29% of Russians support compulsory treatment for alcoholism
VTsIOM

An alcoholic is not only that gray-faced creature in a tattered quilted jacket who dances at the recording stall. In the narrow, medical understanding of this term, even a citizen who drinks only on Fridays (but regularly) is sick with alcoholism, just at an early stage. And “sick” means he may well end up with a tattered quilted jacket. It is impossible to dig the ground all the time and have the hole remain the same size. Each subsequent drinking session deepens your “hole,” inevitably bringing the era of blue parrots closer.

And the second note. Alcoholism is interesting because it develops gradually and comes on (for the alcoholic himself) suddenly. Everyone drinks around here, right? Well, you’re a sinner, you allow yourself to. It's probably just a period in your life. But you’re not a drunkard - you go to work, you’re interested in politics. And you're about to stop drinking completely. And then it turns out that you should have quit five years ago, but now you can’t get out of this on your own - either go to the clinic or wait for the mentioned parrots.

How not to miss the moment when you should stop? Together with the chief physician of the Marshak Clinic, Svetlana Matveeva, we have compiled a test that will show what level your pit is. And isn’t it time to get out of it?

And answer honestly (you are alone here, no one will see). Otherwise, all this makes no sense.

1. Do you believe in the healing properties of alcohol?

A No...0
B Yes, in some cases...0
In Only he saves...1

"A little alcohol can be good,- says Dr. Matveeva. - Everyone knows that red wine has a beneficial effect on digestion and cardiovascular system. A sip of warm wine or mulled wine acts as an excellent antipyretic.”. But remember how you were treated the last couple of years? For a headache you drank cognac, for a sore throat - vodka with pepper. Even a black eye was treated with tequila. It seems that your body simply requires alcohol and is looking for any loopholes to convince you of the need to take it.

2. Are you sure you can quit?

A I don't drink...0
B Why quit if it doesn’t bother me?...1
In Brosha for the New Year, for sure...2
G I often stop for a while and then start again...3

“I'm not an alcoholic. I may or may not drink.", says the drunkard with a fair amount of habitus on his face. This “denial of the obvious” is so typical of alcoholism that they even came up with a separate term for it - “anosognosia.” “A sick person cannot always critically assess his condition, - Svetlana Matveeva nods. - He will never say that alcohol interferes with him - on the contrary, he will look for the reasons for his failures and troubles only in those around him.”. If you are thinking that it’s time to quit, then you have a chance. However, a constant return to alcohol means that you can no longer cope on your own - you need the help of specialists.

3. Can you drink more than you did a year ago? And you drink

A No...0
B Yes...1

Now it’s like this every time: you thought about drinking a little, but after the second one you abruptly changed your mind and sucked down everything you could find in the house. Even a Chinese bottle with a snake, given by friends. And, of course, I also went for beer. “Loss of quantitative control is one of the main signs of alcoholism, says Dmitry Vashkin, leading psychiatrist and narcologist at the Marshak Clinic. - And the most irreversible. Even if you stop drinking altogether now, and in 10 years you try to drink one glass, at the end of the evening you will again go for beer with unsteady steps.”. Don't think that your health has improved dramatically because you can drink more and more without falling face-first into your salad. It’s just that your system of cleansing the body of alcohol, sensing trouble, went into emergency mode. Pretty soon it will burn out from such exploitation and you will begin to turn into a pig from a glass of beer.

4. How often do you drink?

A I don't drink at all...0
B Only on holidays...0
Rarely, but accurately...1
B Every day...2

If you drink every day after work, you are an alcoholic. If you take a sip from a flask after every conversation with an angry boss (“exclusively to relieve stress”), you are an alcoholic. You don’t drink all week, but you allow yourself to relax on Friday evening - you’re also an alcoholic, don’t flatter yourself. “This is a disease that consists of physical and psychological factors, - Doctor Vashkin pronounces his verdict. - You have formed stereotypical behavior - in the same situations you act the same way, that is, you drink.”. This is addiction.

5. Can you imagine a party without alcohol?

A Yes...0
B No...1

The crushing success of alcohol in Russia is explained, among other things, by the place it occupied in the schedule of everyday life and holidays. In Italy, too, they drink along with meals, matching the type of drink to the dish. For Italians, alcohol is food. In Russia, alcohol is a symbol of relaxation or a reward (hence the custom of washing everything, even the new toilet). In a broad sense, it is an indispensable companion to all the good things in life. If you celebrate every event, from the birth of a child to the victory of our curling team, with intoxication of the body, feel free to add another point to yourself.

6. Have your loved ones already asked you to drink less?

A No...0
B Yes...1

Just a couple of years ago, your wife (girlfriend, friends) willingly responded to a request to buy you a couple of beers on the way home. And now, hiding their eyes, they start talking about how you should drink less, or something. Pay attention to this. From the side of the problem drinking man are visible better - if only because observers at this moment can reason soberly. Such conversations are a reason not to think, but to immediately stop drinking. It's almost late.

7. Lately you have fewer interests and hobbies.

A Yesterday I was fishing/at a museum/at a butterfly exhibition...0
B Yes, I just don’t have enough time right now...1
Q I don’t even remember when I had a hobby...2

The fishing rods are collecting dust in the closet, and the last time you went to the cinema was at the premiere of Titanic - and not only because all your free time is spent drinking. Even if it’s a sober evening, you’ll just spend three hours watching TV - without much pleasure, however. Life has become somehow uninteresting, and even a trip to the museum with your children you accompany with beer from the local buffet - so as not to die of boredom.

8. If you drink a lot, do you vomit?

A Yes...0
B I used to vomit, but now it’s extremely rare...1

“According to statistics, 70% of people at a young age have a protective gag reflex, says Vashkin. - The body thus removes the dose of toxic alcohol that it cannot process. Gradually the reflex degrades, and this is one of the signs of alcoholism.". It has not yet been studied why this happens. But if you puke after every party, you're still not so bad.

9. The next morning after drinking, don’t you remember something?

A Maybe it happened a couple of times...0
B I almost always don’t remember how the drinking ended...1
B I don’t even fully remember my sober days...2

Party, noise, bright lights. Then - bam, the next shot is a gray morning, and you are lying on the bed. No pants, but wearing socks. They say that you stayed on your feet for quite a long time, joked out of place and even tried to dance with a cat - although you don’t remember this at all. It is clear that the brain has turned off. But then what were you joking about, your spine? “Under the influence of ethanol, the cells of the cerebral cortex literally dieAnd the areas responsible for short-term memory are primarily affected.”. In other words, while dancing with the cat, you were aware of what was happening and acted independently, albeit idiotically. But these events were simply not recorded on film. This happens to everyone. It’s worse if, in the same way, you began to forget parts of the days when you were sober. This is already partial retrograde amnesia, a companion to the 1st-2nd stage of alcoholism.

10. Pull yourself up and rate your usual hangover in points:

A 0-10 points...0
B 10-100 points...1
In 100-1000 points...2
Q I have a hangover in the morning, so I don’t suffer...3

“A hangover is poisoning from a poison that appears after the breakdown of alcohol. It happens to everyone who has had too much, explains Dr. Vashkin. - But in sick people, the body’s cleansing systems degrade, and a hangover can last two to three days.”. And some have already reached (cleaned up?) the state where in the morning you have to hangover with beer - otherwise you will die. It’s very bad, the second stage is what it is.

11. Do you have a headache from drinking too much?

A Yes...0
B No...1

A healthy body reacts to a drop in intracranial pressure caused by alcohol with a headache. For an alcoholic, everything is different. “A sick person experiences a strong imbalance in the central nervous system, as a result of which it does not work as it should, explains Svetlana Matveeva. - One of the important symptoms is the absence of headaches during a hangover.”. So this is what Willy Tokarev sang about: “A bottle of wine doesn’t give you a headache!” And it hurts the one who doesn’t drink anything.”.

12. Do you have binges?

A No...0
B Yes...1

In the morning I was hungover, at lunchtime I was drunk, and by the evening I was dead drunk. And so on for several days until either the money or the patience of the authorities runs out. At the same time, you still somehow function: you watch TV, go to the store or even to work, scare the guards. Even if doctors call this condition the soothing word “pseudo-binge,” it is still the second stage of alcoholism. And already at the third stage, the so-called true binge occurs. It begins on its own, without an external push in the form of a festive feast or drunkenness at a funeral. A man lies on the sofa for weeks in a faint state, regaining consciousness only to drink. He doesn't need food because digestive system is practically destroyed by alcohol, and he does not need emotions - because the brain is destroyed and can no longer provide clear consciousness. Then such a binge will end, only to begin again after some time.

* Don't think it's that simple. Not only is our test too short compared to those given to patients in rehabilitation centers, but also each stage consists of several steps. But if your results make you think, then it’s time to contact a specialist. And, regardless of the test results, it’s better not to drink - it’s more expensive for yourself.

0-6
No need to worry yet
You can calmly have a drink sometimes in good company, without particularly risking your own health. But don't get carried away - it's very easy to cross the line.

7-10
You may be in the first stage of alcoholism
"Introductory part" of the disease. Quantitative control is partially reduced - you can still stop and not continue drinking, but it would be better if you did it an hour ago. Besides, you start drinking for no reason - and why not? “We must remember that after the first stage, the second will most likely come,- says Svetlana Matveeva. - The mechanism of the disease has started, and only a specialist can stop it. But of all alcoholics who consult a doctor, those in the first stage make up only 1%. Neither patients at this stage nor their loved ones are yet aware of the problem. But if you start treating now, the disease can be stopped.”

11-19
Most likely, you have the second stage of alcoholism
You become irresponsible, irritable, you are constantly haunted by a feeling of guilt, you cannot imagine yourself without alcohol.
Damage to the liver and peripheral nervous system occurs, which are still treatable, epileptic seizures and delirium tremens are possible, binge drinking begins, and surrogates are used - perfumes, technical alcohols. “As a rule, such people themselves are not able to stop their drinking; they need the help of psychiatrists and narcologists,- says Matveeva. “Up to 70% of patients who seek help quit drinking; a prerequisite is competent treatment and compliance with all recommendations.”

NOTA BENE
It is unlikely that among our readers there are alcoholics in the third stage. These letters are not read
“At this stage, patients are haunted by true binges, which themselves begin and end,- Matveev is scared. - In order to get alcohol, people climb down the sheets from the tenth floor, commit crimes, and can even kill. Irreversible changes in organs occur: patients have thin, bluish-colored arms and legs, a puffy face, cirrhosis of the liver, polyneuropathy, severe impairments of intellect and memory. But the category of people who are in the third stage is quite small - they live very little. It is no longer possible to cure them, only to prolong their existence.”

CODE UNKNOWN

The most common, but, according to experts, not the most effective ways combating alcoholism - so-called prohibitive methods.

Coding is hypnosis, that is, working with the subconscious. An experienced psychologist who knows the technique of hypnosis instills in you an aversion to alcohol. This method was invented by the famous narcologist Alexander Dovzhenko in the early 1980s; a few years later, coding was adopted by official medicine.

Our free online alcoholism test using a questionnaire method determines the stage of alcohol dependence or its absence. All you have to do is answer 12 simple questions honestly and then click on the “Show result” button. A detailed transcript of the received data can be found below. For preventive purposes, testing for alcohol addiction It is recommended to undergo at least once every six months.

Stages of alcohol addiction

Prodromal (zero) stage– there are no signs of alcoholism, the person periodically drinks alcohol in groups, and he rarely gets drunk to the point of memory loss and other serious consequences.

At the zero stage, it is easy to give up drinking alcohol without feeling mental discomfort. This is considered normal for healthy person. But when daily use the prodromal period passes into the first stage of alcoholism after 6-12 months in men and after 3-6 months in women. Average female alcoholism develops twice as fast as the male one.

First stage– characterized by the appearance of mental dependence on alcoholic beverages. Almost every day the patient has thoughts about drinking, his mood rises in anticipation of drinking alcohol. When sober, a feeling of dissatisfaction with oneself appears.

At the initial stage, vomiting during an overdose disappears, and the person is able to drink much more than before. There is a desire to justify your actions. On average, the first stage lasts from 1 to 5 years. Without treatment and limiting the amount of alcohol, it smoothly flows into a more advanced second stage.

Second stage– pathological attraction to alcoholic beverages arises spontaneously, the ability to self-control sharply decreases. When drunk, a person begins to behave unpredictably and even aggressively. In some cases, psychosis and hallucinations may occur. The second stage lasts from 5 to 15 years, gradually leading to complete degradation of personality and loss of creative abilities.

Third stage– characterized by irreversible changes in the psyche, work internal organs(liver cirrhosis, hepatitis) and nervous system. Situational control is completely lost - the person does not care about the place, circumstances and company of drinking buddies.

The amount of alcohol consumed decreases, but its consumption becomes daily or turns into binge drinking. Developing physical dependence which, if left untreated, sooner or later ends in death.

Almost every person has drunk alcohol at least once in their life. But many, having tried alcoholic drinks once, do not stop there. Gatherings with friends, business meetings, club parties and home festive feasts quite often accompanied by drinking alcohol and low alcohol drinks. If you think that from frequent use alcohol, you develop some cravings for these drinks, then you can take a simple alcoholism test, which will help you identify the presence or absence of addiction. It is important to do this as early as possible so that you yourself can stop at the right time and not start the disease, which is more difficult to cure in later stages.

Testing Features

Often, alcohol consumption contributes to the formation of an insidious disease that develops gradually, unnoticed by the patient and those around him. Usually, when loved ones begin to think about treating such a person, he is already at such a stage of the disease that he cannot cope on his own, and he needs the help of specialists. Moreover, the development of the disease is very often accompanied by relapses.

Important: according to WHO data, alcoholism is in third place as a cause of death. It is second only to cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

The incidence of alcoholism is also increasing among the female population. If earlier this number was only 10%, today it has grown to 30%. Moreover, in men the disease develops in 7-10 years, while in women it takes only 5 years. The sooner a person stops drinking, the easier it is to cure him.

However, it is difficult to identify the initial form of the disease in yourself. Psychology can help with this. If you want to find the answer to the question, am I an alcoholic, a test will help determine this. Various psychological tests are often used to diagnose alcoholism. Using the test, you can identify not only dependence on alcohol, but also find out the stage of alcoholism.

Dependency test

Alcohol dependence testing can detect the disease in nine out of ten alcoholics. To pass the test, you need to honestly answer several questions and calculate the number of points depending on your answers. Based on the total points, you can find out the decoding of the result. In order to detect the disease as early as possible and begin treatment at the initial stage, it is recommended to undergo this test once every 6 months for women and once a year for men.

Alcohol addiction test (you need to answer yes or no questions):

1. Do you agree with the statement that you drink no more than other people (meaning comparison with the bulk of people)?
2. Has it ever happened to you that after a stormy feast the day before, you could not remember part of the celebration?
3. Have you noticed any manifestations of dissatisfaction regarding your frequent alcohol intoxication from close relatives, parents, husband (wife)?
4. Can you easily stop drinking after one or two drinks?
5. Have you ever felt guilty the morning after a celebration?
6. According to your family and friends, do you drink no more than other people?
7. Is it easy for you to stop drinking when you want? And in general, can you do this of your own free will?
8. Have you ever been to an AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meeting?
9. Have you been involved in a fight while intoxicated?
10. Have you ever had conflicts with family and friends because of your drinking?
11. Have your relatives ever turned to specialists or other people for help to solve the problem of your alcohol addiction?
12. Have you ever lost girlfriends or friends due to alcohol use?
13. Have you ever had problems at work related to drinking?
14. Have you ever been fired for drunkenness?
15. Have you ever been absent from work or neglected your family or work responsibilities due to intoxication?
16. Do you often drink alcoholic beverages before lunch?
17. Do you have any liver disease?
18. Have you ever had auditory and visual hallucinations after drinking, that is, have you heard and seen something that is not really there?
19. Have you ever turned to anyone for help in getting rid of alcohol addiction?
20. Have you ever been hospitalized due to excessive or frequent drinking?
21. Have you been a patient in a drug treatment or psychiatric department due to alcohol addiction?
22. Have you asked anyone for help with an emotional problem that was partly related to drinking?
23. Have you ever been detained for driving? vehicle drunk?
24. Have you ever been detained by the police for antisocial behavior while drunk?

• for an affirmative answer to questions numbered 5, 9, 16 you should add 1 point;
• for a positive answer to questions number 2, 3, 17, 18, as well as questions 10 to 15 and 21 to 24, you need to add 2 points to the total;
• if you answered “yes” to points number 8, 19, 20, then add 5 points to the total number for each answer;
• The answer “no” to points 1, 4, 6, 7 earns 2 points.

The passed test can give maximum amount points – 54. Depending on your score, the test result can be interpreted as follows:

0-6 points – you do not have an alcohol addiction. You can safely drink on holidays and occasionally in the company of friends. This will prevent your health from being undermined. However, you should not get carried away and cross that fine line, which will allow you to develop addiction.

7-10 points - you are probably in the initial stages of addiction. At this stage, it is common for you to often lose control over the dose of alcohol you drink, as well as drink alcoholic beverages for no reason. Now is the best time to stop, because after this the disease will go into the second stage, and you will not be able to cope with your efforts alone; you will need the help of specialists.

11-19 points – this number of points corresponds to identifying the second stage of alcohol dependence. If there is no alcohol in your life, you become irritable, uncontrollable, and your mood worsens. At this stage, malfunctions in the functioning of body systems begin to appear. A person suffers from heavy drinking. Mental disorders appear. You can stop drinking alcohol at this stage using therapeutic techniques (hypnosis, coding, torpedo), but only in combination with psychological rehabilitation.

More than 19 points - you definitely suffer from an advanced form of alcoholism. Changes in the psyche and body take on irreversible forms. A person completely loses the ability to engage in social and labor activities. Without proper and proper treatment, the disease will inevitably end in death sooner or later.

Staging test

A person who has passed the first test can, based on the results, draw approximate conclusions about the stage of his alcoholism. But in the presence of alcoholism in men and women, it is possible to accurately determine the stage of the disease using a test. In this case, you do not need to take the first test; the stage of alcohol dependence can be diagnosed using the questionnaire proposed below. You need to refute or agree with the following statements:

1. If earlier for the feeling light form alcoholic intoxication, you needed to drink 200 g of alcohol, but now you may need a whole bottle for this.
2. The next day after the feast, symptoms of a hangover always appear in the form of dizziness, fatigue, thirst and hand tremors.
3. To get yourself feeling in the morning, you need to get drunk.
4. You are unable to control the dose of alcohol you drink and stop drinking only when the alcohol runs out or you lose consciousness.
5. Your behavior becomes inappropriate. You either lose control of yourself, get into fights, destroy everything around and become disoriented in space, or show sympathy for strangers.
6. Memory losses. You do not remember what you did the day before while intoxicated. People around you tell you about this.
7. Binge drinking. You can drink more than two days in a row.
8. Decreased appetite. To get full, you just need to have a snack.
9. Sleep is disturbed. You sleep a lot during the day, but at night you cannot fall asleep, which is treated with alcohol. This makes the problem even worse.

1. Silence scares you, causing excessive anxiety. While drunk, you may experience visual or auditory hallucinations.
2. You can get drunk from a small dose, and to get drunk you need less and less alcohol.
3. Personality degradation. You lost your job, your life is neglected. You don't care about your own appearance or the events around you. The main task in life is to get alcohol.

No matter how many times you answer “no,” count the number of yeses. Based on this amount, the results are assessed as follows:

• three positive answers – the first stage of the disease;
• from 3 to 6 positive statements – the disease enters the second stage and is in its initial form;
• from 6 to 9 statements with which you agree – the disease has entered the full second stage;
• 9-12 positive answers - you are suffering from the third stage of alcohol addiction.

Alcoholism is a serious disease that never appears overnight. This condition develops gradually. That is why doctors will not make a diagnosis based on 1-2 symptoms, but will consider all the patient’s complaints and conditions as a whole. A person who drinks only occasionally (domestic drunkenness) will never wake up in the morning as an alcoholic.

The transition from everyday drunkenness to a painful state always occurs gradually. Initial symptoms lead to the development of subsequent ones, etc. Therefore, the stages of alcoholism will necessarily follow one after another.

At the initial stage of alcoholism, it will never be possible to accurately distinguish everyday drunkenness from alcoholism, because the person will skillfully downplay his addiction to alcohol or deny it altogether. This, oddly enough, is also a symptom (dissimulation). This is not just a lie from a person, but a real signal that a person’s personality is beginning to change. Falsehood in this case is quite narrow - a person will conceal only those facts that in one way or another relate to the use of alcoholic beverages.

What can alcoholics usually hide?

1 Dosage and frequency of drinking alcohol. An alcoholic will always downplay the amount he drinks, without being embarrassed by the fact that what he says is not true. He will not even think that his words can be easily verified;

2 Craving for alcohol. An addicted person will deny the attraction to alcoholic beverages;

3 Loss of control over the amount of drinking. An alcoholic understands perfectly well that a loss of control will indicate his condition, therefore, even with constant alcohol abuse and in severe states of intoxication, a person will say that he knows the limit and controls everything.

Only one symptom that indicates alcoholism is rarely hidden by sick people - the loss of the gag reflex. In this case, the diagnostic value is very important. As with any other disease, symptoms of alcoholism will appear as the condition progresses. Doctors are accustomed to distinguishing three main stages of alcoholism, which gradually transform into one another.

First stage of alcoholism

Many narcologists argue that the beginning of alcoholism can be considered the fact that a person no longer has the urge to vomit when abusing alcoholic beverages. First of all, a person who abuses alcohol will definitely feel nauseated. But with the accumulated experience of drinking alcoholic beverages, the body’s defense mechanisms stop working, leaving alcohol in the body. As a result, the body will be oversaturated with alcohol, which leads to a state of extreme alcoholic intoxication, which can cause serious memory loss.

Palimpsest is the correct name for memory lapses. If there is no gag reflex and there are memory lapses, then we can safely talk about the first two symptoms indicating the onset of alcoholism.

In order for a narcologist to make a diagnosis, the presence of a third symptom, which is associated with the frequency of drinking alcohol, must be present. If a person gets drunk every 2-3 days, and the next morning he does not have an aversion to alcohol, then doctors will determine the onset of alcoholism.

The fourth symptom of the initial stage of alcoholism is an increase in tolerance to alcohol. If initially 100-150 g of vodka is enough for a person to get very drunk, then the alcoholic needs to increase the dose several times to achieve a similar state.

Once a person’s tolerance to alcohol increases, psychological dependence begins to develop. All sorts of changes begin to occur in the patient’s psyche, which relate to behavior and feelings:

1 An alcoholic will often remember pleasant sensations and events that are associated with being intoxicated, so there will be a great desire to drink;

2 The patient will constantly be looking for reasons to drink alcohol. In the company of friends, all his conversations will be related to drinking alcohol. He will constantly offer people around him a drink;

3 An alcoholic will explain all his socially disapproved, inadequate, absurd state by the influence of alcohol, without finding a single drop of his guilt;

4 In the company of friends, when drinking alcohol is expected soon, the alcoholic’s mood will improve, and his communication will be more friendly with everyone without exception;

5 Dependence at the first stage of alcoholism is not so strong, but sufficient for the alcoholic to be happy only in those moments when he drinks a large number of alcoholic drinks;

6 At home and at work there will be constant conflicts related to the fact that a person drinks a lot.

Due to the changes that have appeared in the psyche, the alcoholic will drink alcoholic beverages more often and more, reducing his performance and worsening his health.

Second stage of alcoholism

During the second stage of alcoholism, a person will be partially aware that he actually has a psychological dependence on alcohol. Therefore, many even try not to drink, but nothing works out for them. At the second stage of alcoholism, a person will show maximum performance in a state of moderate intoxication. Resistance to alcohol will increase and reach a limit that is individual for each person. Moreover, the dose of alcohol required for intoxication will exceed that typical for a healthy person by 5-10 times.

At this stage, drinking will be constant. As doctors put it, there will be pseudo-binge drinking. An alcoholic will drink for several days in a row, taking only minor breaks. Without alcohol, it will even be difficult for him to fall asleep.

Memory lapses will become more common. An alcoholic will forget what led him to become intoxicated. Often, everything connected with the behavior of an alcoholic and his negative emotions is forgotten.

TO psychological dependence Alcohol will also add physical stress here, so the person will lose control over the amount of alcohol consumed, and will also sometimes feel a hangover in the morning.

Third stage of alcoholism

The last stage of alcoholism is a natural result of abuse alcoholic drinks for many years. The main symptom of this stage is a decrease in tolerance to alcohol. A person will be drunk even after a small dose of alcohol. The condition is often accompanied by indifference, aggressiveness, and stupor.

Alcohol intake occurs every day, in small portions, or binge drinking occurs. Binge drinking very often occurs after sleep disturbances and uncontrollable cravings for drinking. Upon completion of the binge, vomiting, sweetness, convulsions, hand tremors, and headaches will appear.

The hangover syndrome will be long-lasting and difficult. Alcoholic hepatitis, which develops in the liver, will gradually develop into cirrhosis in the third stage of alcoholism. The vessels will also be permanently damaged. Along with this, alcoholic hypertension and cardiomyopathy will begin to develop. Rhythm disturbances may occur. There is atrophy of the gastric mucosa and vitamin deficiency. The reproductive system is damaged, leading to infertility and impotence.

Brain lesions may also be detected. For example, alcoholic encephalopathy. Peripheral nerves will suffer. Nervous system will begin to change irreversibly. Memory and intelligence impairments occur. Personality degradation is observed and dementia develops. Mental changes are very serious, alcoholic psychosis often occurs.

The first and second stages of alcoholism can be cured with modern means. In some cases, people completely give up alcohol even at the third stage. But bringing it to this point is extremely dangerous.

Test for the stage of alcoholism

How can you identify the stage of alcoholism? Using the following small test, which is designed for a potential alcoholic to take individually. Every question must be answered " YES" or " NO”, depending on whether specific items apply to you. You should answer honestly, because self-deception deprives you of the opportunity to radically change your life and consult a narcologist in time.

1 You tolerate alcohol easily. If you used to drink 150-200 g at one feast, then recently the dose has increased 2-3 times.

2 Symptoms of a hangover always appear after you drink alcohol. You notice that you feel tired, very thirsty, and dizzy.

3 You want to “cure your hangover”, drink a bottle of beer or some vodka to relieve fatigue and pain.

4 You cannot control the dose you drink, so you are not able to stop drinking alcohol. You stop drinking when you black out or when there is nothing else to drink.

5 You completely lose control over your body, cannot navigate in space, break furniture around you, get into fights, or show sympathy for unfamiliar people.

6 The next morning after a drunken evening, you cannot remember exactly how you drank and with whom. About what happened in the evening, you will only learn about those people with whom you drank.

7 You sometimes have binge drinking days when you drink alcohol in a row for several days.

8 Deterioration of appetite. You don’t feel like eating, but satiety comes from the foods you usually snack on.

9 There is deterioration in sleep. You may sleep during the day and suffer from insomnia at night. The problem in your case is usually solved with the help of alcohol, but nothing useful comes of it.

10 Feelings of anxiety and hallucinations appear. Silence frightens you, and when you are intoxicated you hallucinate.

11 You can quickly get drunk even from a small dose of alcohol. Often a couple of glasses of vodka are enough.

12 Personality is degrading. You don't think about yours appearance and surrounding people. No work, no personal life. The only thing you think about is finding alcohol.

If you have at least one of these symptoms, then you are on the right path to alcoholism. The stages can be defined in the following way:

First stage- answer “YES” to 2-3 statements;
Initial second stage I am the answer “YES” to 3-6 statements;
Full second stage- answer “YES” to 6-9 statements;
Third stage- answer “YES” to 9-12 statements.