Signs of Alcohol Abuse

What are the signs of alcohol abuse? How can I tell if my teen is using alcohol? How can I tell if my loved one is alcoholic?

As with any illness, a qualified professional is an important part of making a diagnosis. However, if your alcoholic is anything like mine was, they have little interest in getting a professional assessment of their drinking behavior.

And really, does it matter? All you really need is a basic understanding of whether or not you are dealing with alcoholism or some other problem. For surely there is a problem or the likelihood is that you wouldn’t be at this web site in the first place.

Following are some of the potential signs of alcoholism. You may note that a number of these are similar to the signs of drug abuse. Even if it is legal and in common use, alcohol is a drug and has many signs of abuse in common with the abuse of other kinds of drugs.

Noting any single item in the list likely means little unto itself. However, the more of these that you can identify in relation to your loved one, particularly of the ones that are alcohol specific, the greater the likelihood that alcohol abuse is at least part of the problem you are dealing with.

What are the signs of alcohol abuse?

• Anger in response to questions about their drinking
• Blackouts
• Blaming problems related to chronic drinking on something other than drinking
• Cannot stop after taking one or two drinks
• Chronic craving for alcohol
• Continuing to drink even though it is exacerbating health problems
• Decreasing pleasure from alcohol consumption while continuing to drink in greater quantities
• Difficulty handling stress
• Drinking every day
• Drinking causes pain to other family members
• Drinking in the morning
• Frequently hung over
• Getting up during the night to have a drink
• Impaired health due to alcohol consumption
• Inability to stop drinking for any length of time
• Increased conflict with friends or family
• Increasing amounts of alcohol needed to achieve the physical effects
• It appears that drinking behavior is getting out of control
• Lapses in memory
• Legal trouble due to drinking (e.g. repeated impaired driving)
• Loss of job due to drinking
• Missing days of work due to drinking
• Passing out from drinking in order to get to sleep
• Spending money on alcohol rather than essentials like food and rent
• Withdrawal symptoms if they don’t drink – sweating, shakiness, nausea, anxiety

Keep in mind that this is a list of possible symptoms. There may be others that manifest for your loved one, for each of us is unique. Ultimately the key determination is whether or not your loved one’s drinking behavior is causing negative effects for you or your family. If so, then you have a problem, regardless any official determination of whether or not your loved one is alcoholic.

My alcoholic addict had 14 of these symptoms, even early in my marriage. Yet it still took me five years before I admitted that I had a problem and began to look for help.

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