Alcohol Dependence Syndrome

Alcohol dependence syndrome also known as alcoholism is a chronic disease that has the following characteristics: a strong craving or compulsion to drink alcohol, a loss of control when it comes to the ability to limit or stop drinking, and a physical dependence upon alcohol marked by withdrawal symptoms that include anxiety, nausea, shakiness, and sweating and also a increasing tolerance for alcohol in order to feel the same level of "high".

The disease alcoholism, is not determined by the type of alcoholic beverage that you consume or even by the amount of alcohol that the individual has consumed it has more to do with the inability of the individual to control the need for alcohol and the ability to control how much alcohol is consumed or the ability to stop drinking if the desire to do so arises.

When others understand the disease, alcoholism, and that the person is really not in control of the disease it then becomes easier to stop blaming the person and start having compassion for them.

The need for alcohol is just as strong if not stronger than the need for food or water for the person who is suffering from alcoholism.

Some researchers believe that the vulnerability to succumb to alcoholism is an inherited trait that the person has little control over. Exposure to alcoholism is what triggers this trait and when the individual takes that first drink, the disease becomes apparent and the individual is often afraid to show his or her dependence on alcohol. Many suffering from alcoholism do so in private until the symptoms from the disease start to give them away to others close to them such as family members, friends and co-workers.

A few lucky individuals manage to recover from alcoholism without outside help but the majority of those who suffer from alcoholism are in desperate need of intervention and outside assistance and support in order to recover from the grips of alcoholism. As long as others who lend them the support they need to stop drinking and to rebuild their lives surround those suffering from alcoholism, they can successfully break the hold that alcohol has on their life.

There are many influences that contribute to alcoholism including peer pressure, the easy availability of alcohol and social influences that make inherited and environmental risk factors too strong to resist or overcome for the individual with the tendencies towards alcoholism.

It is important to understand that just because an individual may be at risk for alcoholism based on family history or environmental factors it does not necessary mean that alcoholism is not avoidable because the risks for alcoholism can be overcome especially if those risks are understood from a young age and alcohol is avoided.

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