To drink or to live? Stages of alcoholism

Alcohol is an unwelcome guest who has already knocked at the door to many people. Someone has found the strength to drive and close the door in front of this disaster, and some do not. In Soviet times, alcohol was predominantly a drink for men. But at the present stage of life, female and teenage alcoholism began to occur more and more often . And the most terrible thing is that according to medical data, there were recorded cases of children's addiction to alcohol.

What is alcoholism? This is not a hobby and not a habit with which, if you really want, you can say goodbye at any time, as most people believe, is a disease that requires long and intensive treatment. The problem is that alcoholics do not consider themselves as such and knowingly refuse both treatment and normal life. Using fortified drinks, a person slowly but surely moves towards chronic alcoholism. The first stages of alcoholism appear in a couple of years after a tight "communication" with a glass.

Chronic alcoholism is a disease characterized by the development of pathological craving (craving) for alcohol, physical and mental dependence on it. Alcoholism is always based on everyday drunkenness, which, constantly progressing, turns into the abuse of strong drinks. As a rule, a person in a race for euphoria continuously increases the dose of alcohol and thus the usual drunkenness turns into an illness. In medical practice, there are three stages of alcoholism.

The initial (first) stage comes after a long-term use of alcohol. For this stage of alcoholism, there is the appearance of tolerance, that is, of resistance, of the organism to beverages "with a degree", as well as the complete disappearance of the protective emetic reflex. During this period, mental dependence develops, characterized by a constant desire to drink, thoughts about alcohol become the main (dominant). At this stage of alcoholism, there is such a phenomenon as perforation amnesia, that is, the patient does not remember anything from the moment of taking the first dose. In addition, the person has a change in character, for example, there is boasting, lying, talkative. And if there is no possibility to drink, irritability arises, often depression.

In the second (moderate) stage of alcoholism, a physical dependence on alcohol develops - a hangover syndrome. How does this syndrome appear? After the patient has sobered up, he has tachycardia, dizziness, heart and headache, trembling (tremor) of the limbs. Not rarely this condition is accompanied by diarrhea, vomiting, insomnia, nausea. And the patients themselves become anxious, irritable, fearful, oppressed. From this stage, the degradation of man as a person begins. He becomes deceitful, rude, cruel, selfish, his family becomes meaningless, as a rule, alcoholic humor appears. In order to buy alcohol, the patient often goes on stealing, and also can sell a valuable thing or exchange for any alcoholic beverage, for example, poor quality wine, windshield wiper, cologne.

At the third (severe) stage of alcoholism, the organism's tolerance to alcohol is significantly reduced, that is, intoxication comes already from small doses and full degradation begins. A person ceases to care about work, family, his thoughts only about how to drink. The result of taking alcohol is obvious - the patient is untidy, slovenly, his intellect decreases, depressive mood and thoughts of suicide, tearfulness, self-incrimination appear. The alcoholic arrives in a protracted drinking-bout.

The consequences of alcoholism are terrible. Long-term intake of strong drinks causes irreparable damage to the body, all systems and organs suffer without exception. Very often there is a tendency to obesity or weight loss. And also there is a risk of developing liver cirrhosis and myocardial infarction, gastritis and alcoholic polyneuritis, hypertension and impotence, chronic hepatitis and diabetes, stomach ulcers and heart failure.

It is important to remember that alcoholism is a disease, and it must be treated.