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Step 1
Observe behavior. Effects of alcohol abuse are closely associated with a pattern of behavioral symptoms. When you abuse alcohol, drinking becomes your main focus and is more important to you than almost anything else. You plan your life around alcohol and put it before family, friends and your job. Because alcohol depresses the central nervous system, there is often a decrease in activity, anxiety, tension and inhibitions in people who abuse alcohol. As the abuse progresses, physical symptoms begin to appear.
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Step 2
Look for typical symptoms of alcohol abuse which include abdominal pain (sore or upset stomach), blackouts from drinking too much, weight loss from neglecting to eat and tingling or numbness in the hands and feet. Other possible symptoms are dizziness, clumsiness and slurred speech when intoxicated, redness in the face or cheeks and decreased inability to think clearly.
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Step 3
When trying to determine the extent of a person’s problem with alcohol, it’s important to observe behavioral symptoms as well as physical symptoms. Behavioral symptoms of alcohol abuse include keeping alcohol in unusual places at home, in the car or at work, drinking alone or in secret and loss of interest in hobbies and activities that were once enjoyable. Other symptoms include denial, maintaining a ritual of having drinks at a certain time (such as before, with or after dinner) and becoming irritated when the ritual is disrupted or questioned and legal problems or problems with employment, relationships or finances.
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Step 4
Long term effects of alcohol abuse include several serious medical conditions. Some of the most common are weakness or paralysis of eye muscles, liver disorders such as hepatitis or cirrhosis, damage to the pancreas and cardiovascular problems such as high blood pressure and damage to the heart muscle. Other physical problems caused by alcohol abuse include erectile dysfunction in men and interruption of the menstrual cycle in women, birth defects if alcohol is used during pregnancy and thinning bones due to bone loss. Long term alcohol abuse has also been associated with increased risk for cancers of the mouth, throat, larynx, esophagus, liver, colon and breast.
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Step 5
To help determine the extent of a problem with alcohol, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism suggests answering (or asking the suspected abuser) the following questions:
• Have you ever felt bad or guilty about your drinking?
• Have you ever felt you should cut down on your drinking?
• Have you ever had a drink first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover?
• Have people annoyed you by criticizing your drinking?
More than one “yes” answer indicates a highly probable alcohol problem. Even one “yes” answer suggests the possibility of a problem with alcohol.
