The American Medical Association (AMA) identified alcoholism as a disease in 1956. They defined the illness as an altering of the brain that controls a person’s motivation and ability to make healthy choices. Once alcoholism takes hold, it can be difficult to shake loose without the right kind of assistance. Many factors show up through many different cases depending on the specific situation at hand when it comes to alcoholism. One potential predictor is the age at which a person has his or her first drink, as the younger a person is when they have their first drink, the more likely they are to drink more in adulthood. There are also other factors such as genetics and environment that has been shown to be correlated. Read on to learn more about the various stages of alcoholism and how treatment is needed for this serious condition. Hope Centers of Central Florida is a top alcohol treatment center Florida residents trust. If you are looking for an outpatient alcohol treatment center in the Orlando area, call Hope Centers of Central Florida today.

The Stages of Alcoholism

The in the 1950s, E. morton Jellinek created the Jellinek Curve, which was later revised by British psychiatrist Max Glatt. This curve is a chart that addresses the typical phases of alcoholism and recovery, with the purpose to illustrate how alcohol addiction progresses, and highlight the vicious cycles associated with obsessive drinking. This curve exemplifies the ways that life is able to go downhill and people can be harmed as the disease progresses and takes over their lives.

• Stage 1: Pre Alcoholic- This stage is when the party in question drinks to feel better about themselves, or to dull the pain of depression. They may also drink to forget, cease worrying, or cut down on anxiety.
• Stage 2: Early Alcoholic- This stage of alcoholism has a lot of blacking out involved that comes from drinking too much, and blackouts from alcohol should be taken as a serious warning sign. Other symptoms of stage two include lying about the amount that you are drinking or if you are drink or not, drinking excessively, and thinking obsessively about drinking throughout the day.
• Stage 3: Middle Alcoholic- At this stage of alcoholism, it is fairly clear to the people that are close to the addict that they are struggling. The party in question might regularly miss work, forget to do important household activities, become more irritable than normal, and start to show physical signs of alcohol abuse (facial redness, weight gain or loss, sluggishness, stomach bloating).

Top Alcohol Treatment Center Florida Trusts

The late and recovery stages in the Jellinek Curve are important to address.

• Stage 4: Late Alcoholic- At the late alcoholic stage, drinking becomes not just the central focus of your life but becomes everything in the addict’s universe, at the expense of your job, health, and relationship. Efforts to stop drinking can end up in tremors or hallucinations, but going to an outpatient alcohol treatment center or other kind of rehabilitation to detox, in addition to therapy, can help to get the addict’s life back on track.
• Stage 5: Recovery- The goal of Hope Centers of Central Florida is to transcend detox and treatment and set the addict on the path to maintenance in order to uplift their lives in a realistic and achievable manner.

Contact Us Today

Hope Centers of Central Florida is a top alcohol treatment center Florida residents trust. Call Hope Centers of Central Florida today for a top outpatient alcohol treatment center in Orlando.