Withdrawal Symptoms of Alcohol

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Dr. David Thomas. I'm a practicing psychotherapist with Whitford Thomas Group in Tampa, Florida, here to discuss the withdrawal symptoms of alcohol. What we're talking about withdrawal symptoms of alcohol, and that says we're talking about the alcohol leaving the system. If we go back just for a moment and we look at how does it get in to the system in the first place, obviously, we drink it, but from there it's absorbed in the stomach, and the small intestines, and then circulated through the body, through the blood system, or then through the blood. So the more alcohol you drink, the more dense the alcohol is in the blood itself. That's why when we talk about BAC, blood alcohol concentration, it's the amount of alcohol that's actually in the blood, and then eventually it gets to the kidneys, and the liver, and then processed out through the, through your urine. Now, at that point is the alcohol is leaving your system, that's when you're going to see the withdrawal symptoms. The more alcohol you have in your system, the more sever you're going to experience the withdrawing, because the body is, is struggling to really process, and the alcohol is not a fluid that is, that is comfortable in the system. So certainly, as it kind of poisons the system, so to speak, it begins to with draw from the system, that's when you're going to start to see the withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms can be varied, it can be headaches, nausea a little more sever symptoms, you're looking at shakes, breathing difficulties, some anxiety and depression often times occurs with that. A much more sever withdrawal symptom is what we call DT's, or delirium tremors. At that point, you're looking at the possibility of hallucinations, some significant cardiovascular problems, significant health problems related to that, in some sever cases, even psychosis. And as psychosis with very severe alcoholics can last a short period of time, or some individuals never recover from that psychosis, but that's much more in your sever cases, and generally you see that in the older population. Hope this information has been helpful to you. From Tampa, Florida, I'm Dr. David Thomas."