There are many defined symptoms of alcoholism, but the best resource I discovered for identifying and clearly presenting the most obvious symptoms comes from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which state the symptoms of alcohol dependence as:

Neglect of Other Activities: The drinker’s alcohol use reduces or eliminates important social, work-related or recreational activities.

Excessive Use: The drinker begins to consume larger amounts of alcohol over a longer period of time than intended.

Impaired Control: The drinker makes repeated unsuccessful attempts to cut down or control how much he/she drinks.

Persistence of Use: The drinker continues to consume alcohol despite knowing that his/her drinking is causing or contributing to a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem.

Large Amounts of Time Spent in Alcohol Related Activities: The drinker spends an abnormal amount of time on activities involved with obtaining, using and/or recovering from the effects of alcohol.

Withdrawal: When the drinker stops drinking for a short period of time, he/she experiences symptoms such as nausea, sweating, shaking or anxiety.

Tolerance: The drinker needs increasing amounts of alcohol to achieve the same level of intoxication.

The question that can be asked is “How does alcohol affect you?”  When it starts affecting your relationships, job, or health, but you still can’t stop drinking, then it’s serious and time to make a change.