If you want to find out if your loved ones have alcohol addiction, you should keep a watch for the psycological effects of alcoholism on their behavior and activities. Do they require alcohol right at the beginning of the day? Has there been any change in their friend circles, with a greater liking for friends who drink? Has there been any loss of interest in hobbies and activities that were once considered to be very important? Do your loved ones show signs of anxiety, mood swings, depression and rage regularly? Further, has there been any change in the eating habits, sleeping habits and weight (loss or gain)? If the answer to these questions is yes, there is very high chance that your dear ones have addiction to alcohol.

Alcohol addicts organize their lifestyle around drinking and do everything possible to hide their addiction from you. Some of the ways of hiding the alcohol addiction are telling lies and hiding alcohol for consuming it at odd occasions including morning hours after waking. People find out corners of the house that are never reached, and stock alcohol there. If the house does not provide any hiding place, the garage or the garden is used as an alternative. At times, they may also start avoiding you if you try to stop them from drinking.

Getting out of alcohol addiction is difficult, but not impossible. Thousands of people have successfully recovered from the problem by proper treatment. Various recovery centers are available in all parts of the country. These centers provide professional treatment programs based on severity of the addiction and alcoholic’s time-constraints. Although much harder, one can also follow an alcoholism self help plan which has been described below:

·        Change in thinking: The addicts should realize that alcohol is damaging them mentally and physically and that addiction should be given-up.

·        Maintaining positive attitude: It is very necessary to maintain a positive attitude towards recovery from drinking problem.

·        Seeking social support: The addicts should start interacting more with people who will help them in the recovery. Informing family members and colleagues in office about the recovery program is beneficial as they can prevent the addicts from consuming alcohol.

·        Becoming self-reliant: Though social support is useful, the responsibility of getting out of drinking problem should be taken by the addicts themselves.

·        Seeking educational support: A lot of literature, video-clips and audio programs are available on the topic of alcohol dependence and recovery. Referring to these educational aids will help the addicts in understanding the recovery process properly.

·        Seeking counseling support: The suggestions given by an expert are very helpful as they will tell the addicts about different addiction recovery ways that are normally not known.

·        Getting involved in distracting activities: When the addicts involve themselves in other activities (hobbies), the need for alcohol by the body is delayed by a few minutes/hours. With regular practice, they can permanently recover from addiction to alcohol.

·        Never purchase or carry alcohol: The addicts should pledge that they will not buy/carry/stock alcohol.

·        Avoiding events where alcohol is served: It becomes difficult for the addicts to control themselves when they see alcohol. Hence they should avoid occasions such as parties where alcohol is served.

·        Maintaining a fight-back attitude: Some instances might occur when the addicts might give-up and consume alcohol. But this should not be the reason to stop the recovery program. They should maintain a fight-back attitude and get back to the recovery plan as soon as possible.