{"id":1645,"date":"2022-07-14T16:22:52","date_gmt":"2022-07-14T16:22:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arisetc.com\/?page_id=1645"},"modified":"2024-01-18T15:17:06","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T15:17:06","slug":"stages-of-alcoholism","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/arisetc.com\/stages-of-alcoholism\/","title":{"rendered":"Stages of Alcoholism"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, \u201c85.6 percent of people ages 18 and older reported that they drank alcohol at some point in their lifetime.\u201d[1] Out of those individuals, nearly 15 million people meet the criteria for an alcohol use disorder.[1]<\/p>\n

Alcohol use disorder is a chronic and progressive condition that causes a significant impact on a person\u2019s ability to function in their daily lives. People who suffer from this illness have a hard time managing how much alcohol they consume and cannot quit using the substance despite facing the consequences of alcohol abuse. Some of the consequences of this condition include physical ailments, legal troubles, dangerous behavior, social isolation, and financial strain.<\/p>\n

As a person progresses in the disease of alcoholism, they may experience increasingly dire consequences and side effects of their drinking. Generally, there are four stages of alcoholism each characterized by their own set of problematic alcohol abuse patterns.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>Is Alcoholism Progressive?<\/span><\/h2>\n

When someone begins using alcohol, they usually are only doing so in social situations. Then, they begin to notice that alcohol soothes their uncomfortable emotions. This causes them to begin using alcohol to cope with things in their life that aren\u2019t going well.<\/p>\n

After a while, their alcohol use begins to change. Instead of just using it socially, they are beginning to feel like they cannot cope with their life without using the substance. This is how the progression of alcoholism begins.<\/p>\n

Once someone is abusing alcohol to cope with their emotions, they are in the beginning stages of psychological dependency. This means that they are becoming dependent on alcohol to solve their emotional, social, and behavioral issues. Some individuals begin self-medicating their problems with alcohol.<\/p>\n

After a while, mental dependency becomes accompanied by physical dependency. This happens as someone begins to routinely abuse alcohol. When they attempt to quit or cut back on their alcohol consumption, they will experience symptoms of withdrawal.<\/p>\n

Over time, an individual will develop a tolerance to alcohol. This means that they require more and more of the substance to feel an effect. This will cause their alcoholism to progress even further.<\/p>\n

\"4<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>What are the Stages of Alcoholism?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Alcoholism is known to have a progressive nature. Problematic drinking follows a common trajectory through stages of worsened drinking patterns. To understand how alcoholism works, it\u2019s important for people to be aware of the stages of alcoholism.<\/p>\n

There are 4 stages of alcoholism: early alcohol abuse, problematic alcohol abuse, severe alcoholism, and end-stage alcoholism. Each stage of alcoholism has its own signs, symptoms, and behaviors that the individual will display.<\/p>\n

Grasping the stages of alcoholism requires people to understand how alcoholism is diagnosed, as each stage is characterized by a certain number of diagnostic symptoms.<\/p>\n

According to the DSM-V, alcohol use disorder is diagnosed when someone displays at least 2 of the following symptoms:[2]<\/p>\n