Is Addiction To Alcohol A Behavioral Or Chemical Dependency?

 

It takes an average drinker between 7 to 8 years to reach alcoholism. At this point, the individual may be considered to have acquired Alcohol Dependency Syndrome or Alcohol Use Disorder. Before an alcoholic realizes he or she has reached alcoholism, certain habits normally prevail. For instance, it starts with stealing alcohol when around 13 years of age followed by college party drinking to celebrating particular occasions like birth of child or achievement of an award. At 29 to 39 years of age, one experiences full blown alcohol addiction.

Before a drinker reaches the point of no return, drinking is characterized by behavioral addiction. This stage is not dangerous as the habit may be reversed through quitting or limiting the number of drinking sessions. Drinking which leads to alcohol addiction becomes a habit when you have to drink before doing any activity. This may be after work, before sleeping, while socializing or early in the morning. Individuals experiencing behavioral addiction like to hide or give reasons for drinking. With progress and a little trickery, full blown alcohol addiction may happen without you realizing it.

Chemical addiction is often described as the point of no return. In real sense, there is a chemical reaction which takes place in the brain and it makes one dependent on alcohol. Literally, you spend every chance or opportunity to drink endlessly. This is where observers describe you as a workaholic in alcohol use, that is, you drink with passion and feel compelled to do it every single minute. When dependency sets in, an individual with alcohol addiction may get drunk and sleep unknowingly till morning only to wake up to look for some more alcohol to neutralize or quench the hangovers effects.

There are adverse health effects which accompany alcoholism whether you face behavioral or chemical addiction. For instance, damage to the liver and kidney is imminent in both stages. They will make you feel nauseated, lack concentration, experience anxiety and insomnia, live with guilt conscience,  and endlessly shake your body even without getting drunk. While these situations vary with every single alcoholic, the characteristics are far much the same. The bottom line is that, behavioral and chemical addiction may lead to other serious conditions which may end your life prematurely.

Getting Help For An Alcoholic

Helping an alcoholic is not always easy, especially if it is a family member or a loved one. The first step, before even deciding on what help you can offer an alcoholic, is to acknowledge the problem; only then is there any realistic hope of getting help for an alcoholic.

Once an alcoholic has acknowledged that they have a problem and would like to seek help, the next step is to determine exactly what sort of help would be best. In some cases, your support and understanding is worth more to the person than any amount of counseling or rehab. Rehab isn't necessarily the best solution for everyone; a person has to want to undergo the treatment, and it depends on the severity of the alcoholism. It's also important to understand that it is impossible to make an alcoholic stop drinking unless you lock them in an empty room; ultimately they need to make that decision themselves, although you can certainly help.

A large part of getting help for an alcoholic is acknowledging what you are able to do to help, and realizing what is beyond your control. If your spouse drinks because there is beer in the fridge, don't buy it. If they stop at the bar for a drink on the way home from work, pick them up so the temptation is removed. There may be external factors making someone drink more than they should, such as getting over a divorce, stress at work, the loss of a job or a loved one. Avoid any situations which make an alcoholic want to drink, if at all possible. Understanding and identifying these can go some way towards getting help for a an alcoholic.

If someone you know has a drinking problem, remember that you can't make them address their problem. After all, some alcoholics are perfectly content with being an alcoholic and don't want to change. You can only point out to them how it makes you feel, and how it is destroying your relationship and tearing you apart, and can offer to help. The rest is up to them.