The Consequences Of Alcohol Abuse On Those Around You

Alcoholism is a condition that develops over time. Repeatedly destructive choices to consume excessive levels of alcohol eventually produce physical and mental dependency on alcohol, ravaging one’s personal health on many levels.

Due to the heavy consumption, alcoholics often live completely unaware of the world around them. Their reaction time is slower and their sense of reality is completely blurred. If you are an alcoholic, you may not have spent very much time analyzing the consequences of alcohol abuse on those around you.

Effects of Alcoholism on the Family

 Especially for those struggling with alcoholism who have children, the effects are nothing short of devastating. 

As stated above, alcoholics tend to be somewhat unaware of reality. Alcohol causes mental scattering and a false perception of reality, thus making it hard to grasp the real consequences of one’s heavy drinking.

Families often have a very hard time watching their loved one (mother, father, sister, brother, child, etc.) drown their lives in alcohol. Especially because many alcoholics exhibit severe denial, it can be hard to help them without the assistance of rehabilitation or intervention professionals.

Alcoholics put tremendous burdens on their families, financially, mentally and otherwise. For example,

• Children with alcoholic parent(s) commonly experience emotional neglect, domestic violence or abuse.

• Due to their unstable lifestyle or a loss of job, alcoholics often have to borrow money to support their habit.

• Most families, wishing to be supportive, provide financial assistance or lodging only to be betrayed with alcohol-driven theft or dishonesty.

Alcohol Abuse: The Ripple Effect

The most obvious damage an alcoholic does is to himself/herself. Physically, mentally and emotionally, heavy alcohol consumption will actually drain an individual of motivation, energy and life. Further, the body of an alcoholic usually becomes very sick and problems of the liver arise, causing life to be an everyday struggle at best.

Causing harm to yourself inevitably harms those around you. If you are unable to function as a healthy, independent and responsible individual, you put everyone around you at risk.

Further, alcohol abuse generally causes a slew of personal and social issues, such as:

• Loss of job

• Domestic fights and arguments

• Neglect of one’s obligations or duties (leaving them to others)

 How Do I Know if I Have an Alcohol Problem?

Alcoholism is a progressive condition that gradually worsens if heavy drinking is continued over time.

Because you know yourself better than anyone else, you can determine the severity of your drinking problem better than anyone else.

Look honestly over some of the following indications of alcoholism. These are some of the most commonly seen signs of a drinking problem:

• Personal guilt or regret over drinking. (Modest drinking doesn’t usually produce regret, but excessive drinking will.)

• Patterns of lying, dishonest and other actions to hide one’s drinking habits.

• Drinking alone or at odd hours of the day.

• An anxiety over alcohol; the need for a drink every few hours to avoid physical discomfort.

• Consistent bad hangovers or “blacking out” as a result of drinking too much.

• Expressions of concern from friends, family or co-workers.

Further, if you find yourself gradually requiring more and more alcohol to feel drunk, be aware that this is a sign of physical tolerance building up. This can lead to dependency and a worsened state of alcohol abuse.

Source: http://www.helpguide.org/mental/alcohol_abuse_alcoholism_signs_effects_treatment.htm