If you or someone close to you seems to be drinking too much, you or they might display signs of alcohol abuse. Symptoms of alcoholism are often disregarded and viewed as socially acceptable hangovers when they represent a severe substance abuse disorder. Thankfully, you can get help at an alcohol treatment center.

How Does Alcohol Impact the Body?

When you drink, alcohol affects a lot of areas in your body. 

Brain

Alcohol consumption interferes with the communication pathways in your brain. This changes how your brain functions and leads to mood changes, behavioral changes, problems with coordination, and a lack of mental clarity.

Heart

Symptoms of alcoholism can include organ damage, especially to the heart. Excessive drinking over a long period or binge drinking on a single occasion can lead to high blood pressure, cardiomyopathy, arrhythmias, and stroke.

Liver 

For many people, severe signs of alcohol abuse can be found in the liver. Heavy drinking leads to liver inflammation, specifically fatty liver disease, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and alcoholic hepatitis.

What Are the Signs of Alcoholism?

Signs of alcoholism can take many forms, including psychological, behavioral, and physical.

Physical signs can start with a physical dependence but take the form of headaches, nausea, changes to personal hygiene, significant weight gain, or weight loss because of things like binge drinking or excessive eating while under the influence.

Behavioral signs of alcohol abuse include irritability, mood changes, or rapid mood swings. It can also include personality changes, no longer participating and hobbies that were once enjoyable, and pulling away from friends and family, all in exchange for alcohol consumption. Someone struggling with symptoms of alcoholism might suddenly start lying, or just plain secretive behavior, where they lie about how much they drink or how often, and they stash bottles around their home for fast and easy access.

Psychological signs of alcohol abuse overlap with behavioral symptoms, including mood swings, personality changes, secretive behavior, and even financial trouble or problems at work as the individual exchanges those for alcohol consumption.

What Are the Signs of Alcohol Withdrawal?

The signs of alcohol withdrawal are the same as a hangover. That’s what a hangover is–a withdrawal. Signs include:

• Headaches
• Fatigue
• Anxiety
• Tremors
• High blood pressure
• Mood changes
• Insomnia
• Gastrointestinal problems
• Heart palpitations
• Problems breathing
• Hypothermia
• Hallucinations
• Seizures

But as you continue to drink, your body builds up a tolerance making those signs worse. 

So whereas your first hangover after a college party might have left you with a headache the morning after, some nausea, and dizziness that go away after a few hours, signs of alcohol abuse mean incredibly intense headaches, nausea, and tremors that start as soon as you stop drinking and don’t go away for days. 

How to Get Treatment for Alcoholism in Florida

One of the most important considerations when getting treatment for alcoholism in Florida is medically assisted detox. Detox from alcohol comes with a handful of potential medical complications. Without proper supervision, these can be life-threatening. If you are showing symptoms of alcoholism, you can find reliable treatment centers throughout Florida. 

Partial Hospitalization, Intensive Outpatient, and More

We know that everyone needs personalized treatment once they show signs of alcoholism. That is why we offer a range of services like partial hospitalization, medical detox for alcoholism, and outpatient services. 

With each of these, you can rely on a customized therapy program designed with you in mind. We start with an initial assessment when you first reach out to our facility. That assessment helps us better understand any other substance abuse issues with what you might struggle with, your physical health, mental health, and family medical history. All of this information remains completely confidential. It helps us design a personalized program to treat your signs of alcoholism in the most effective way possible. This includes creating suitable types of psychotherapy, medication-assisted detox, and ongoing group therapy. 

Group-Specific Treatment

Signs of alcoholism can impact some groups more than others. Veterans, for example, struggle with symptoms of alcoholism above any other substance abuse category. With Prevail Recovery, you can get Veteran-specific treatment today to help with your addiction. 

36% of lawyers and 15% of doctors struggle with alcohol abuse because of workplace stress. That is why we offer specialized treatment for professionals. 

Let Prevail Recovery help you address your signs of alcohol abuse today.