Addiction Treatment, Addictive Substances, Alcohol Detox, Alcohol Treatment, Dual Diagnosis, Recovery Advice

It’s Just Alcohol, How Bad Is It?

March 5, 2025

There’s a reason why alcohol is considered a social lubricant. It’s even backed by scientific evidence, with researchers validating alcohol’s ability to elevate people’s positive emotions, minimize their negative ones and encourage bonding among others.

Because alcohol is everywhere, from pouring libations at a celebration to a simple glass of wine or beer out with friends, the concept of “It’s just alcohol” makes sense — but can ring harshly for someone struggling with alcohol use disorder, which always starts with a drink here or there.

The truth is that the profound nature of asking, “Am I an alcoholic?” negates the dismissiveness of a statement like “It’s just alcohol” that undermines the dangers of alcohol abuse. So do other important questions, like, at what point does drinking become dangerous, or how quickly does alcoholism develop? Exploring the answers can help you recognize when it may be time to seek help.

It’s Just Alcohol, How Bad Can It Be?

Is alcohol bad for you? It depends on how much and how often you drink. In moderation, responsible drinking doesn’t pose distinctive problems. But “drinking too much — on a single occasion or over time — can take a serious toll on your health,” says the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

How bad is alcohol, and how much alcohol is too much? The American Academy of Family Physicians quantifies problem drinking for women who have more than seven drinks per week, or more than three drinks in one setting; for men, 14 drinks per week, or more than four drinks on one occasion; or seven drinks per week for people older than 65 years, or more than three drinks in one sitting.

When you dig deeper into research, you begin to see that alcohol isn’t as benign as it appears. From impairing your judgment to triggering physiological changes that raise the risk of chronic illnesses, alcohol can disrupt your body’s natural balance — and over time, excessive, binge drinking or chronic alcohol use can lead to dependence and alcohol addiction.

How Long Does It Take to Get Addicted to Alcohol?

There is no single timeline for the development of alcohol use disorder. Some people may take years of chronic drinking before forming a dependency, while others might begin showing telltale signs of addiction within months.

What dictates the differences? Your physiology plays a role — for instance, lower amounts of alcohol consumption may have a stronger effect in people with smaller body compositions compared to someone with larger physical proportions who can tolerate greater amounts of alcohol.

Apart from one’s drinking patterns, other reasons, like one’s genetic makeup, one’s mental health, or one’s drinking patterns, all contribute to how likely or quickly alcohol addiction may take hold in an individual. Alcohol impacts the brain’s basal ganglia reward system, releasing dopamine and reinforcing drinking behavior. Over time, tolerance builds, meaning you need more alcohol to feel the same effects.

“As individuals continue to drink alcohol over time, progressive changes may occur in the structure and function of their brains,” says the NIAAA. “These changes can compromise brain function and drive the transition from controlled, occasional use to chronic misuse, which can be difficult to control.”

The Cycle of Alcohol Addiction

Alcohol addiction develops in a cyclical fashion, explains the NIAAA:

The binge/intoxication stage is marked by experiencing the positive, rewarding effects of drinking alcohol. By repeatedly activating that reward system in your basal ganglia, alcohol consumption is reinforced, triggering changes in the way you respond to stimuli linked to drinking, like certain people, environments or cues that remind you of alcohol.
The negative effect/withdrawal stage happens when you stop drinking. Because the body has become accustomed to a regular intake of alcohol, cutting it off can result in several negative physical and emotional withdrawal symptoms. Negative feelings attached to alcohol withdrawal are linked to a rewards deficit in the basal ganglia and an activation of your brain’s stress systems.
Lastly, the preoccupation/anticipation stage sees the prefrontal cortex (the “personality center” of the brain responsible for rational decision-making and prioritization) effectively compromised as an addicted individual becomes preoccupied with drinking, seeking out alcohol and relapsing by giving in to their cravings.

Alcohol Addiction Statistics

Quantifying alcohol addiction emphasizes how widespread the dangers of alcohol abuse can be:

Nearly 29 million people aged 12 and older had alcohol use disorder in 2023, according to the NIAAA’s 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)
757,000 adolescents aged 12 to 17 also had alcohol use disorder in 2023.
In an average year, 140,557 Americans die from the effects of alcohol.
However, the NSDUH notes that less than 10% of people with past-year alcohol use disorder received alcoholism treatment.

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What Are the Short-Term Risks of Alcohol Abuse?

Feeling intoxicated/drunk and having a hangover the next day aren’t the only adverse short-term effects of alcohol abuse. Even if you’re only occasionally binge drinking or imbibing infrequently, consider some of the more immediate health and behavioral risks attached to excessive drinking:

Craving alcohol and becoming preoccupied with obtaining or drinking it
Allowing drinking to interfere and harm your relationships
Physical impairments, like slowed reaction times or loss of coordination
Blackouts and temporary memory loss
Higher risk of injuries — motor vehicle accidents from drunk driving, falls, or drowning
A greater likelihood of alcohol poisoning
Risky behaviors (like unsafe sex or combining drinking with drug use) due to intoxicated/poor choices
Violence or aggressive outbursts, including raised risks of intimate partner violence, homicide and suicide

What Are the Long-Term Risks of Alcohol Abuse?

Chronic, long-term alcohol abuse can also pose lasting, dangerous damage. “Alcohol can harm your liver and other organs as it moves through the body,” notes the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The longer alcohol addiction persists, the harder it becomes to reverse these effects:

Liver disease: “Your liver can only process small amounts of alcohol,” says the CDC. Heavy drinking can lead to conditions like cirrhosis, fatty liver (steatosis) and alcoholic hepatitis.

Cardiovascular issues: Excessive, long-term drinking can weaken the heart, provoking development of high blood pressure, heart disease and risk of stroke.

Neurological damage: We outlined before how addiction manifests in the brain. Over time, the dangers of alcohol abuse can result in cognitive decline, memory problems and brain shrinkage.

Pancreatic problems: Inflammation called pancreatitis, which can produce swelling and pain and affect proper digestion, can be caused by alcohol abuse.

Cancer: Alcoholism raises one’s risk of developing liver, breast, head/neck, colorectal and esophageal cancers.

Weakened immune system: Alcoholism can make you more susceptible to various infections, illnesses and diseases.

Mental health disorders: Having conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety may increase the risk of alcohol abuse, but alcohol use disorder can also worsen these problems.

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What Is Alcohol Addiction Treatment Like?

One of the most important things to know if you or a loved one is struggling with alcohol dependence is that help is available — and help is effective to help you conquer alcohol use disorder. Alcohol abuse treatment goes beyond simply helping you quit drinking; it’s meant to help facilitate a total recovery by addressing all the ways alcoholism can affect you, from the physical to the emotional and psychological.

Here’s what treatment looks like at one of Aliya’s alcohol rehab centers:

Medical Detox for Alcohol Addiction Treatment

Many chronic drinkers will attempt to quit cold turkey, alone, but this can create a host of symptoms that can be difficult to weather on one’s own — forcing many people to continue drinking just to avoid the headaches, anxiety, nausea, heart palpitations, even seizures and delirium that accompany withdrawal.

At one of our alcohol treatment centers, withdrawal can be properly mitigated, monitored, and managed with medical detox. It’s the first step in alcohol abuse treatment where your body is given a chance to clear alcohol from its system. Every step of the way, you’ll have trained medical staff at your side, from doctors and nurses to addiction specialists, to ensure your detox stay is as comfortable as can be.

Medication-Assisted Treatment for Alcohol Addiction

Depending on the severity of one’s addiction, alcoholism treatment often includes a medication component. Medication-assisted treatment, or MAT for short, is designed to help assuage withdrawal symptoms, reduce cravings and ultimately prevent relapse.

One common MAT medication prescribed to guests is acamprosate, which can help restore balance to neurotransmitters like GABA and glutamate that can become compromised with excessive alcohol abuse.

Naltrexone works to block opioid receptors in the brain’s reward system, effectively eliminating the positive reinforcement that comes with drinking and reducing one’s desire to drink. And disulfiram is an anti-relapse medication meant for people who have stopped drinking and completed detox, working to block a liver enzyme responsible for processing alcohol.

Inpatient Alcohol Addiction Treatment

For alcohol abuse treatment, “inpatient” means arranging a stay at one of our alcohol rehab centers, where you’ll live for a predetermined period of time, free of distractions, triggers or temptations to drink so you can commit your full, daily, 24/7 focus to physical recovery and mental health support. Inpatient treatment becomes a safe space where your priority becomes entirely dedicated to getting clean and sober. At Aliya, inpatient programs, which can include individual and group therapy, typically last 30 to 90 days.

Outpatient Alcohol Addiction Treatment

How does inpatient treatment differ from outpatient alcohol treatment? The latter offers more flexibility, enabling you to attend therapy and other facets of treatment, on-site, while being able to return home every evening so you can fulfill daily responsibilities like family, work, or school commitments. It’s a balanced type of treatment that allows full focus to treatment and your life without taking away from either one.

Outpatient alcohol treatment is primarily ideal for people with mild to moderate addictions who don’t require an inpatient rehab stay and who also have strong support systems at home where you won’t risk being triggered into relapsing.

Aftercare for Alcohol Addiction

Once rehab is complete, what happens next? The good news is that your recovery can continue in other ways. Aftercare is a phase of treatment that helps bridge the gap between intensive treatment and independent sobriety. We can help connect you with sober living homes, ongoing therapy, outside peer support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous or resources for relapse prevention.

Look at aftercare as a way of reinforcing the work you need to do to maintain your sobriety out in the real world, equipping you with added coping skills and keeping you accountable.

Therapies for Alcohol Addiction Recovery

Aliya’s alcohol treatment centers offer two primary forms of therapy to confront the root causes of addiction and promote healing from within:

Evidence-Based Psychotherapy

So much of conquering addiction through therapy involves taking an honest look at your relationship with alcohol. Behavioral therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) focus on helping to reframe negative thought patterns that may have contributed to your alcohol abuse; by creating a new mental narrative, you open new pathways with the clarity to choose not to drink.

Another effective evidence-based (meaning it’s backed by science) psychotherapy is motivational interviewing (MI), a type of therapy rooted in open-ended dialogues with your therapist. MI is ideal for guests who are resistant to change, helping motivate you to get clean and sober.

Holistic Recovery Options

Each of our alcohol rehab centers offers holistic recovery therapies to help heal your whole self — mind, body, and spirit — from the adverse influences of alcohol. Holistic therapies give you additional, complementary tools to manage stress, cravings and emotional distress when the urge to drink arises.

Here, you can find everything from yoga, mindfulness meditation, massage and sound therapy, nutrition counseling and neurofeedback, each one thoughtfully designed to remain in the present moment, regulate your thoughts and emotions and express emotions that may be difficult to put into words. Thought-provoking and transformative, holistic therapy will change you and help you discover perspective and new talents that existed within you all along.

Finding an Alcohol Addiction Treatment Facility

You don’t have to go it alone. After signing up for treatment, you can receive the diagnosis you need and the personalized treatment plan to set you on the path to recovery — from detox to therapy, group support to sober living resources.

Cost should also never be a barrier to seeking help. By reaching out to us, our admissions team can answer your questions, verify your insurance plan and discuss financing options. You can change your life with alcohol abuse treatment, and that change begins with one phone call. Contact us today — you have the power to defeat alcohol abuse.

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