The capability to hide secrets is a real talent in some cases. But this cannot always serve as a good thing especially when someone is hiding their addiction issue. Most addicts try and successfully hide their substance and its abuse for long time from the close people and in the professional front. This happens until major changes come forward for every one notices. But some people get aware of their condition and tries to fix themselves all by themselves.
Never Expect The Same Response
Alcohol addiction is something that starts to control our very brain and body. Trying to snap out of it is never going to work as it takes time to settle in. Your friend might have successfully withdrawn from smoking, but there is no reason to think that you could do the same with alcohol addiction. The response to addiction is different for everyone and one should never expect the same things as another person. Your response could be completely different, and you would get the surprise of your life as you deal with what are symptoms of withdrawal from alcohol.
There are some common withdrawal symptoms like restlessness, nausea, insomnia, headache, seizures, and more. But everyone does not handle these things quite well. This is where all the problem is. When you try to withdraw without any medical help you end up being completely without help when something different happen to you. Some of these symptoms go out of hand quickly enough for you to seek help. You might just wait for the seizure to subside when it is about to get worse.
Medical Help
The symptoms can be controlled or made tolerable for the patients through medicines. In fact, in many cases, some patients require constant surveillance to avoid any kind of self-harming attempts. Even in case of outpatient facilities, patients are prescribed proper medicines that would help them to go through this period. Though it is quite normal to feel ashamed to confess, always let your family know when you decide to face withdrawal. Proper support and medical help will make it bit easier to face the evil of withdrawal.