Various signs of alcoholism exist to help you identify if your loved one is struggling with alcohol abuse. Sometimes alcohol abuse is easy to recognize if the person has a severe problem. However, in other cases, the person may attempt to hide their abuse by drinking in isolation. What appears to be minor abuse can also end up becoming a dangerous problem.

Common Signs of Alcoholism

There’s no precise formula for figuring out if a person is struggling with alcoholism, but some common symptoms include the following:

• Temporary blackouts or memory loss
• Drastic mood swings and irritability
• Choosing alcohol over obligations
• Drinking secretly or in solitary
• Hangover feelings when not drinking
• Avoiding friends and family

Many people with an alcohol abuse problem are in denial that they have one at all. They may offer excuses that they’re just having a drink to deal with stress or to relax. Even when they drink too much, they might say that it rarely happens and they just overdid it a bit. It’s essential not to validate or enable these excuses but instead to see them as warning signs that it might be a problem. One of the first steps towards recovery is recognizing that you have a problem.

Recognizing Signs of Alcoholism

Along with noticing signs of alcohol abuse from behavior patterns, there are also various screening tools to help with identifying alcoholism. One such tool is called CAGE, which asks four questions to help determine the severity of your drinking habits. If you can answer affirmatively to two or more of these questions, then you very likely need professional help. The four CAGE questions are as follows:

• Do you feel like you should drink less?
• Do you get annoyed when people criticize your drinking habits?
• Feel guilty about how much you drink?
• Do you need to have a drink right away in the morning to alleviate hangover symptoms or to relax?

Alcohol withdrawal symptoms and cravings or urges to consume alcohol are big signs that you may have an alcohol abuse disorder. If you tend to feel like you drink too much on a regular basis or if you have tried to cut back with no success, then it’s very possible that you have a drinking problem. People struggling with alcoholism end up making drinking their main goal on a daily basis. They lose interest in other hobbies while pursuing alcohol.

Treatment for Signs of Alcoholism

Get help for your drinking problem at an alcohol addiction treatment center Tacoma WA offers. Bayview Recovery offers substance abuse treatment to the Pacific Northwest demographic where treatment centers are hard to find. Our facility offers the following services:

• Partial hospitalization
• Intensive outpatient and outpatient
• Aftercare and extended care for 90 days
• Dual diagnosis therapy
• Trauma therapy
• Insurance based payment

We offer a flexible and personalized treatment program that can help both those in rehab for the first time and those who have attended rehab before.

If alcohol addiction controls your life, then get help today by reaching out to a quality drug rehab like Bayview Recovery. Give us a call at 855.478.3650 and let us help you get on the path to recovery.