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Article by Graham Timson

Alcohol! The word brings with itself a number of images to one’s mind. Some of them are good but mostly they are negative. Drinks are associated with functions, parties and celebrations but that is not the end of the story. People who enjoy alcohol on occasional basis do not have to face the negative effects of alcohol. It is those people who are alcoholics who need to bear the bad effects of high alcohol blood level in their bodies. There are a few signs of to lookout for to know whether a person is addicted to alcohol or not. Now, some people think that signs of alcoholism in women are different from those that are found in men. Let’s see how true it is.

It is found that the alcoholics show a certain kind of symptoms when they are totally in the grip of this poison. Now, if somebody wishes to get rid of this habit then first of all one should try to recognize these signs. One needs to know that alcohol affects the mind of the human body and whatever symptoms or problems an alcoholic faces is just because of this reason only. And the mind of a man and a woman is almost similar. That is the reason why most of the signs are the same – be it males or females.

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The past year has been very difficult for us and the years to come only progress in difficulty as new challenges arise. Earlier last spring, my dear father was sentenced to five years incarcerated for fraudulent crimes. However, another challenge soon arose when my mother’s alcoholism worsened. She has always suffered from alcoholism and has always been intoxicated more than sober, but without my father here to help care for us, we were primarily left on our own.

His Symptoms:
My brother is constantly irritable and shows a lot of self-hate. He blames himself for things clearly not his fault. He has become increasingly angry and even punched a hole in his door after my mother’s last drunken action. He has also broken a range of objects through anger including a pair of glasses, a flower pot, several pencils, and he snapped his cell phone in half twice – it seems he breaks whatever he can get his hands on during his manic episodes. He is also constantly sad and never positive. He has trouble sleeping and never goes to bed before 4am, thus his school work has suffered. He is also always fatigued (which is probably a result of low sleep) and he is losing weight. He is a growing 16 year old boy, yet he is never hungry any more. He also has difficulty concentrating and a loss of interest in sports, which is used to pride himself in. He is also impatient and usually agitated.

I’m only 16. I’m asking because for the last 2 years especially, I’ve been doing heavy drinking 3-5 days a week usually with maybe one or two days in between binges. Now I’m just quitting. Completely quitting it.

My husband has just recently been diagnosed with PTSD, and now he is saying that the reason he treated me badly before was because of the PTSD. He has emotionally abused me for nearly 6 years now and i have stayed because i always thought he needed me to be there for him to help him deal with his alcoholism, among other things. But the big question is…if he is on medication for his PTSD now, why does he still treat me this way, and do you think that the emotional abuse is really because he has PTSD, and not just because he is an a**hole?!!
thank you so much dsayless…you just put alot of things into perspective for me. i really appreciate your advice.

I have always had a hard time walking away from bad relationships. I stay in them until I go numb or that person leaves me. I am afraid to be alone. I divorced the first guy that I was with because he pushed me to far. He beat me and I left him. My second husband was really cold and treated me bad. He left me. People have told me to walk away from one bad relationship to another. These people are right, but I still can’t seem to walk away. After that, I met this guy. I have been with him for over 4 years. He was so sweet at first and made me feel like a queen. Then, be became very controlling, verbally and physically abusive. I blamed it on his alcoholism. After he quit drinking, he mellowed out a bit. I lost 40 pounds and started looking a little better. Lately he is becoming more possessive and controlling. I almost want to run away. He has to know where I am at all times. He flips out if I don’t call him the moment I get to my destination. He will ask where I went, who I talked to, and so forth. I feel like I am being investigated by a detective with him. We do what ever he wants, and see only his friends. He criticizes everything I do. He screams at me when I am driving and tells me what a lousy driver I am. He talks to me like I am an infant. He calls me stupid all the time and other horrid names. I walk on egg shells not to make him mad. It seems like he hates everything about me. He always tells me that I can’t do anything right. I have no self esteem now. I am over 30 and fear that no one in this world would want me. I feel so low right now that I don’t know what to do. I look in the mirror and feel so ugly. Just when I think of leaving him, he can be so sweet. He promises me that he wont treat me bad anymore. He knows he treats me bad because he describes all the things that he does. He knows it’s wrong. The other day, we were going to the DMV. I made the wrong turn because I was not sure where it was. He started screaming at me. The veins were popping out of his neck and I was afraid that he might hit me. After that he apologized again and swore to me that he would work on his anger. He tells me what to wear, how to talk, basically not to be myself. I have isolated myself from my family and friends. I am afraid to have him meet my dad, because I am afraid he will embarrass me by acting like a raging jerk if he doesn’t get his way. I wont take him to the company picnic because he is so damned jealous. Heaven forbid if one of my ‘male’ co workers’ says ‘hi’. I have every reason to leave because he is bringing me down. I just don’t have the strength to walk away. I am getting to the point that I am tired of all his crap. I am a free spirit and hate being told what to do. I am also afraid of what he will do to me if I leave. Why can’t I leave? Why is this so hard? Serious people only. Please be mature about this, don’t leave any smart assed comments. I am at my wits end here please help me…

stopped drinking? my friend was telling me that it only takes a 6 pack everyday for 6 months. I don’t know if thats true. That doesn’t seem like enough to cause death from withdrawal symptoms.