When a person has reached the point where their physical and mental health are negatively effected by the amount of alcohol they drink, they have reached a commonly defined point of alcoholism. Its impact is pervasive, wreaking havoc on the social and personal life of the addict.The degree or stage of alcoholism that one is in varies and therefore it is important not to treat all alcoholics as "the same." One often used measure tells usthat there are three phases of alcoholism. The first stage is early stage, the second is middle stage, and the last one is late stage alcoholism. However, it can take years for a person to progress through the different stages.

If a healthy man or woman is having no more one or two drinks from time to time or a few times a week it is not considered to be alcoholism.. Too often, though, people progress from a moderate amount periodically to greater frequency and amount of alcoholic intake.

The First Adaptive Stage of Alcoholism

During the early stage of alcoholism, a person sometimes finds themselves using alcohol to change their mood or to attempt to find "relief" from their problems. During the early stage of alcoholism, the person, as well as their friends, family, and others, do not realize that they have entered the first stage of alcohol addiction. The drinker's eagerness for alcohol spirals upward, leading them to need to drink more to achieve the same outcome in terms of mood and stress release. During alcoholism's early stage, the person's body begins to develop a tolerance to this increased consumption. During this stage, the alcoholic's mechanical body functions are not effected, allowing them to do things like walk in a straight line even when intoxicated.

The Middle Stage Of Alcoholism

In stage two alcoholism the person consumes more alcohol and drinks more often as their body becomes tolerant to its effects. In this stage the alcoholic becomes unable to put boundaries on their drinking with regard to time, place, or amount. They drink in response to any problem and continue to think about drinking more and more. During this stage the alcoholic's body begins to lose control over its motor skills causing falls, accidents, and other injuries. This in turn makes the alcoholic's mood turn worse due to their failing physical health. This is the stage of alcoholism in which the person knows internally that they are in a noticeable stage of alcoholism but despite that they deny that they have an alcohol problem.

The Late Stage Of Alcoholism

The final stage of alcoholism is horrific for the person's loved ones. This stage is also referred to as the deteriorative stage of alcoholism. During the late stage is the phase when the person's alcohol intake begins to severely damage their body. It will be evident to those around them that the alcoholic is drinking almost all the time. They being getting ill often, become mentally confused, and have a host of other mental ad physical problems. This occurs because of the damage heavy amounts of alcohol haved inflicted on the vital organs. One or more serious maladies often occurs as a result of this damage. Cirrhosis of the liver, heart failure, hepatitis, and many other illnesses are possible health problems associated with this damage. These effects are almost universally experienced by chronic, late stage alcoholics as their intake has spiralled out of control and become extremely damaging. Evn at this point many alcoholics will still exhibit denial that they have a drinking problem. This is one of the nastiest things about late stage alcoholism - the denial that they have a problem leads in turn to difficulty dealing with every day life, much less even contemplating seeking treatment for their drinking problem.