It means that alcohol taking behavior takes over the persons
other behaviors like working, socializing and other
entertainments. 1. Strong desire and sense of compulsion to take
alcohol 2. Difficulty in controlling alcohol taking behavior. 3.
Symptoms of withdrawal like tremors, sweating, increased heart
rate, nausea, vomiting and hallucinations, once alcohol is
stopped. 4. Tolerance to alcohol, meaning that increase in the
amount of alcohol needed to get the same effect. This will
result in progressive increase in the amount of alcohol intake.
5. Progressive neglect of alternate pleasure activities.
Previous hobbies are stopped to take on alcohol. 6. Persistent
use of alcohol despite clear evidence of mental, physical and
social harm. If three or more of above features are present in
an individual then alcohol dependence syndrome can be diagnosed.
Since most people are secretive about their alcohol habits, it
is difficult to elicit above features. Sometimes doctors need to
take comprehensive history from per