Until now, the drinker has been imbibig heavily but not always
conspicuously, and more importantly, they have been able to stop drinking whenever they
chose to do so. Beyond this point, the development of symptoms of the disease of
alcoholism will increase rapidly.
Loss of Control
This is the most common symptom that a drinker's psychological habit
has become a physical addiction. The may still refuse to accept a drink, often at some
discomfort, but once they do start to drink they have no control over how many they will
have or for what will happen. A single drink is likely to trigger a chain reaction that
will continue without a break into a state of complete intoxication.
The Alibi System
Their loss of control often induces feelings of guilt and shame, so
they concoct an elaborate system of "reasons" or excuses for drinking. These can include
blaming the pressures of marriage, family, jobs, finances or any other life area. They
have hopes that these excuses or rationalization will justify and explain their behavior
in the eyes of their family members or associates. In reality, the alibis are mostly
invented to reassure the drinker that their behavior is acceptable.
Eye-Openers
The drinker needs a drink in the morning "to start the day off
right". Their morning, however, can be at any hour of the day or night. So an eye-opener
is, in fact, a drink to ease their jangled nerves, steady their hands, or reduce hangover
symptoms from the night before, and, in many cases, to medicate the feelings of remorse
from their actions, real or imagined.
Changing the Pattern
By now, the drinker is under pressure from their family, fiends
and/or employer to change their behavior. The may try to loosen the grip of alcohol in
their lives by switching from one type of alcohol to another, or setting up elaborate
rules dictating when they will and will not drink. They may even stop drinking for a
period of time to "prove' that they do not have a problem, but one sip of alcohol will
start the chain reaction all over again.
Anti-Social Behavior
Some drinkers prefer drinking alone or only with other alcoholics,
regardless of the other person's social level. In addition to the ability to feel somehow
superior to them, the drinker also believes that only these other people can understand
them. They commiserate over imagined wrongs inflicted by others, and sometimes experience
paranoid and delusional thoughts, including aggressive or violent behaviors.
Loss of Friends, Family or Job
Their continued drinking and antisocial behavior causes their friends
to avoid them. The members of their family may become so helplessly implicated and
damaged that their spouses may separate from them. In addition, employers may reach the
end of their tolerance for increased absences and poor work performance and terminate
their employment.
Seeking Medical Aid
Physical and Mental erosion caused by uncontrollable drinking leads
drinkers to make the rounds of hospitals, doctors, psychiatrists, etc. But because they
will not admit the extent of their drinking, they seldom receive any lasting benefits.
Even when they do attempt to be truthful, they fail to cooperate in following the
doctor's instructions and the result is the same.
