Types of alcoholism

¿You think you can have alcohol problems? ¿You know someone who in your opinion drinks more than the account? ¿How many types of alcoholism are there and what are they?

Alcohol is present in our society as a substance of habitual consumption in social meetings and celebrations. However, little responsible consumption can generate serious consumer problems, both in your health and in social and labor relations. In this psychology-online article we explain what the disease of alcoholism, its symptoms and the Types of alcoholism. If you feel identified or identified, do not hesitate to consult with a specialist professional.

1. What is alcoholism
2. Symptoms of alcoholism
3. Could you have alcohol problems?
4. Alcoholic Alfa
5. Beta Alcoholic
6. Alcoholic epsilon
7. Gamma Alcoholic
8. Alcoholics Delta
9. Chronic alcoholism
10. Acute alcoholism
11. Phases of alcoholism according to Jellinek

What is alcoholism

He alcoholism It is a disease caused by Excessive and prolonged consumption of alcoholic beverages. Consumption creates physical and/or psychological dependence and affects the health of the consumer and the different areas of your life (family, work, social ...).

Continued alcohol consumption causes Physical health problems such as liver cirrhosis, hypertension, gastrointestinal problems, malnutrition, cardiovascular problems and increases the probability of suffering from some types of cancer. As for mental health they can appear mood disorders such as depression, accentuate some diseases and even produce brain damage. In addition, a great intake can cause death.

Symptoms of alcoholism

Alcoholism can go from slight to serious according to symptoms, but it is harmful in any of the cases. The symptoms vary according to the person, but in general they are the following:

• Inability to limit the amount of alcohol you consume.
• Desire or attempts that end up reducing the amount of alcohol you consume.
• Use of time to drink or recovery after having drunk.
• Strong desire or need to drink alcohol.
• Failure to comply with labor or family responsibilities due to alcohol consumption.
• Continuous alcohol consumption even when you know this causes health and social problems.
• Abandonment or reduction of social or labor activities and hobbies to consume alcohol.
• Alcohol consumption in situations where it is not safe, such as driving or swimming.
• Alcohol tolerance development, so you need more to feel its effect or have a reduced effect by the same amount.
• Presence of abstinence symptoms, such as nausea, sweating and tremors, when you don't drink, or drink to avoid these symptoms.
• Constant alcohol search and drinking reasons.

Alcoholism includes episodes of alcohol and episodes poisoning with the presence of abstinence symptoms.

• Symptoms of poisoning: Inadequate behavior, unstable moods, alteration of the ability to judgment, difficulty speaking, attention or poor coordination problems. You can also have the so -called mental lagoons, which are episodes in which you do not remember what happened. Very high blood alcohol levels can cause a coma or even death.
• Reporting symptoms: several hours can occur or up to four or five days after a large alcohol intake. They consist of sweating, acceleration of heartbeat, tremors in the hands, sleeping problems, nausea and vomiting, hallucinations, restlessness and nervousness, anxiety and even seizures can even occur. Symptoms can affect you in performing daily activities.

In this article you can see the effects of alcohol on the brain and nervous system.

Could you have alcohol problems?

We are accustomed to identifying the alcoholic as someone who drinks from morning, who has obvious problems and spends practically the drunk day. But There are many types of alcoholism and some very difficult to identify from the outside. And all of them are more or less obvious, they can cause very serious health problems.

The following questions can guide you about needing help or not.

• ¿You have once tried to stop drinking for a week and you have not been able to fulfill it?
• ¿Some relative or friend has told you that you drink too much?
• ¿You have woken up without remembering what had happened the night before?
• ¿You have ever drunk in the morning or have waited impatiently for the time to be able to take a drink?
• ¿You have felt shame for your way of drinking on occasion?
• ¿You have ever arrived late or missing your work because of alcohol or hangover?
• ¿You have drunk at home before a social meeting like a party?
• ¿You have had discussions or family problems related to alcohol consumption?

If you have answered that one of these questions is recommended that you consult with a professional. Recognize the problem is the first step in the recovery of the disease. In the following article you can read the consequences of alcoholism.

1. Alcoholic Alfa

¿How many types of alcoholism are there and what are they? Jellinek distinguishes several types of alcoholism in his best known book "alcoholic disease": this type of alcoholics have some physical or psychological problem or illness and drink precisely to reduce the effects of their disease (anxiety, depression, insecurity, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia …). It does not follow social norms regarding time, quantity, place and yet it does not present lack of control or inability to refrain. This type is also known as Evasion consumption and can evolve to Gamma.

2. Beta Alcoholic

Another type of alcoholism according to Jellinek's classification is beta. In this type of alcoholism there are people who usually drink and in excess, but do not develop a total alcohol dependence. They can drink for a long time, leave it for long periods and then drink again. Having no dependency, they do not have abstinence symptoms, but they do develop health problems such as liver cirrhosis, gastritis and other similar. This type can lead to Gamma or Delta and presents a general deterioration of health and a decrease in life expectancy.

3. Alcoholic epsilon

In the third type of alcoholism according to Jellinek, the person stops drinking for long periods, but a clear explanation baby large amounts of alcohol at specific times. It's a more punctual consumption But when baby runs Ethyl coma risk due to quantity.

4. Gamma Alcoholic

People who belong to this group do not seem alcoholic because They hide their addiction. Apparently they drink normally, but then health problems related to alcohol consumption begin to appear. The dependency begins being psychological and then goes to physics due to the symptoms of abstinence.

5. Alcoholics Delta

The last type of alcoholism according to Jellinek is the Delta. Those belonging to this group They drink a lot and daily. They have developed one High tolerance So apparently it does not affect them in the development of their life. They do not hide their way of drinking and that suggests others who do not have a problem, however, it affects their health. Sometimes they get very drunk despite their tolerance.

6. Chronic alcoholism

One of the classifications of alcoholism is that of chronic and acute types. To see the difference between chronic and acute alcoholism, we will explain what each consists of.

Chronic alcoholism includes a habitual consumption of alcoholic beverages. The chronic consumer usually presents distrust, irritability and some depressive periods that in extreme cases can take it to suicide.Consumption affects many of its organs, especially the nervous system (tremors, digestive alterations, etc.) Delirium tremens may appear. This type of alcoholism is associated with a High tolerance, dependence and health problems.

7. Acute alcoholism

This type of alcoholism is transitory. Is about Great specific intakes of alcohol that has effects that range from euphoria, to sadness or loss of reason. The person presents dizziness, nausea and vomiting on some occasions. In this type of alcoholism there is no tolerance for what it presents High risk of ethyl commas. If abstinence symptoms disappear after a few hours.

Therefore, the fundamental difference between chronic and acute alcoholism is that in the first one there is a habitual consumption of alcohol while in the second the consumption is punctual, but it is usually elevated.

Phases of alcoholism according to Jellinek

Elvin Morton Jellinek was the first to do a scientific study on alcoholism and addictions. Created a graphic model so that everyone could understand the real progress of alcoholism in each person.

Jellinek's scale serves to measure alcoholism degrees of people in a general way. He identified three phases in the alcoholism progress of an individual, which we will see below:

1. Crucial phase

This phase includes the passage of occasionally drinking to Drink to relieve anxiety or the perception of the problems that person has. Alcohol consumption increases and this entails physical and psychological problems that affect social relationships. Initially it does not seem importance, but the more consumption increases, the more dependence the alcohol creates until a time comes when it cannot act normally without drinking.

The person becomes addicted and Use the effects of alcohol to cope with problems. On the other hand, the withdrawal syndrome appears, which leads them to drink to eliminate the discomfort that it generates.

In this phase the effects of continuing alcohol consumption such as Mental lagoons. Time and resources are dedicated to buying and drinking alcohol during the day and some tasks are eliminated to start drinking before.

Consequently, problems at work, social, family and sentimental relationships begin. That is when it goes to the next phase: the chronic phase.

2. Chronic phase

In this phase alcohol consumption is already continued and has begun to generate problems in different areas of the person's life. Seeing the consequences of consumption, he has tried to stop drinking several times, but without success.

Drink compulsively and your life revolves around alcohol consumption. Look for any excuse and time to drink. Even seeing everything negative that is causing your addiction, you can't stop drinking. Health is affected and although it may not have symptoms of deterioration, internal organs may already be committed.

Enters a circle of destruction in which Keep consuming alcohol even knowing the damage it does and suffers episodes of guilt and despair for not being able to leave the drink.

At this point if consumption continues, the consequences can be serious and the dramatic end.

3. Rehabilitation phase

The person realizes the severity of the consequences of alcohol consumption and decides to stop drinking. For this, seek external help. In the rehabilitation process it goes through several stages to be clean of the substances that have made it addicted.

In case you have a person who is in this phase, we recommend the following article: family orientations and therapeutic steps to help the alcoholic.

This article is merely informative, in psychology-online we have no power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Types of alcoholism, We recommend that you enter our category of addictions.