Those who do continue to drink heavily or regularly may do so because they are environmentally or genetically predisposed to do so. For instance, children of people with an alcohol use disorder are four times more likely to also experience this disorder. Additionally, some people have an existing mental health disorder, and they may graduate from social drinking to more frequent drinking because they perceive it relieves some of their psychiatric symptoms. Different psychological factors may increase the chances of heavy drinking.
They are likely have a steady job, a seemingly stable family life, and do not often fit into the traditional stereotype of an alcoholic. The more frequently a person drinks, the more their tolerance may rise. This then requires a person to consume more alcohol in a single sitting to produce the desired buzz. After a period of this repeated behavior, it can develop into alcoholism. Knowing the possible causes of alcoholism is crucial to understanding AUD and providing appropriate treatment.
Alcohol and nutrition can interact in a number of ways—heavy alcohol use can interfere with nutrition while alcohol/nutrition interacts can impact gene expression. The “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition,” (DSM-5), published in 2013, has created a list of 11 symptoms that indicate an alcohol use disorder. By Buddy T
Buddy T is a writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism. Because he is a member of a support group that stresses the importance of anonymity at the public level, he does not use his photograph or his real name on this website. The study suggests having a poo or two is an effective way to alleviate hangover symptoms and reduce the risk of liver damage. On the other side, about 10-20% of fortunate drinkers report not having a hangover, even after consuming large amounts of alcohol.
Men have alcohol use disorder almost twice as often as women; of the estimated 17 million affected adults, 11.2 million were men and 5.7 million were women.2 Adolescents are not immune. In 2012, an estimated 855,000 young people between years of age had this disorder. 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.
Conditions
The term “alcoholism” is commonly used in American society, but it is a nonclinical descriptor. Unlike laypersons, researchers, doctors, therapists, and a host of other professionals require a consensus on what constitutes the different levels of alcohol use. Many people turn to alcohol to help lessen the symptoms of their condition and repeated drinking can increase one’s tolerance. This ultimately results in drinking more to produce the same feeling, which can eventually develop into alcoholism.
You should also consider attending a local AA meeting or participating in a self-help program such as Women for Sobriety. You can prevent alcohol use disorder by limiting your alcohol intake. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, women shouldn’t drink more than one drink per day, and men shouldn’t drink more than two drinks per day. Alcohol use disorder can cause serious and lasting damage to your liver. When you drink too much, your liver has a harder time filtering the alcohol and other toxins from your bloodstream.