An alcoholic will say he drinks for a lot of reasons, “I drink when I am depressed, or because work is not going well, or because I finished a big job and I am happy or because I am frightened about the future of my job or because money is tight and I cannot pay my bills or it is Monday and it only comes once a week”. The point is that an alcoholic drinks because it is his way of living; he has learned that no matter what the situation, he does not know how to handle it without alcohol, so any situation is a reason to drink. However many alcoholics will also experience physical 
withdrawal symptoms when they try to stop drinking, these physical discomforts are not experienced by all alcoholics (this is one of the many mysteries surrounding alcoholism.) These alcohol withdrawal symptoms could include everything from tremors and hallucinations to seizures, if an alcoholic is experiencing this type of withdrawal seek medical help as these symptoms can be very dangerous and sometimes deadly.
Often times when an alcoholic begins to seek treatment for his alcoholism he will see his family doctor, most medical doctors will begin treatment with a few different prescriptions for depression and anxiety. This is a normal practice because the symptoms of alcoholism mirror emotional disorders. This is a very dangerous path to follow for an alcoholic; the addiction to alcohol ensures that the alcoholic will quickly become addicted to pharmacologically similar drugs, this is a process called “cross addiction” and it happens to many alcoholics. These medications for depression and anxiety are in fact tranquillizers or sedatives and these drugs are addictive for anyone who uses them over long periods of time, even if they are taken as prescribed. For alcoholics the drug addiction process is much faster than in most people because the drugs can take the place of alcohol and relieve the shakes, nervousness and anxiety that come with alcoholism and alcohol withdrawal.
Once addicted to both alcohol and prescription drugs the alcoholic experiences a much more complex combination of withdrawal symptoms, and his mental and physical torment is multiplied. The dual addicted alcoholic is now caught in a brutal cycle of increasing pain and decreasing benefit. Now he must increase his use of alcohol and pills to medicate himself against the ever increasingly sever withdrawal symptoms. In this situation the danger of overdose is ever increasing because the combination of alcohol and tranquilizers or sedatives can cause respiratory failure.
If you are in need of help for alcoholism, or if you know someone that does, please speak to a professional addiction counselor to find the best addiction rehabilitation center for your specific needs.
