Alcoholism is a disease, everyday drunkenness is a bad habit. By itself, alcohol consumption cannot be called drunkenness, nor is the habit of drinking during feasts. Another thing is that everyday drunkenness is a prerequisite for alcoholism, roughly speaking, one stems from the other.
The basis of drunkenness is a way of life, but alcoholism is a hereditary disease.
As the ancients said, there is only one step from a bad habit to vice, so alcoholism is the brother of drunkenness, although hiding for a while behind a mask of decency. Household drunkenness depends on the environment, alcoholism accompanies a person everywhere.
Factors common to these phenomena:
- appropriate environment
- presence of alcohol
- company presence
- unskilled work
- transition from the household level to the level of pathology
- free time
- booze as leisure
- dependence on a company or alcohol
Living in the environment of drinkers is not always a trigger of illness, but such an environment can become a prerequisite for household drunkenness.
Signs and symptoms
Household drunkenness is characterized by the absence of severe dependence. However, you can recognize an addiction by the following symptoms:
- Drinking only when given a reason.
- Controlling the amount of alcohol consumed.
- Heavy hangover.
- Feelings of guilt after sobering up.
Unlike the chronic alcoholic, the household drunkard drinks only during family meals, meetings with friends, and other events. If there is no reason to drink alcohol, a person will not create it artificially.
In addition, at the stage of home alcoholism, a person, although he can go too much with alcohol, in general controls the amount of alcohol consumed. After exceeding the personal dose in the morning, a very severe hangover appears, which is expressed in nausea with vomiting, severe headache, and weakness.
After sobering up, a household drunkard feels remorse for his behavior the day before, especially if he hears reproaches from loved ones. Aggressive behavior as a result of drinking is more common in chronic alcoholism.
Causes of household alcoholism
Household drunkenness can develop in any person for various reasons. It affects not only men, but also women, so this problem does not apply only to one sex. It usually occurs due to the fact that:
- a person has too much free time, which he prefers to spend over a glass of wine or other alcoholic drink, so this way of organizing leisure time becomes regular, and a person can freely find a company for himself;
- in many families, it is customary to drink on different holidays, so people just learn from childhood that at various festive events a feast is organized, at which alcohol is always present;
- drink for the company, and often if a person refuses to consume alcoholic beverages, then the rest of the company members begin to treat him with disdain;
- are haunted by psychological problems, since many people who face any difficulties in their life often calm down only after taking alcohol;
- the environment is wrongly chosen, therefore, if a person lives in a family of alcoholics, then it is quite difficult for him to refuse intoxicating drinks.
People themselves can choose the lifestyle that suits them, without relying on the opinions of friends and relatives. Therefore, they can get rid of the bad habit of regularly drinking alcoholic beverages, otherwise they will have to face household alcoholism.
The difference between domestic drunkenness and alcoholism
The difference between domestic drunkenness and alcoholism is that the former is not an addiction that cannot be dealt with. As for alcoholism in a chronic form, it is already a serious illness that requires appropriate treatment.
A household alcoholic can stop at any time and no longer drink alcohol, a chronic drunkard is no longer able to cope with addiction, because in the absence of the necessary dose of alcohol in his body, he experiences a severe syndrome. Unlike the everyday drunkard, who in the morning feels guilty for what he had done the night before, the alcoholic no longer feels any remorse, and often he does not even remember what happened to him the night before.
A home alcoholic can control the dose of alcohol consumed, but a chronic one no longer controls the situation. In general, the line between domestic and chronic alcoholism is very blurred.
Stages of household drunkenness
Household consumption of alcohol does not become a habit at all immediately, this process is formed in several successive stages:
Episodic abuse. At first, booze is present exclusively on holidays and various celebrations. This is normal and usually not a cause for concern. In a month, a person drinks less than a liter of strong alcohol, the pleasure of which is there, but there is no euphoric sensation.
Systematic drunkenness. A similar phenomenon is more typical for young people 18-35 years old who drink up to a liter of alcohol weekly. A certain dependence is already beginning to be traced, although the drinker himself is completely sure that he can always give up alcohol. Usually, such people drink light drinks like cocktails or beer, but it is these low-alcohol drinks that most often provoke the development of the habit, then the next stage begins.
Drinking out of habit. When the use of alcoholic beverages has already become a habit, a person can drink up to one and a half liters of strong alcohol a week, and he does not intend to give up his habit. Alcohol gives a euphoric feeling, so the person drinks more and more. If you do not take appropriate measures to limit alcohol, then soon drunkenness will reach chronic alcohol dependence.
It can be quite difficult to find and timely detect the line that separates chronic alcohol consumption from domestic drunkenness. It can be quite difficult to understand this for oneself, so it is very important that relatives notice and stop the drinker in time, and prevent him from becoming a chronic alcoholic.
How to recognize
Signs of a drunkard – dependence on alcohol in small doses, the ability to give up alcohol, but with difficulty. External signs: edema, bright capillary network on the face, hands. The voice changes, becomes hoarse, rough. The person stops looking after himself, walks with unwashed hair, in dirty, stained, unwashed clothes. Teenagers skip school, hide something from their parents, become aggressive and irritable. They start to steal. Grades drop sharply, the child rarely appears at home.
Symptoms of the habit:
- Constant hangover in the morning.
- A disgusting state of health to the “hangover dose”.
- Memory losses.
The reasons for drinking are out of thin air. The patient independently comes up with excuses for the addiction to a bad habit. He begins to celebrate even dates that are not related to him. This happens several times a week.
Treatment
Treatment of alcoholism at home is impossible! Only narcological dispensaries can help a person survive and get out of the vicious circle of drinking. Treatment is carried out at the psychiatric level. In the hospital, the patient is helped to relieve intoxication, symptoms of alcoholism and restore previous strength. A course of droppers with glucose is carried out. Psychiatrists help to overcome psychological addiction to alcohol, coding is carried out at the request of the patient. Coding is possible provided that the alcoholic has not drunk for 15-20 days. The presence of epilepsy and other neurological diseases are the main contraindications for coding. When carrying out the encoding, the patient should not have problems with the heart and psyche. The patient’s consent to the procedure is the main condition for effective treatment.
How to avoid the transition of domestic drunkenness to alcoholism
To prevent the transition of domestic drunkenness to alcoholism, you need to give up alcohol or reduce the amount of alcohol taken.
To achieve this goal, the following steps should be taken:
- Consultation of a psychotherapist and a narcologist, as well as following their recommendations.
- Combining traditional medicine with traditional methods.
- Getting rid of excess free time, which was spent on alcohol intake.
To achieve this goal, you can act in several directions:
- Leading an active social and family life.
- New hobbies, hobbies.
- Sports activities.
Getting physical and mental relaxation without drinking alcohol will make life bright and eventful, as well as avoid such a serious illness as alcoholism. Household drunkenness is fraught with many pitfalls, it is dangerous and insidious.
To avoid the sad prospects associated with it, it is best to try to stop in time, filling your life with worthy and interesting activities.
