How do you know that you have a drinking problem? When is it apparent that you are involving yourself in excessive drinking?
If you have unproductively struggled to quit drinking or if you promised yourself that your drinking days are finished and then you realized that you were drinking in a hazardous manner just a few days later, the odds are incredibly good that you have drinking problems. The fundamental idea is that if you have tried to stop drinking and cannot get this accomplished, then your drinking is controlling you, rather than the other way around.
Likewise, if it takes greater amounts of alcohol to get the same “high,” you probably need to recognize the fact that you have a drinking problem.
You may be telling yourself that the justification for your drinking is so that you can lessen your anxiety or get rid of the hurt that you feel. In a similar manner, you may be trying to stay away from a negative circumstance and may be looking for something more useful, more positive, or less sorrowful.
As you keep on drinking, conversely, you will become aware that drinking does not bring about the same high and you will also understand that drinking doesn’t help get rid of whatever triggered your discomfort in the first place.
As you continue to drink in an excessive way, regrettably, you may become addicted to alcohol and, as a result, you may add another essential issue to manage rather than finding out about more efficient and beneficial ways of coping with your alcohol produced difficulties.
The Necessity for an Alcohol Assessment
If you have concluded that you have a drinking problem, perhaps the best thing you can do for yourself is to call your doctor or healthcare practitioner and arrange for an appointment for a thorough physical and for an appraisal of your drinking circumstances.
If you in fact feel that you have a dangerous drinking problem, it might be a good idea to get prepared to hear that you need to get alcohol rehab.
At this juncture, what are your options? You can positively say no and refuse to see your family doctor and carry on with your pattern of excessive drinking.
It certainly doesn’t take a wiz kid, then again, to understand that long-term, out-of-control drinking, if left untreated, will worsen over time and in all probability set in motion an early death. Thus, your most positive option is to face up to your drinking problem and get the alcohol counseling you require.
The Facade of the Functioning Alcohol Dependent Individual
It is somewhat peculiar to note the fact that many alcohol addicted people lead busy and active lives and have jobs, vehicles, pets, families, houses, and any number of material possessions similar to non-alcoholics.
Many of these “functional” alcoholics may have never been apprehended for a DWI and may have been fortunate enough to avoid all alcohol generated legal difficulties. Despite this fortunate situation, however, these alcoholics need to drink in order to function on a day by day basis while preserving their facade as they associate with people outside their family.
Ask anyone who has seen them when they are bingeing or in a drunken stupor or ask a family member about the problem drinker’s alcoholism, however, and they will be quick to affirm the authenticity of the drinker’s situation and the essentials about the alcohol addicted individual’s drinking condition and about his or her alcohol produced issues.
Why Do People Addicted to Alcohol Fail to Address Their Drinking Problems?
As alcohol addiction research and statistics on alcohol abuse have accentualted, no matter how obvious the alcohol-related predicaments seem to those who interact with the alcohol dependent person, alcohol dependent people often deny that drinking is the cause of their alcohol produced issues. Not only this, but alcohol dependent people regularly blame their alcohol-related predicaments on other individuals or upon other circumstances that surround them rather than seeing their part in the problem.
The source of the predicament is that alcohol dependency is a disease of the brain. Once the person has become dependent on alcohol, he or she commonly resorts to denial, manipulation, and deceit as a way of coping with the fact that his or her drinking is out of control. And to make matters more complex, the experience of alcohol withdrawal symptoms commonly counteracts the alcohol dependent person’s rare attempts to suddenly abstain from drinking. As miserable as the alcohol dependent person’s way of life is, then again, the encouraging news is that quality assistance is generally accessible – if the alcohol addicted person reaches out and gets alcohol counseling.
Conclusion
Conceding the fact that drinking is eliciting issues in your day to day functioning is probably the most straightforward way to find out if you have a drinking problem. Stated differently, if your drinking is bringing about problems with your health, with your employment, in your relationships, with your finances, at school, or with the law, then you have a drinking problem that needs to be dealt with.
If you have a drinking problem, moreover, this means that you are engaging in hazardous drinking.
While some problem drinkers may be able to identify their “alcohol signs,” pinpoint their difficulties, and greatly decrease the quantity and occurrence of their drinking, other individuals, conversely, need to address their drinking problems by getting quality alcohol counseling. Additionally, due to their penchant to deny the facts and warp the truth, alcohol addicted people undeniably require professional alcohol treatment for their excessive drinking.