5 Things You Need to Know About The Signs Of Alcoholism

1. Too Much Spirits

When consumed in moderation with good friends on a special occasion, drinking alcohol can be a pleasant part of one's social life. Certain people, however, take solace in alcohol to mask deeper emotional problems, and exhibit signs of alcoholism. Generally, two alcoholic drinks per day are considered acceptable for a healthy man, while one drink can be safe for a female. As the number of alcoholic drinks per day increases so does the mental and physical health risk to an individual. When a man consumes more than 14 alcoholic beverage a week and a woman drinks more than 12, they are considered an alcoholic. An alcoholic can consume beer, wine and/or hard liquor. They all impair judgment, weaken the immune system and damages the panaceas, liver and other organs when consumed in excess.

2. Alcoholism Alienates True Friends

If you recoil when friends and family question you about your drinking and run off to hang out with your friends at the bar, you have a serious drinking problem or the beginning of one. When alcohol becomes the focus of your life, you forget to pay bills, show up for important business or personal meetings and neglect your physical appearance. Alcohol becomes the most important thing in your life and soon the need becomes physical as well as emotional.

3. Alcohol Promotes Risky Social Behavior

Alcohol impairs your judgment. If you've been pulled over and arrested for DUI (Driving Under the Influence) more than once and served jail time for it, you need to step back and look at your drinking habits. There's a difference between being an occasional tipsy drunk and an unsteady and dangerous drunk. If you're continually thrown out of bars and clubs for fighting or causing a scene while drunk, you've definitely passed the acceptable boundary of social drinker. Too much alcohol leads to unsafe sex practices and can lead to situations that might be embarrassing or even life-threatening.

4. Living With Secret Shame

Alcoholism, in its most extreme form, eventually becomes dependency. When one becomes dependent on alcohol, they can't stop drinking even if it threatens their job or health. Drinking alone usually indicates a more severe grade of alcoholism than drinking with others at a bar or someone's home. Hiding a flask of alcohol in your desk at work indicates an advanced form of alcoholism that transcends "partying" with others. Health problems such as body shakes the morning after a drinking binge or loss of appetite are signs of alcohol dependency.

5. Know When to Say When

Alcohol does more than cause faulty judgment. If you drink so much you black out and don't remember what you said or did while drinking on several occasions, seek help from Alcoholics Anonymous or a private counselor. Get assistance for your drinking problem before you cause irreplaceable harm to yourself or others.