It lowers alertness and impairs perception, judgment, and motor coordination. In high doses, it can cause loss of consciousness and even death. Chronic alcoholism damages the brain, liver, heart, and other organs. Spotting the signs and symptoms of alcoholism is not always easy. Drinking-related arrests or job loss can be signs of alcoholism, but they tend to happen late in the disease.
Many signs occur earlier, yet are harder to detect.
A growing preoccupation with or interest in drinking, drinking alone or drinking before an activity where there will be drinking. It may seem as though one simply enjoys drinking. We now know that these signs are the first symptoms of alcoholism. A person will dispute there is a problem. This symptom, called denial, is almost always present in alcoholism.