Did you know that alcoholism is a common and deadly disease? Physicians have begun to associate cancers with alcoholism. They also see many examples of diseases related to alcoholism including alcohol-related cirrhosis, cardiomyopathy, gastrointestinal bleeding and pancreatitis. There are even those that suffer the consequences of alcoholism without even putting alcohol to their lips. These include the innocents that suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome, a leading cause of mental retardation. Other serious consequences of alcoholism include the traffic accidents that drinking and driving cause, depression and dementia suffered by those with the disease, suicide, and homicide linked to alcoholism and the risk to children of alcoholic parents that they too might suffer someday the same illness

A lot of individuals do not understand that alcoholism has an affect on every organ in the body? Large doses of alcohol sometimes cause coma and death. Persons with long-term alcoholism are occasionally prone to undergo withdrawal syndrome and brain excitability. Additional symptoms of the disease may include alcohol ingestion, which then leads to cell death and cerebellar degeneration, alcoholic hallucinosis, delirium tremors, and withdrawal seizures.

The disease has been known to effect inidviduals in all levels of society from royalty to street beggars.Those that have a higher historical risk include anyone with a family history of alcoholism, those in lower income brackets and those who do not have higher educational achievements. The World Health Organization found that at risk for mental disorders were those who had alcohol dependence.

Alcoholism, according to statistics is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Each year, 85,000 deaths are being linked to alcoholism in the United States. Another sobering statistic shows that a large percentage of global disease is linked to alcoholism. These include 7% of breast cancer, 32% of all cirrhosis, 10% of hemorrhagic strokes, 19% of mouth and oropharyngeal cancers, and 25% of liver cancer.

According to statistics reported by the U.S. National Comorbidity Survey and the Epidemiologic Catchment Area Survey, alcoholism in African Americans are more at risk than those who are Americans and Caucasian. Other people that experience higher risk are those who are Hispanic Americans, Native American or Asian American. Alcoholism is also twice as likely to occur in males than females.

Despite the acknowledged danger of alcoholism and how common the disease is, medical doctors do not make the correct diagnosis of alcohol addiction in almost 50% of the cases. Patients make diagnosing alcoholism difficult by denying they have a problem when asked. Fear of job loss if employer finds out about a diagnosis of alcoholism or too ashamed to admit they have a problem with alcohol are normal reasons of not being truthful.

Some of the times the diagnosing is overlooked because medical professionals may be unaware of the proper way to screen for and to diagnose alcohol addiction. It is difficult to have accurate test results to make a diagnosis of alcoholism because blood tests and liver function tests in addition to mean corpuscular volume are not always efficient. Even the gamma glutamyl transferrin levels test are only 50% accurate.

Do you have someone you know that refuses to admit they have a drinking problem but have all the indicators say that alcohol is the root of the major problems in their life? Do they have egular or constant cravings for alcohol? Are they unable to limit or stop the amount of alcohol they consume? These are both red flags that this person may be suffering from a disease called alcoholism. It is a disease that is chronic in nature. It is one that can have severe health, financial and relationship consequences.

There is commonly denial on the part of the drinker that a true problem exists regarding alcohol and health issues, financial problems or relationship issues that stem from the drinking habits. Anyone with a disease that impairs their thinking is going to make bad decisions. They may try to cover up the problem out of embarrassment or for other reasons. They are probably going to fight against getting help if doing so means doing without the thing they crave the most - alcohol.

An individual can actually experience a desire to stop or at least want to limit the consumption but is not able to do so without assistance. If that person is a male, there is a higher chance that there will be a lag time between when he realizes he needs help and when he will accept the idea that he must actively accept the help. This is not different from other situations when it comes to admitting that there might be a "disease" involved. Although it is common that males have a difficult time asking for medical help, female drinkers can also have difficulty time asking for help. The act of admitting the fact that they may have a disease when it comes to alcohol consumption is hard to accept. Alcohol addiction involves a drug and the drug is alcohol. This is a very addictive drug and addictions can be very difficult to beat.

Individuals that are around the drinker may feel it far easier to blame the drinker for the problems that occur as a result of the drinking instead of understanding that this is a person suffering from a disease. If someone has physical symptoms like paralysis or an amputee, it may be easier to see why the person is in need of medical intervention and healing. When the disease is not as obvious, it is more difficult to have compassion for the sick person. Anyone with a friend or loved one suffering from alcoholism must look beyond the raised glass in order to see and understand the disease.

Alcohol addiction treatment starts with distinguishing the signs and symptoms, getting beyond the denial stage, and understanding that the truth must be told. When this happens, one can begin the medical treatment and psychological counseling which are the usual combination that is involved when caring for the person with alcoholism.

Signs and symptoms of alcoholism:

Strong Cravings for alcohol that cannot be denied

A strong desire to drink at certain times or after common events (like after dinner)

The experiences of requiring more alcohol than previously in order to accomplish the same level of intoxication that brings with it a sense of "normalcy" or "good feeling". This is called tolerance.

The ability to consume large quantities of alcohol rapidly without appearing to be intoxicated

Having "blackouts". Drinking to the point that one cannot remember conversations, commitments or actions made while drinking

A lack of interest in activities or hobbies that were important to the person prior to the increase in alcohol consumption

Knowing what the alcoholism symptoms and drug addiction signs are - is crucial if you want to know whether you or someone you care about suffers from alcoholism or drug addiction.

There are whole host of signs and symptoms of alcoholism and drug addiction, but I'm not going to list them here (feel free to visit my website for that). I rather want to give you a crucial one - that if you pick up early can make all the difference.

There is a common misconception amongst people who believe that alcoholism or drug addiction is purely caused by how much you drink or use drugs. I don't believe that to be the case.

It will of course be obvious to you at certain times that a person is suffering from alcoholism or drug addiction. A drug addict for example will be so advanced in their addiction that their life simply revolves around their habit and doing anything else is almost impossible.

Likewise the alcoholic - who will be so far down the road of their addiction that their life has totally fallen apart - meaning they can't even hold down a job or maintain a relationship anymore.

Many drug addicts and alcoholics aren't yet that advanced with their addiction, however. So the secret is to see the signs and symptoms of alcoholism and drug addiction, before it gets that advanced.

And for me the telling sign and symptom of alcoholism and drug addiction is when you notice that your drinking or using begins to affect your life, i.e. the things you normally do on a daily basis.

So it means you're probably thinking more and more about the next chance you'll get to have a drink or use your drug of choice, your work is beginning to suffer, your relationships are starting to be affected - and unless you have that drink or take your drugs you increasingly find yourself struggling to cope (even if it is just mentally still because using or drinking provide you with a certain emotional comfort)

Now the difficulty is, picking up this sign of addiction - because it can be very subtle and just kind of creeps up on you without you realising. You might begin to notice a change in attitude, mood or behaviour in a person you love. If it's you, you're likely to be in denial about what's happening - but if you're really honest with yourself, you'll know a problem is developing.

There are numerous alcoholism symptoms are drug addiction signs - but if you can pick up on this one and hopefully catch it early - a successful recovery will be far easier.

I've helped a lot of people quit smoking. While doing this, I've been told a lot of reasons why it is good to smoke.

I've been told smoking sharpens your mind, relaxes you, calms you, keeps you from yelling at the kids (or spouse), tastes good with coffee, tastes better after a meal. In short, makes you feel "better". (I always ask "better than what"?)

I know you don't completely believe these reasons, or why know you should quit smoking. I also know a part of you DOES believe these things, and more.

The obvious and overlooked part is you must have a strong reason to continue smoking or you would have already stopped. By the way, there is no law that says your reason to keep smoking has to make any logical sense. It rarely does.

In fact, 99% of the reasons you continue can easily be proven incorrect. Maybe smoking keeps you from blowing up and yelling at your spouse because you're mouth is full of smoke, or even better, you have to go outside to smoke.

Most of the time you KNOW the reason doesn't make sense. That doesn't change the craving though, does it? Just one more one more reason in your list of reasons to quit. A list that doesn't have much chance against the well-rooted cravings to smoke.

It all comes down to two things. The belief that smoking will make you feel better and what you're trying to feel better than. That's it.

If you're too hot, you look for ways to cool off. If you're leg hurts you look for pain relief. If you feel bad (tired, stressed, overwhelmed, angry, lonely, whatever…) you look to feel good. If you have held the belief that smoking makes you feel good, that's where your mind takes you.

This is simple explanation of a craving. Some smokers have more than one type of craving, the 'first thing in the morning' craving might feel different than the 'on the phone' craving.

SO, how do you change these things? I can write on and on about this (and I have on my web site) It will come down to changing the feelings, motivations and beliefs involved.

First, the 'bad feeling' side of things needs to be addressed. If it's too much stress, get it managed, if it's a situation that makes you lonely, do what you can to fix it, or look for help.

Second, you belief that smoking helps you feel good (it's probably the innocent mistake that smoking equals being an adult, in control, strong, capable, etc…) In truth, a cigarette is a plant leaf and chemicals wrapped in paper. The good feeling you're anticipating from smoking is created by your mind. YOU make yourself feel better when you smoke. So it only makes sense that you can make yourself feel good by doing something that is healthy. If, your mind believes it makes you feel good.

And that's the bottom line. The bulk of the quit smoking issue is about behavior modification - changing the way you feel. That's why the success rate of most prescription medication and nicotine replacement (like the patch and nicotine gum) alone is so low. The only current exception is Chantix and even Pfizer, the makers of Chantix, recommend behavior modification go along with the medication.

Let's pretend you wanted form a habit. And not just some wimpy habit, but a major, mind controlling, and life changing habit behavior. Where do you start to make it a really strong habit that will feel impossible to break? There are three basic ways we learn habits; emotions, authority figures, and repetition.

An example will help explain this.

We need a person to use for our example. Let's use you, when you were 10 to 14 years old. For the sake of discussion, let's use the smoking habit. Ok?

While in that age range, we'll assume you were learning about life and how you fit in it. You may not have felt as sure about yourself as you would later in life.

You may have felt self-conscious, dependent on others, powerless, not good enough, or just not as capable as you would have liked to feel. Let's call this feeling "bad". Now, this doesn't mean you felt miserable, but, did you feel as "good" as you wanted to feel? Did you feel as "good" as you believed other people felt?

Feeling like that would lead you to wanting to feel better, or, as good as everyone else. What ways does your mind see to do this?? That matters upon what learning situations you've been exposed to.

Experiences that teach you smoking is strong, capable, tough, independent, self-assured, unique, and feels "good". Experiences that involve emotions, authority figures and repetition. Of course advertisements do this, so do parents and family members. Are these experiences repeated? Of course.

Your mind would develop a craving for the very thing it believes is in your best interest. The thing that will make you feel better. A craving that is a "feeling", separate from a "knowing".

Then you tried your first cigarette, and chances are that you weren't so good at smoking. That would come with practice.

As life continues you come across situations that make you feel "bad" again and do what you've been taught makes you feel "good". That is repeated emotions and practice and you have a strong habit.

People that have tried to quit smoking have spent a lot of time analyzing their habit, fighting themselves for control of cravings. But, you didn't learn the smoking habit with the thinking and analyzing part of your mind, so why try to use that part of your mind to change the habit?

It makes a whole lot of sense to quit smoking using the same methods you started smoking with. A "hypnotized" state of mind combined with emotions, authority figures and repetition. Also known as: modern hypnosis.