Signs & Symptoms

Indicators of Alcoholism:
How can I tell if I or a loved one has problems with drinking? 

Although different people may use alcohol at different levels, the basic pattern is the same. Drinking becomes more and more important than anything else, including job, friends and family. Alcohol starts to increasingly affect you physically and emotionally, often impairing judgment to a dangerous level.

How serious is the drinking problem?

Alcohol abusers, or problem drinkers, are people who drink too much on a regular basis. The alcohol use is self-destructive or can present a danger to others, but they still demonstrate some ability to set limits and establish some measure of control over their drinking. While some people are able to maintain this pattern for a long amount of time, alcohol abusers are at risk for progressing to alcoholism. This might happen in response to a large stressful event, such as retirement or losing a job. Or it might gradually progress as tolerance to alcohol increases.

 When alcohol abuse progresses to alcoholism, also called alcohol addiction or alcohol dependence, alcohol becomes essential to function. Alcoholic symptoms include a physical dependence on alcohol, and inability to stop despite severe physical and psychological consequences. Some alcoholics can hold down a job or appear to be functioning on the surface, but the drinking inevitably leads to impaired job performance and troubled relationships.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism provides a screening questionnaire for assessing the differences between alcohol abuse and alcoholic dependence.  Remember, though, the bottom line is how alcohol affects you. If it is affecting your relationships, job, or health, yet you can’t seem to stop yourself, than the problem is serious. 

Physical signs of alcohol abuse and alcoholism

• While intoxicated: slurred speech, dizziness, clumsiness or unsteadiness
• Blackouts, when you drink so much you pass out
• Weight loss
• Unexplained sore or upset stomach
• Redness in the face or cheeks
• Numbness or tingling in hands and feet