Hangover syndrome

Manifests itself in the form of symptoms such as facial hyperemia, reddening of the sclera, palpitations, increased blood pressure, sweating, pain in the heart, tremors in the body and tremor of the limbs, weakness, weakness. A number of patients experience dyspeptic disorders: abdominal pain, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea.
Initially, patients in connection with socio-economic circumstances may refrain from drunk in the morning. However, this process can take place after work, in the afternoon. Sometimes during the whole day the patient does not work, but only dreams about the time when he can finally get drunk.
With the passage of time, somatic manifestations of hangover syndrome are joined by mental ones. In a hangover state, mood changes with predominance of depression, anxiety, fear. There are thoughts of their own guilt, universal condemnation. Dream becomes superficial with nightmarish dreams and frequent awakenings. Early appearance in a state of a hangover of mental disorders, as well as their predominance over somatic evidences the possibility of further development of psychoses. The maximum manifestations of abstinence occur on the 3rd day of abstinence from alcoholic beverages.
In the II stage of alcoholism, patients drink daily for many years. Breaks in drunkenness are usually determined by external circumstances: lack of money, service complications, family conflicts. Attraction to alcohol and physical ability to continue drinking continues.
III stage of aggrocism. Tolerance to alcohol decreases. Intoxication arises from smaller, than before, doses of alcohol. Many patients instead of vodka begin to consume fortified wines. In these cases, the patient is constantly in a state of intoxication, albeit shallow. Along with quantitative control, the situational one is lost. Alcohol is produced by any means, without regard for ethical and social norms of conduct.
In a number of patients, alcohol abuse acquires the character of true binges that arise spontaneously with an irresistible attraction to alcohol. The first two days at a fractional consumption of alcoholic drinks the maximum dose of alcohol is taken. In the following days intoxication comes from ever smaller doses of alcohol in connection with the violation of the process of the exchange of ethyl alcohol in the body. The somatic and mental state worsens. There is a decrease in appetite, weight loss, a drop in blood pressure, shortness of breath, speech disorders, gait, limb spasms, seizures. The deterioration of the physical condition makes it impossible to continue drinking. Therefore, over time, drinking-bouts become shorter (2-3 days each), and the intervals between them are longer.
Changes in personality during alcoholism appear already in the II stage and reach the degree of alcoholic degradation in the III stage. The so-called alcoholic character is formed. On the one hand, as though all emotional reactions (grief, joy, discontent, admiration, etc.) are sharpened due to the increase of general excitability. Then there is weakness, tearfulness, especially in a state of intoxication. The patient cries for joy and grief. On the other hand, emotional coarsening takes place. The patient becomes selfish, indifferent to his wife, children. The sense of duty and responsibility disappears, the importance of ethical norms of behavior is lost. All the attention of the patient focuses only on one thing - how to get alcohol. Drunkenness is always understated, and their personal qualities are embellished. The patient, as a rule, does not consider himself an alcoholic (or does not recognize it to others), arguing that "everyone drinks", and he "like everyone else." At first they find excuses, excuses, looking for reasons for drinking. At the same time they show their resourcefulness, falsity in the arguments of their actions.
In the future, the alcoholic no longer hides his desire to drink, drinks in any, even not very suitable for this environment, i.e. Lost situational control. Any means is used to purchase alcoholic beverages. The patient starts taking things out of the house, selling them for a pittance, stealing, begging. Alcoholic humor, characteristic of such patients, is becoming more flat, primitive, cynical, like behavior in general. There are brutal (excessive, asocial) forms of reaction, such as aggression, maliciousness, violence, outright cynicism. Increasingly, patients resort to the use of surrogates (denatured alcohol, cologne, medicinal tinctures, etc.).
Progression of alcoholism is accompanied by social decline. The patient loses his qualifications, goes down the career ladder with the transition to unskilled work, casual earnings and, finally, a parasitic way of life. Family relationships collapse until the divorce, children do not usually want to communicate with the fathers of alcoholics. The family remains only when there is hope for a cure, a change in attitude in life, or when both spouses abuse alcohol (and sometimes even children from an early age are attracted to it).
The described personality changes are usually observed after 40 years with an alcoholic experience of more than 20 years.