Recognizing the different stages of alcoholism and their symptoms
14 terms
Memory gaps caused by alcohol interfering with the hippocampus, the brain’s memory center. Blackouts are the most familiar form, but repeated episodes can lead to lasting cognitive deficits; they are warning signs of neurotoxicity.
Consuming 4+ (women) or 5+ (men) drinks within two hours, raising blood-alcohol to 0.08% or higher. It creates acute risks of injury, blackout, or alcohol poisoning even in people who do not drink daily.
An episode of alcohol-induced amnesia where the person appears awake but later cannot recall events. It occurs at high BACs when alcohol blocks memory formation, signaling dangerous drinking levels and increased vulnerability to harm.
An intense, often physical urge to drink that can be triggered by cues, stress, or low mood. In recovery, cravings are normal and time-limited; learning to surf or distract from them without acting is a core relapse-prevention skill.
The most severe form of alcohol withdrawal, emerging 48–96 hours after the last drink. It presents with disorientation, vivid hallucinations, racing heart, and wild blood-pressure swings; without emergency care it carries a 5–15% mortality risk.
The initial phase where drinking shifts from social to coping use. Tolerance rises, hangovers worsen, and the person begins planning activities around alcohol while still maintaining work and relationships. Early intervention here offers the best chance of reversal.
Unpleasant cluster of symptoms—headache, nausea, fatigue, anxiety—that peaks as BAC returns to zero. Caused by dehydration, acetaldehyde buildup, immune response, and sleep disruption; repeated hangovers often drive heavier morning drinking to feel “normal.”
For men, more than 4 drinks any single day or 14 per week; for women, more than 3 drinks a day or 7 per week. This pattern significantly increases risk of liver disease, hypertension, and dependence over time.
Chronic, compulsive drinking dominates life despite severe health, legal, and social fallout. Organ damage, malnutrition, and cognitive decline are common; withdrawal without medical help can be dangerous or fatal. Recovery still possible but requires intensive support.
Inability to reliably stop after the first drink or to stay abstinent once started. It reflects neuroadaptations in reward circuits and is a defining feature of alcohol use disorder; abstinence-based strategies replace attempts at controlled drinking.
Marked by daily or near-daily drinking, failed quit attempts, and mounting consequences like job warnings or relationship strain. The body now expects alcohol, producing shakes or sweats without it, and secrecy and isolation increase.
Recurring, intrusive thoughts about obtaining, using, or planning to use alcohol that crowd out other concerns. This mental preoccupation is a hallmark of addiction and can persist into early sobriety, gradually easing with treatment and support.
Alcohol-withdrawal seizures are brief, generalized convulsions occurring 6–48 hours after cessation in chronic drinkers. They signal central-nervous-system hyperexcitability and require immediate medical evaluation to prevent progression to delirium tremens.
The predictable set of physical and psychological symptoms—tremors, sweating, insomnia, agitation, nausea—that appear when a dependent person stops or sharply reduces drinking. Severity ranges from mild discomfort to life-threatening complications requiring medical detox.