Alcohol

The Last Stage of Alcohol Abuse is when you:

• Live to drink; alcohol comes before everything else
• Experience loneliness; avoid and distrust people
• Continue to drink despite painful results, such as physical injury, academic, legal, or financial troubles
• Have difficulty sleeping
• Never seem to eat, suffer from malnutrition and the "shakes"
• Experience blackouts or significant memory losses during or after drinking

   

  If you have experienced one or two of the above behaviors, you might want to consider reviewing your reasons for drinking and the possible problems with those reasons.   If you have experienced two or more of these behaviors, especially if they fall in the middle to late stages, seriously consider getting help from a counselor.

  For those with more serious problems, it often seems like you can control drinking on your own.   This is easier said than done.   It is also very common to deny serious warning signs.   But the longer treatment is deferred, the more damaging the academic, physical, and emotional effects of alcohol abuse can be.