Early Stage
    - Social drinkers may drink to relieve stress. Gradually they tend to be more and more dependent on alcohol, thinking that the alcohol can fix all their problems. Problem drinkers frequently make excuses for thier drinking behavior. They are often involved in automobile accidents and are prone to unintentional injuries. Aclohol consumption also contributes to many violent crimes.

Middle Stage
    - The alcoholic's dependence on alcohol becomes absolute and the drinker cannot stop after one drink. The may refuse to acknowledge their drinking problem, but show signs like absence from work or school, and strained family, social and business relationships.

Late Stage
    - Alcoholics rapidly deteriote mentally, physically, and emotionally. Their lives revolve around alcohol and they experience reverse tolerance to it. Drinkers become isolated from society. In this stage of alcoholism, malnutrition, liver and brain damage, cancer, lung disease, and heart disease are common. When denied alcohol, heavy drinkers suffer severe withdrawal.
        * Delirium Tremens - reaction of the central nervous systemt ot the absence of alcohol, resulting in uncontrollable shaking, nightmares, seizures, fear of animals or people, insomnia, and sometimes death.

Costs to Society
    - Alcohol-related crimes, medical expenses, injuries, lost productivity on the job, and treatment programs cost the U.S. 100 - 200 billion dollars a year. Alcohol causes 150,000 premature deaths every year.