What to Know About Alcohol Addiction
Alcohol addiction can quietly reshape your life before you even come to realize what is happening. You may notice you’re drinking more often, struggling to stop after just a drink or two. Getting through the day without having a drink feels unbearable.
This isn’t about making poor choices or having a weakness towards alcohol. It is a legitimate medical condition that affects your brain chemistry and functioning. Dealing with alcohol addiction makes it incredibly difficult to control your drinking habits on your own. Understanding what alcohol addiction really is and how it affects you can help you navigate a path forward toward recovery and reclaiming your life.
How Alcohol Addiction Develops
An alcohol addiction is not something that develops overnight. Your brain naturally seeks out things that make you feel good. Alcohol triggers dopamine release, which evokes feelings of pleasure and relaxation. As you continually use alcohol for positive sensations, your brain begins to rely on it for this purpose. Eventually, it stops producing these feelings on its own.
The longer this goes on, the more alcohol is required to achieve the same effect. Along with your brain, your body becomes dependent on alcohol. Stopping use can lead to unpleasant or even dangerous withdrawal symptoms. What started as casual drinking to take the edge off spirals into something needed to function.
Signs You Might Be Struggling
Recognizing alcohol addiction in your own life can be particularly challenging, especially since denial is a significant part of the condition. While it may present a bit differently from person to person, there are some clear signs that your relationship with alcohol has become problematic:
Drinking more than you intended
Trying to cut back with little success
Spending significant time drinking and recovering
Experiencing strong cravings for a drink
Neglecting responsibilities at work, home, or in your relationships due to drinking
Continuing to drink despite problems resulting from drinking
Foregoing activities in favor of drinking
Developing a tolerance and needing more alcohol to feel any effect
Experiencing withdrawal symptoms when trying to stop
Drinking when it is dangerous
If any of these patterns sound familiar, there’s a chance alcohol may have too much control over your life.
The Physical and Emotional Impact
Alcohol addiction can also take a toll on your physical health, increasing your risk for liver disease, heart problems, and other serious medical conditions due to a weakened immune system. Your sleep quality suffers, and your overall energy levels drop.
Emotionally, alcohol addiction often occurs alongside anxiety and depression. Drinking habits may have originally started as a coping mechanism for stress, but now those same feelings intensify when sober. Unfortunately, now you’re traveling down the road where alcohol becomes a necessary crutch, making it harder to develop any healthier ways to manage stress and emotions.
Why Professional Support Makes a Difference
Recovery from alcohol addiction generally requires professional support. Treatment can offer you evidence-based strategies to understand the root of your addiction, identify your triggers, develop coping skills, and address any underlying issues.
Therapy creates a safe space where you can explore your relationship with alcohol, judgment-free. A harm reduction approach will meet you where you’re at and help you progress in a way that is sustainable.
Taking the First Step
Acknowledging that you need help is not a sign of failure or weakness. It is one of the most courageous things you can do for yourself. Recovery is a long-game focus, but entirely possible with the right support.
If you’re concerned about your drinking and ready to make a change, individual counseling can help you get started. Reach out today to schedule a consultation.
