So, this is probably a very stupid question and I am really very sorry but I couldn't find anything on the net.
I think that I'm going to need to include a very detailed description of an alcoholic in my story...only, I'm not entirely sure what effects that continued alcohol abuse would have on the outward appearance of a person. If anyone could help out at all then I'd be very grateful.
Thanks!
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76,241 / 50,000
Oct 2, 2007 - 15 03
There aren't really any specific effects, but heavy drinking causes liver disease which could result in jaundice (a sort of yellow tinge to their skin). Other than that, there's general dishevelment that could come from not really caring about hygiene and personal appearence, maybe a few days' worth of facial hair if it's a guy....
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3,730 / 50,000
Oct 2, 2007 - 16 14
Well, starting with actual intoxication, there are blood shot and glazed eyes, slurred speech, poor motor control, aggressive behavior, poor spacial awareness, hightened conficence.
For physical looks in relation to being hungover, theres dehydration (thats what causes the headaches with hangovers, the brain shrinking due to lack of water as the alcohol makes you pass water quicker) That can be bad skin (losing elasticity and looking wrinkled and aged again due to dehydration), cracked lips, wanting lots of water, blood shot eyes again. Lack of energy and slow movements. Baggy eyes from lack of sleep (for every unit you drink, you need and extra half-hour/hours sleep to recuperate.)
Most alcohholics I know are normally very quiet and shy when sober. But when they have a few drinks, they suddenly find their confidence and can become the "life of the party". So a lack of confidence can change a persons deminer.
Thats just what I've observed in my time working in the pub trade. I get to see alot of outrageous drunken behaviour and alot of alcoholics.
Hope it helps.
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50,219 / 50,000
Oct 2, 2007 - 16 33
Certainly, jaundice and bloodshot eyes and a general unkeptness affect the appearance, but there is more than that. Take a good look at photographs of Ted Kennedy. He has suffered alcoholism fo many years, and there are many occasions where you can clearly see his bulbous nose is bright red. This effect is called "gin-blossoming" or "billy-blossoming." In addition, there is a yellowing of fingernails, teeth get furry-ish and deteriorate, and they smell. Badly. Years of prolonged, heavy drinking can also deepen fine lines and wrinkles.
----------Breathlessly,
Annje Davis-Walker
___________________________
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50,219 / 50,000
Oct 2, 2007 - 16 59
Sorry for the double post.
----------Breathlessly,
Annje Davis-Walker
___________________________
Scripfrenzy '08 - Planning, "Unknown Variables"
NaNo '07 - Winner, Paying The Piper
NaNo '06 - Winner, A Softer Silence
http://Writing.Com/authors/worldweaver
50,002 / 50,000
Oct 2, 2007 - 17 07
One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the beer belly. Alcohol abuse causes the stomach to become distended -- I won't go into the gory details unless you really need them, because it's quite gross and I got really squicked out just hearing my sociology professor (a former alcohol abuse counselor) describe it, but basically the abdomen becomes swollen. The person doesn't necessarily look overweight, because it's all concentrated in the one area. In some people it's just a little pudge, but in others it makes them look pregnant.
9,068 / 50,000
Oct 2, 2007 - 22 06
My boyfriend's dad was a alcoholic. What I found really weird when I first moved in with my boyfriend's family was that apparently no one but the immediate family seemed to notice when he was drunk. He was one of the quiet drunks; no agressive behaviour, no slurring of words.
If really drunk, there were motion problems. Severely, to the point of falling down and not being able to get up again on his own. There always was smell. You don't go too near to someone who's an alcoholic; it's nauseating, even when not drunk at that moment.
I suggest you also look up alcoholic dementia, Korsakoff's syndrome, and other behaviour modifications due to alcohol abuse. For me, those signs were a lot more impressing and left a greater impact on my memory than outward appearance (of which I sadly can't tell you anything of substance as I don't know how much of his physical appearance was due to the alcoholism and how much was due to his age and other illnesses).
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2006: The Heart of Isis (WON) --- crime/suspence
2007: Craving --- dark fantasy
51,020 / 50,000
Oct 4, 2007 - 13 29
if we go by my brother in law...
red splotches on face, on chin and cheeks. blurry, watery, unfocused eyes. swollen hands.
----------Melissa
-----(the poet who would try to write a novel)
16,377 / 50,000
Oct 11, 2007 - 10 48
Then there is the "sweating" that chronic alcoholics exhibit. I guess this ties in with what others have said above about the bad smell that wafts from them when they pass by or if you stand next to them for prolonged periods. This smell, in fact, varies depending on what they drink. Bear is the worst of the lot, the drinkers of the same tend to really "hum", but those who down mostly spirits, such as vodka and other "clear" spirits give off a scent that smells like a mixture of salt and pure alcohol..which I guess it is really.
The other thing, although not appearance related, is worth mentioning and that is mood swings..one of the hardest things to live with if you have an alcoholic in the family. This comes to the fore mostly when they are reaching their "dry point", that time when they are really dying for a drink. Some won't show a mood swing/change at all, but nearly all will have some sort of "tick"..some sort of mannerism that is a dead give-a-way to those who know it. One guy I knew used to shift from one foot to the other, while another guy used to keep rubbing his hands through his hair constantly and wouldn't stop until he had downed a glass or two of his preferred poison.
Hope this helps.
scribbler65
----------"Write today..for tomorrow you may die."
0 / 50,000
Oct 11, 2007 - 12 58
An alcoholic neighbor of mine turned totally yellow - eyes, skin, everything - right before she died of it. Looked like a frikkin' lemon.
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Area Woman Falls Prey to Narcissistic E-trend
6,388 / 50,000
Oct 11, 2007 - 14 52
There was someone like that at the hospital my friend works at. The lady drank so much alcohol in her life that her liver just... stopped. All the nurses on the floor kept calling nurses and doctors from the other floors to come have a look because she was just THAT YELLOW.
Continued alcolhol abuse means you become the night-shift entertainment.
50,358 / 50,000
Oct 12, 2007 - 20 42
~Continued alcohol abuse means you become the night-shift entertainment.~
Foxwind, can I use that quote? I actually snorted when I read it. I work with a fair number of chemically dependent individuals and would love to pass along that little piece of wisdom. Especially to my youth!
----------~Lex
50,139 / 50,000
Oct 13, 2007 - 20 25
I'm an alcoholic and been sober in AA for 20 years. I've seen a ton of drunks get sober. All of the above descriptions are accurate. But not all alcholics suffer at such rock bottom levels, so your character may not have to "look" like one to be one. However, here's a link that might help you. It is a link to the book Alcoholics Anonymous. In the back of the book they have 42 personal stories. The last fifteen stories tell of alcoholism at its miserable worst. It may help with your character descrip. (You probably don't even have to read the whole story to get your info.)
http://www.aa.org/bigbookonline/en_personalstoriesIII.cfm
12,927 / 50,000
Oct 13, 2007 - 20 39
Alcoholic doesn't necessarily mean slovenly. A lot of my relatives drink a lot more than they probably should, and are, by now, pretty hardened against the drink. The only way you can really tell if some of them /are/ drunk is that their eyes are shinier and their faces redder than usual. Also, they may have a sort of lost and confused look in their eyes. But they dress like humans, and shave, and don't have jaundice. It's just that when they're sober, they seem a little drunk anyway. Or maybe they're just perpetually slightly drunk. I don't really know.
It's the people who don't usually drink who are the most obviously drunk when they're drunk.
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20,593 / 50,000
Oct 30, 2007 - 01 58
It's the people who don't usually drink who are the most obviously drunk when they're drunk.
I agree with that, although not an alocholic anymore, I was one. I'm pretty sure no on but the friend's I lived with knew I had a problem. If your character is young, then most people will not suspect they have a drinking problem at all. It's only when they can't get through a day or deal with anything without having a drink that it starts seeming a little bit suss ;D
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