Alcohol abuse: A destructive pattern of alcohol use, leading
to significant social, occupational, or medical impairment.
1. Alcohol tolerance: Either need for markedly increased amounts
of alcohol to achieve intoxication, or markedly diminished effect with continued
use of the same amount of alcohol.
2. Alcohol withdrawal symptoms:
Two (or more) of the following, developing within several hours to a few
days of reduction in heavy or prolonged alcohol use:
- Sweating or Rapid Pulse
- Increased Hand Tremor
- Insomnia
- Nausea or Vomiting
- Physical Agitation
- Anxiety
- Transient Visual, Tactile or Auditory Hallucinations or Illusions
- Grand Mal Seizures
3. Alcohol is taken to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms.
4. Alcohol was often taken in larger amounts or over a longer period than was
intended
5. Persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control alcohol
use
6. Great deal of time spent in using alcohol, or recovering from hangovers
7. Important social, occupational, or recreational activities given up or reduced
because of alcohol use.
Alcohol use is continued despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent
physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been worsened by alcohol
(e.g., continued drinking despite knowing that an ulcer was made worse by drinking
alcohol)
Tolerance and Dependence :
People who drink on a regular basis become tolerant to many of the unpleasant
effects of alcohol, and thus are able to drink more before suffering these effects.
Yet even with increased consumption, many such drinkers don't appear intoxicated.
Because they continue to work and socialize reasonably well, their deteriorating
physical condition may go unrecognized by others until severe damage develops
- or until they are hospitalized for other reasons and suddenly experience alcohol
withdrawal symptoms.
Psychological dependence on alcohol may occur with regular use of even relatively
moderate daily amounts. It may also occur in people who consume alcohol only
under certain conditions, such as before and during social occasions. This form
of dependence refers to a craving for alcohol's psychological effects, although
not necessarily in amounts that produce serious intoxication. For psychologically
dependent drinkers, the lack of alcohol tends to make them anxious and, in some
cases, panicky.
Physical dependence occurs in consistently heavy drinkers. Since their bodies
have adapted to the presence of alcohol, they suffer withdrawal symptoms if
they suddenly stop drinking. Withdrawal symptoms range from jumpiness, sleeplessness,
sweating, and poor appetite, to tremors (the "shakes"), convulsions.
hallucinations. and sometimes death.
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