Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: What Are the Differences?

April is Alcohol Awareness Month and it’s the perfect time to increase awareness and understanding of alcohol addiction and its treatment. Today, we’re taking a look at two terms that you’ll likely hear when talking about alcohol addiction: alcohol abuse and alcoholism.

Although these terms are often used interchangeable, understanding the differences between the two can help you to better understand the severity of your addiction and get the help you need.

What Is Alcohol Abuse?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines alcohol abuse as a pattern of drinking that results in harm to one’s health, interpersonal relationships or ability to work. This can include an inability to meet responsibilities at home, work or school, relationship problems and legal problems – all caused or worsened by drinking. Alcohol abuse can also cause harm to one’s mind, body and spirit.

Typically, someone who is abusing alcohol can learn from negative consequences and change their behavior with a brief intervention, including education on the dangers of binge drinking and alcohol poisoning. That said, alcohol abuse is a slippery slope into alcoholism. This is especially true if you begin drinking heavily at a young age, before 15.

What Is Alcoholism?

Alcoholism, also known as alcohol dependency and alcohol use disorder (AUD), is a chronic relapsing brain disease characterized by compulsive alcohol use, loss of control over alcohol intake and a negative emotional state when not using, notes the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Roughly 16 million people in the U.S. have AUD – and yet less than 10 percent get proper treatment. 

To determine whether your alcohol abuse has progressed into an alcohol use disorder, the NIAAA recommends asking yourself the following questions. In the past year, have you…

• Experienced times when you drank more or longer than you intended?
• Tried several times to reduce or stop your drinking but couldn’t?
• Spent a big portion of your time drinking or recovering form the aftereffects?
• Experienced cravings, or strong urges to drink?
• Found that drinking caused job or school troubles or caused trouble with family or friends?
• Scaled back on activities that you used to enjoy in order to drink?
• Gotten into more than one risky situation while or after drinking? For example, drinking while driving, walking in a dangerous area or having unsafe sex?
• Continued to drink even though it made you feel depressed or anxious?
• Found that you need to drink more to feel the same effects?
• Experienced withdrawal symptoms like trouble sleeping, shakiness, irritability, anxiety, depression, restlessness, nausea or sweating, when not drinking?

According to the NIAAA, the more symptoms you have, the more urgent the need for change and professional help. People diagnosed with an alcohol use disorder typically require professional help to stop drinking. This can include:

• Detoxification
• Disease education
• Group & individual therapy
• Interactive workshops
• Peer outings & recreational opportunities
• Fitness & nutrition guidance
• Family therapy
• Dual-diagnosis management
  

Help for Alcohol Use Disorders

If you or someone you love is suffering from alcohol dependency, Hope Academy can help you get the help you need today. To learn more about our young adult alcohol rehab, call toll-free today: 866-930-4673. 

How a Joystick Can Help Alcoholics Avoid Relapse

Could a video gaming joystick help you stay sober? That’s what researchers are looking to discover in an ongoing study in Berlin. Study participants were asked to use the device to push away alcohol-related images and pull images of water and non-alcoholic beverages closer in an attempt to prevent relapse.  

Before the training, the majority of participants associate alcohol with ‘approach’ but, after the training, alcohol is associated with ‘avoid,’ according to the press release. Along with conventional addiction treatment, the joystick therapy was found to lower relapse rates.

The Signs of Relapse
Unfortunately, relapse is a pretty normal part of recovery –  and just the image of alcohol can be enough to trigger some people with alcohol use disorder to start drinking again. But a relapse is more than just returning to using – and, in fact, there are warning signs of long before the first drink occurs. 

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, when people who have had a stable recovery and have done well begin to relapse, they:

• Return to addictive thinking patterns 
• Engage in compulsive, self-defeating behaviors 
• Seek out situations involving people who use alcohol and drugs
• Think less rationally, and behaving less responsibly
• Find themselves in a situation in which alcohol use seems like a logical escape from pain

Aftercare Planning at Hope Academy in CA
Young adults are particularly vulnerable to relapse during the first 90 days after treatment, but sobriety is a never-ending battle. At Hope Academy, we offer our clients support groups, transitional living options, aftercare programs and sobriety-college living. To learn more about how we can help you or someone you love get and stay sober, contact our credentialed addiction specialists today! Call 866-930-4673.

What’s Drunkorexia?

A growing trend among college kids – both females and males alike – “drunkorexia” is a term used to describe the “weight conscious” behavior of drinkers who save calories (by skipping meals or over-exercising) during the day to compensate for the calories consumed later from alcohol.

There have been several studies documenting how common “drunkorexia” is on college campuses – and, in fact, statistics show that a whopping 30 percent of women, ages 18 to 23, admit to having skipped a meal to drink more. Individuals with eating disorders are up to five times as likely as those without eating disorders to abuse alcohol or illicit drugs, according to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse.

And it works the other way, too: Those who abuse alcohol or illicit drugs are up to 11 times as likely as those who don’t to have eating disorders.  

Risks of Disordered Eating and Binge Drinking

Although drunkorexia is not an official eating disorder, habitually drinking on an empty stomach can have serious health consequences – and that’s in addition to the dangers of binge drinking in the first place. These include:

• Malnutrition
• Short- and long-term cognitive problems, including difficulty concentrating, studying, and making decisions
• Serious eating disorders
• Violence
• Risky sexual behavior
• Alcohol poisoning
• Substance abuse
• Damage to vital organs
• Chronic diseases

Dual Diagnosis: Eating Disorders and Substance Abuse
As addiction worsens, so does the co-occurring condition—and vice versa. Because of this, both diseases must be treated simultaneously to achieve the best results. To learn more about Hope Academy’s treatment programs for dual diagnosis patients, call today: 866-930-4673.