How does alcoholism affect you or your family and what are the side affects physically?

Answer 1

this is a very complicated disease.

many alcoholics are able to hide their addiction from family,friends, and sometimes doctors until it is too far advanced to cure it.

emotional side effects can include depression,anxiety, mood swings. some people become physically and emotionally abusive towards others.

physical symptoms include
insomnia, frequent falls, bruises of different ages, blackouts, chronic depression, anxiety, irritability, tardiness or absence at work or school, loss of employment, divorce or separation, financial difficulties, frequent intoxicated appearance or behavior, weight loss, or frequent automobile collisions

Late signs and symptoms include medical conditions such as pancreatitis (inflammation/irritation of the pancreas), gastritis, cirrhosis (permanent scarring of the liver), neuropathy, anemia, alcoholic cardiomyopathy (heart disease), Wernicke's encephalopathy (abnormal brain functioning), Korsakoff's dementia, central pontine myelinolysis (brain degeneration), seizures, confusion, malnutrition, hallucinations, peptic ulcers, and gastrointestinal bleeding.

people who are in the late stages of alcoholism actually need the alcohol in their bodies in order to survive. failure to drink will cause them to go into severe withdrawl which causes

Mild to moderate psychological symptoms:

Feeling of jumpiness or nervousness
Feeling of shakiness
Anxiety
Irritability or easily excited
Emotional volatility, rapid emotional changes
Depression
Fatigue
Difficulty with thinking clearly
Bad dreams


Mild to moderate physical symptoms:

Headache - general, pulsating
Sweating, especially the palms of the hands or the face
Nausea
Vomiting
Loss of appetite
Insomnia, sleeping difficulty
Paleness
Rapid heart rate (palpitations)
Eyes, pupils different size (enlarged, dilated pupils)
Skin, clammy
Abnormal movements
Tremor of the hands
Involuntary, abnormal movements of the eyelids

Severe symptoms:

A state of confusion and hallucinations (visual) -- known as delirium tremens
Agitation
Fever
Convulsions
"Black outs" -- when the person forgets what happened during the drinking episode

Answer 2

I am an alcoholic in recovery, and many of the physical side effects don't come up until the mid to late stages of the disease. Therefore, it is pretty easy to look "functional" and be suffering from the disease. Mid stage symptoms would be cravings (feeling a desire to drink everyday, for example)...which is pretty much the worst of the physical signs that I got to when I reached my "bottom".

You can pick up a Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book on ebay, amazon or at an AA meeting, as well. Reading it will be helpful. I think one of the big misconceptions is that alcoholism is "just" about alcohol. It is such a spiritual/psychological disease that there are so many behaviors that are symptoms of the disease. I have a blog about recovery, including my story...google stayathomemotherdom. It can give you some of the insight inside the mind of an alcoholic...and also about the issues surrounding it.

Many who have commented here don't understand the disease: it's not just when we were drunk that our behavior affected others...that's why people can try and quit on their own and still be labeled a "dry drunk"....which is essentially an alcoholic who removes the alcohol but has not addressed the issues behind his/her alcoholism.

Answer 3

A very BIG question, and too much to answere here. You need to consult your MD, AA etc. But for highlights:

Affect on family; an active alcoholic may evoke so many emotions, form sorrow, to anger...but the end result of living with an alcoholic is anger, since they have the problem, but you get the problems, because when you drink you are not aware of how your actions affect others. Go to AA, a bunch of drunks you will be bound to love, since they are like you, and believe it , they can help you if you want help. I'm not a member but I don't need to be, I'm a family member to many a drunk.

As for physical problems, there are early problems like; missing work, forgetting, black outs, headaches, bladder infections, alcohol is a sugar and affects many parts of the body. Of course after many a year, and many a glass your liver will be affected, ah-la Crosby Stills and Nash. Better to take up bird watching.

Answer 4

You are asking for professional advice about a serious subject on a chat board where 80 percent of the people who answer questions don't have a clue what they are talking about.

If alcoholism has become a problem in your family, you need a lot of information and support in making decisions, and that must come from professionals who are trained in helping people deal with these issues.

If you are in school, see your guidance counsellor. If you are in college, go to the counselling center. If you are "out in the world," hit the yellow pages. Look for "alcoholism treatment" or for a counsellor or therapist. If you are not sure where to turn, ask the pastor of a large mainline protestant church (Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, or Episcopalian). You may not want a religious solution, but these people will know who the best counsellors or therapists are in your town.

Finally, for a little quick information, do an internet search on "alcoholism" or "alcoholism treatment."

But please, it is a serious, complex subject, and you can't be sure the answers you will get here are correct.

Back to your original question: alcoholism kills you slowly, unless the alcoholic gets crazy and starts shooting, or hits you with his/her car. If the choice is a slow death, it can be by malnutrition, cirrhosis of the liver, general damage to internal organs, extreme high blood pressure, or toxic chemicals in the blood affecting the brain and nervous system.

Alcoholism is a family disease, and has bad effects on everyone involved. Like I said, you need professional help. Like at 8:00 am tomorrow.

Answer 5

This may seem like an odd answer, but I recently had a chance to read the Big Book. I am reading it because I wanted to see if I could use it to quit smoking.

This is the Alcoholic's Anonymus's bible. It explains everything. Try to get a copy of the book. I think you have to attend a meeting to actually get a hard copy. It is available on line, but you can't order it on line....only read it. You can also reach out to Alanon....this is a support group for family members of alcoholics. It explains it as a disease, which it really is.

Good luck.

Answer 6

Alcoholism usually causes problems of chemical dependency on the person who drinks, and also a dysfunctional tendency of other family members to cover up the problem or ignore the problem. This leads to break down and dishonesty in family, work and social relationships. The alcoholic family member may not be there when people "need them" this causes problems for the growing children. for help, contact A.A.

Answer 7

It definitely affects a person's emotions, his/her school or job and the people around this person. I had an alcoholic relative who verbally abused and hurt his family so his family had to move out and convince him to get help. It hurt to see their little kids terrified of their father and I also felt pity for the father because somehow, alcohol was controling this once nice young man. It's sad really.

Answer 8

i don't mean to speak for Jj, but i dont think it was meant in a disrespectful way, as christians we believe that if you follow other religions you will die. it's not that we dont have respect for people and their views, as christians we should, but that we are trying to save people from something that could be so harmful. Proverbs 14:12 12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. if you look at it from an atheistic perspective, if you thought someone was going to die and suffer because of something they believed wouldn't you try to convince them to change? regardless or not if it offends you it would be better to save you from danger than to speak in a way that is politically correct. that said this shouldn't at any time be disrespectful, what you believe is and always should be your decision. anyway on to the answer to your question, i believe that the only way out of substance abuse or any temptation for that matter is Jesus christ Romans 6:22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. Luke 11:9-11 9"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 11"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[a] a fish, will give him a snake instead? Matthew 6:13 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one there is a way out there is a hope provided by Jesus our Lord Romans 6:14 14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. i know that what you are dealing with is not easy, i hope that you can find the same strength that i have in God's word and can experience the same healing in your life

Answer 9

I have not one but three daughters who are alcoholics. The middle daughter is vicious when she is drunk and will call the other family members crying and cursing us out. Right now she is not speaking to her older sister or me.

The oldest one has been in re-hab at least 10 times. She use to be drunk all the time and almost died with alcohol poisoning going to the hospital 5 times. She would not have anything to do with any members of our family because she was ashamed and tried to hide her problem. She has stopped drinking every day, but she still will do it occassionally. She now has cirrhrosis of the liver. It is hard for her to be around me, she cries and tells me over and over she is sorry she disappointed me. I never blamed her for her problem or yelled at her or put her down. I tried to be there for her to get her into treatment because I love her. She also goes to AA and has a sponsor to help her and the support of others who have the same problem.

The youngest daughter was drinking everyday also, but because she was born with a liver disease, and now the additonal drinking is causing the disease to worsen.She was in an abusive relationship with a guy and finally broke up with him after 15 years of being with him. She was already drinking while she was with him, and now she is worse and becoming like her older sister.

You younger adults think it is fun to drink and party all the time. But one day you may end up like my daughters. They have ruined their health, and I do not know what will happen to them. Their father and I tried to raise them right, but we divorced when they were little. It has hurt them in ways that we can never make up for. Their dad decided when he divorced me, he divorced them also. To get a divorce or have children without both parents greatly affects the mental health of your children. I will carry the burden of what has happened to my children to my grave. I love them, and I have failed them as their mother.

Answer 10

We all get along better when we're liquored up, when we're sober-it's all chaos and hell breaking loose...Gotta keep that liquor cabinent full or else.
ENOUGH WITH THE JOKING