The Stages of Alcoholism Explained Early, Middle and End-Stage

The primary way a person with early-stage alcoholism differs from someone in middle-stage alcoholism is that alcohol is no longer leveraged for a quick high. In the middle stage, drinking may become a staple of daily life. The nuances of treatment evolve, and any program should be catered to an individual’s unique needs. Understanding what the stages of alcohol addiction look like can help you or a loved one decide whether rehab treatment is necessary. This can contribute to harmful drinking patterns that may gradually shift into alcoholism down the line. One of the primary early warning signs of alcoholism is using alcohol to cope with life stressors like financial problems, relationship issues, daily stress, sadness, or other negative emotions.

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• Health problems are common, and responsibilities may have fallen by the wayside.
• Alcoholism can have a negative impact on relationships, leading to conflict, communication breakdown, and emotional distance.

As a result, he or she may resort to drinking first thing in the morning and throughout the day. Otherwise, the withdrawal symptoms may significantly affect the person’s ability to function normally at work, school, or just in general. People at the end-stages of alcoholism will need a tremendous amount of care at an alcohol addiction treatment center to recover. These individuals will benefit a lot from a residential treatment program, as they may need a complete change in environment to correct their drinking habits. You’ll want to find a rehab center that has medically-supervised detox capabilities so that you can comfortably and safely detox from alcohol. There are inpatient and outpatient options, but an addiction specialist should determine the best level of care for you based on your individual needs.

End-Stage Alcoholism and Associated Health Disorders

Nutritional deficiencies cause a host of related problems to become worse. For example, a vitamin B-1 deficiency common in alcoholics can result in loss of mental alertness and appetite, fatigue, confusion and emotional instability. And if the alcoholic continues drinking, alcohol will cause the death of the alcoholic in one way or another.

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Eventually, their tissue cells may become dependent on alcohol to function normally. A person with early-stage alcoholism may also exhibit a high tolerance to alcohol. Their tolerance may go unnoticed by everyone except the people they spend the most time with. Drinking alone is frequently cited Top 5 Advantages of Staying in a Sober Living House as one of the main signs of alcoholism. If you drink alone occasionally and in moderation, the behavior shouldn’t be cause for concern. On the other hand, if you start to drink alone often or regularly, this habit could quickly turn into something more sinister, such as alcohol addiction.

Stage #5: Addiction and alcoholism

Excessive (binge) drinking is defined as four or more drinks on a single occasion for women and five or more drinks on a single occasion for men. The brain is highly vulnerable to the damaging effects of alcohol, which disrupts communication between brain cells. Excessive or chronic alcohol use can lead to a steady decline in cognitive function, causing memory problems, difficulty learning new information, mood changes, and behavior changes. Jeanette Hu, AMFT, based in California, is a former daily drinker, psychotherapist, and Sober Curiosity Guide.

• Individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD) are at an increased risk of heart disease, which can result in heart attacks and other cardiovascular complications.
• As the stage progresses, the disease takes hold and develops into middle-stage alcoholism.
• This disease is progressive, and your health will eventually bear the brunt.
• Typically, alcohol withdrawal symptoms happen for heavier drinkers.
• At this stage, you may be using alcohol regularly, perhaps even starting your day with an alcoholic drink or consuming alcohol on the job.

Fifty percent of patients with ascites typically die within two years if they don’t have a liver transplant. Between 90 and 100 percent of alcoholics develop a fatty liver, which can progress to cirrhosis. Stopping is impossible at this point without professional help because of the severe and potentially life-threatening withdrawal symptoms that would occur if they quit cold turkey. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines moderate drinking as two or fewer drinks in a day for men and one or less in a day for women.

Late-stage alcoholics can get better if they seek treatment, and some of their health problems can even be reversed if caught early enough. The end-stage alcoholic suffers from a host of physical problems, including severe damage to vital organs such as the liver. Alcohol, in fact, is the cause of more than 50 percent of liver-disease related deaths in this country, and alcohol-related liver disease costs more than $3 billion annually. Those in the end stage of alcoholism, or late or deteriorative stage, are consumed by their drinking.

Stage #1: Occasional abuse and binge drinking

It is crucial to recognize the signs of alcohol use disorder and seek treatment as early as possible to prevent the disease from worsening. It provides a supportive environment for individuals to share their experiences and receive feedback from others who are going through similar struggles. Group therapy can also help https://wyomingdigest.com/top-5-advantages-of-staying-in-a-sober-living-house/ individuals develop coping skills and strategies to manage triggers and cravings. School or work performance may begin to decline, and young people may start to experience problems with their academic or social lives. It is important to seek help and support during this stage to prevent the progression of alcoholism.

In moderate AUD, a person shows signs of four to five of the symptoms of AUD. Once stabilized, the goal is to transition from detox, to treatment, to maintenance (practicing sober living by changing your life), to transcendence—the final step in the path to recovery. Close to 88,000 people in the U.S. die from alcohol-related causes every year.