Ghosts!

Alcoholism develops in three stages. This disease can take many years to develop into a full blown addiction. Alcoholism begins when the drinker’s physical and mental health become affected and ruled by alcohol. At this point they have gone from drinking to alcoholism.

The early stages of alcoholism usually go unnoticed by not only friends and family but also the drinker. A person begins drinking in this stage for new reasons such as daily stress or a personal or professional problem. They may drink to change their mood or avoid the one they are currently feeling.

In the intermediate stage the drinker no longer needs a reason to drink. They may even fabricate reasons to drink. He or she is now drinking way over socially acceptable limits, until they reach a loss of control point or blackout. The drinker may have a DUI. Family and friends are now aware that there is a problem and the drinker gets angry when alcohol abuse is mentioned. The drinker thinks he or she can stop drinking anytime they want to. This is no longer the case. They will say “I will never drink again!” and sincerely mean it. They are shocked to find that when they stop, the cravings for alcohol are all but unbearable.

The advanced stages of alcoholism include friends and family of the alcoholic being appalled at the self destruction the drinker is engaging in. There is damage to internal organs, and the body and mind is slipping away. Anyone who tries to talk the drinker into quitting is wasting his time. These efforts are falling on deaf ears.

Once in the advanced stage, it will take a event of enormous proportions to get the drinker to decide they genuinely want to stop drinking. At this point the drinker will find that if they do attempt to stop their addiction, they will experience extreme withdrawal symptoms.

Quitting alcohol is a tremendous challenge. There are many success stories of people who were able to overcome their addiction to alcoholit can be done. But for all of the success stories, there are those who battled alcohol and wanted to win that were unable to beat the strong hold alcohol has. The most important thing to remember is that you can do it and no matter what obstacles come, never give up.