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Alcohol Addiction
Alcohol addiction happens when someone drinks too much alcohol on a regular basis such that they are unable to stop drinking. Getting the next drink becomes more important than their friends or family or work.
An alcohol addiction affects both the brain and the body. The medical terms for this are psychological alcohol addiction and a physical alcohol addiction. These give different affects.
The physical addiction to drink will show through physical symptoms such as sweating or shaking. The particular characteristics shaking of someone addicted to alcohol is known as Delirium Tremens.
The psychological addiction to alcohol shows up as cravings for alcohol, or placing alcohol so high that the person may use crime or dishonesty to obtain their drink. Normal family activities or socialising become distorted and relationships suffer badly.
How much is too much? This depends on whether you are a man or a woman and also how regularly you drink. Binge drinking is now causing many younger women to become addicted to alcohol at an early age. What start out as a few fun nights out turns in to an addictive illness which requires professional help.
Recognising that an alcohol addiction is an illness requiring treatment can be helpful. The strong craving for drink experienced by an alcoholic has been compared more to the urgent need to water of someone thirsty in the desert, and not to a simple desire for more of something nice. The bodies survival mechanism kicks in and creates the very strong need for more alcohol. Breaking this craving is very difficult, and trained addiction therapists can help with recovery from an alcohol addiction.