Synonyms
Alcohol addiction, alcohol disease, alcohol addiction, drunkenness, ethylism, dipsomania, potomania,
Introduction
The pathological, uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages is known in medical terminology as alcoholism. Within Germany, alcoholism is a widespread phenomenon. In the meantime, the pathological consumption of alcoholic beverages is even recognised as an independent illness. For this reason, both statutory and private health insurance companies are obliged to cover the entire cost of therapy. The effects of alcoholism on the organism are among the most frequent causes of death, along with the consequences of tobacco consumption and general diseases of the cardiovascular system.
Symptoms
The symptoms of alcoholism are very variable and do not present themselves in the same way and to the same degree in every affected person. Some classic symptoms, however, can be seen in almost every person suffering from alcoholism, and it is precisely these symptoms that can be used as a first indication of the existence of a dependency. People suffering from alcoholism consume large quantities of alcoholic beverages throughout the day.
After some time, alcohol is not just a narcotic but rather an addictive substance for those affected. People suffering from alcoholism no longer see the consumption of alcoholic beverages as a social event, but drink on their own. Furthermore, alcohol is no longer used as a pure luxury food, consumption is carried out because the organism of the person concerned requires ethanol, an ingredient of alcoholic beverages, as an addictive substance.
Due to the progression of the addictive behaviour, the affected persons find themselves in a situation that increasingly restricts their life. The classic alcoholic begins to orientate his or her entire daily routine towards the procurement and consumption of alcohol. This behaviour is usually accompanied by a far-reaching loss of control of their own drinking behaviour.
The person suffering from alcoholism is usually unaware of how much alcohol he or she consumes and how the daily intoxication affects his or her behaviour and relationship with his or her environment. Most alcoholics trivialise or deny their own drinking behaviour. A typical indication of the presence of alcoholism is the fact that the person concerned increasingly loses himself in compulsive consumption.
Social obligations and contact with the family are increasingly neglected. From a medical point of view, alcoholism is a classic addiction. This assumption is supported by the fact that a classic withdrawal symptomatology can be observed in the patients affected when alcohol consumption is reduced. In the course of this it comes to: Alcoholism has long been recognised in medicine as an independent clinical picture and consequently its treatment is usually covered by health insurance companies. – Excretion of cold sweat ,
- To palpitations up to
- To the occurrence of nausea.