Alcoholism is a progressive disease that can take years to develop.  Alcoholism can be defined as a disease in which the person is compelled to drink, even though it is negatively affecting his relationships, his work and his family.

Men and women who aren't pregnant can usually consume a drink a day without adverse health affects. This amount is also socially acceptable in today's society. However, when someone finds that they cannot stop at that one drink per day, the earliest of the three stages of alcoholism may be developing.

Early Stage:

In the earliest stage of alcoholism, the drinker starts to need the alcohol. They think about it more and more. They feel  they cannot maintain a good mood without using alcohol. They are gradually increasing their tolerance to the drug, and start requiring more alcohol in order to get desired mood change. Sometimes the person developing alcoholism will be able to consume large amounts without seeming to be impaired.

In this earliest stage, many people will discover their faculties actually improve with drinking alcohol. The body is adapting to the  higher levels of alcohol in the bloodstream.  As the person continues to drink more,  both physical an mental abilities start to decline. If the alcoholic stops drinking and the blood alcohol level starts to decrease, these physical and mental impairments may persist. They are impaired when walking, talking and thinking. They are moving into the next stage of alcoholism.

Middle Stage:

At this point, the drinker is losing control over his drinking. The alcoholic is  losing control over their ability to process the alcohol. Tolerance to alcohol decreases, and the drinker needs less alcohol to achieve the same level of intoxication. However, they rarely start drinking less, because the withdrawal symptoms becoming more severe. So instead, they drink more frequently and start earlier in the day despite both the physical and mental deterioration in their abilities.  During this stage, the person may deny that they have a serious problem with alcohol, or the person may in fact recognize the problem, but feel helpless to in getting the professional needed for this debilitating illness.   Associated problems occur more frequently including blackouts and stomach problems.

Late Stage:

As alcoholism progresses, the drinker may become obsessed with drink to the exclusion of almost everything else in their life.  Their  physical and mental heath continues to deteriorate.  Relationships at home may become irreversibly  damaged, and financial and legal problems contribuute to the devastating consequences of chronic alcoholism.  Patients with severe chronic alcoholism may become malnourished, and develop chronic liver damage including cirrhosis, which  reduces the' ability to use nutrients.  Chronic, severe malnutrition worsens all other alcohol-related damage.

Unfortunately, if the alcoholic continues to drink,  the result may end in an early death.  Suicide, accident-related injuries, and direct alcohol-related organ damage are all consequences of  the last stage of alcoholism.

Understanding the early warning signs and recognizing the three stages of alcoholism could save someone's life.