ii) Middle Phase

a) Loss of control over the quantity, time and place of consumption.

b) Giving excuses for one's drinking to others and self.

c) Grandiose behaviour, i.e. doing things beyond one's capacity, e.g. spending too much or showing off.

d) Aggression through words and action.

e) Guilt and regret.

f) Temporary periods of giving up drink.

g) Changing the drinking pattern, e.g. changing the type of drink, the time/place of drinking, etc, to limit one's drinking, which does not give any positive results.

h) Problems in social relationships and increase of problems in family, job and financial matters.

i) Morning drinking in some cases in order to handle the hangover i.e. the feeling of illness and unpleasant physical symptoms the morning after an evening of heavy drinking.

j) At times, the alcoholic may seek help for alcoholism at this stage.

 

iii) Chronic Phase

a) Decreased tolerance i.e. now get ‘drunk' even with a very small

quantity.

b) Physical complaints.

c) Binge drinking, i.e. continuous drinking for days together.

d) Keeping a constant watch over the quota of one's drinks, due to fear of being without a drink.

e) Criminal behaviour to get alcohol and ethical breakdown, i.e. unable to live up to social values.

f) Paranoia or suspicious feelings that everybody is against him/her.

g) Loss of sexual desire/functioning in men which increases their suspicion about their wife's fidelity.

h) Fears of simple things, e.g. being alone.

i) Lack of motor coordination, i.e. shakes and tremors, prevent him from performing simple acts.

j) Hallucinations, e.g. imagining voices speaking, seeking what does not exist, or feeling sensations in the absence of external stimuli.

k) If alcohol is discontinued, severe physical discomfort and pain follows.

l) Either death or mental illness at the final stage.