What is addictive in alcohol?

Answer 1

Addiction to alcohol is two-fold. There is a psychological and physical addiction. Physical addiction to alcohol may not manifest itself in every person addicted to alcohol. This usually takes years of continuous abuse of alcohol that over time actually changes cellular function in your body. The prolonged abuse of alcohol can cause cellular function to become dependent on alcohol being present in the system in order for them to work correctly. The sudden removal of alcohol can cause these cells to work improperly or shut down altogether. Symptoms of alcohol withdrawal can range from physical tremors all the way to coma and death.

The other cause of alcohol addiction is the less understood psychological factors. There are 7 behaviors that make up psychological addiction with only 3 being present for a designated period of time to classify as alcohol addicted. These are tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, problems with family, work, social or legally; the inability to control how much or how long you drink, continual attempts at quitting or slowing down that ultimately end in failure, increasing amount of time trying to drink or recover from its affects, and continual drinking even when the person is aware that their lives are suffering because of it.