Alcohol addiction involves developing an emotional dependency and physical tolerance to alcohol, requiring increasing amounts to achieve the same effect. The body becomes so accustomed to alcohol that it cannot function without it, indicating alcohol dependence. When attempting to quit drinking, withdrawal symptoms arise, often leading to a cycle of resuming drinking to alleviate these symptoms. Breaking free from this pattern can seem daunting.
When someone tries to quit an alcohol addiction, various physical and mental withdrawal symptoms can occur. Some of these manifest themselves within hours or days of stopping drinking, while other (mainly psychological) withdrawal symptoms only occur after several weeks. The severity and duration of these symptoms vary from person to person and depend in part on the degree of addiction.
Possible withdrawal symptoms of alcohol addiction include: