Alcoholism is a horrible problem. Billions of dollars are spent in US alone to treat alcoholism and medical conditions due to it. Indirect cost to the economy is likely huge as well. On a personal level it destroys families and ruins lives.

Imagine thirty plus year old male who was involved in a motor vehicle accident. It was a bad accident; the car rolled over six times. He sustained multiple injuries including cervical spine fracture with a spinal cord injury, at C5 level. The injury is such that the patient now is unable to control a single muscle from below his neck. He has no control over his bladder or bowels; all of this after a single stupid mistake. Now his mind is trapped in the useless body. His life is never going to be the same.
This is not a hypothetical situation. This is a real life example from trauma ICU.

Fortunately, the problems with alcohol abuse and related injuries are well recognized in our society. Millions of dollars are being spent on an anti-drinking and anti-DUI campaigns. (see image above)

What is being underecognized is that the withdrawal from alcohol could be a life threatening problem as well. The mortality from alcohol withdrawal used to be 37 percent. Now, it’s about 5 percent. Five percent mortality is still high considering the advances in modern medicine. A lot of people know (or even experienced) the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. Restlessness, agitation, hallucinations and even seizures are not uncommonly seen in these patients. The patients are often tachycardic (elevated heart rate) and hypertensive. This is a horrible condition to live through.

Often patients minimize or even deny having a problem with alcohol use. Many patients tell me “I don’t really drink”. A day or two later this same patient starts seeing spiders on the wall and further investigation confirms that the patient was a heavy drinker prior to the admission.

I have seen patients who decide to quit “cold turkey” and “self-detox” at home. Few days later I admit those patients with an alcohol withdrawal seizure.

It’s almost as we need a public service campaign educating the patients not only about alcohol abuse itself, but the alcohol withdrawal as well.
It probably should say something like this: TELL YOUR DOCTOR IF YOU ARE HAVING PROBLEMS RELATED TO ALCOHOL USE AND SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION OF YOU DECIDE TO QUIT. DON’T QUIT ALONE – IT CAN KILL YOU. (Well I am exaggerating a bit).