When Drinking Becomes Problematic And Can Cause Conflict With Your Friendships And Relationships
How do you recognize that you have a drinking problem? When is it clear that you are involving yourself in abusive drinking?
If you have unproductively made an effort to discontinue your drinking or if you promised yourself that your drinking days are over and then you realized that you were drinking in an abusive manner just a few days later, the odds are quite good that you have drinking problems. The major point of emphasis is that if you have made an effort to stop drinking and cannot bring this about, then your drinking is controlling you, instead of the other way around.
In a similar manner, if it takes larger amounts of alcohol to get the same “high,” more likely than not you need to recognize the fact that you have a drinking problem.
You may be telling yourself that the reasoning for your drinking is so that you can lessen your nervous tension or get rid of the sorrow or depression that you feel. In much the same way, you may be trying to avoid a harmful circumstance and may be looking for something more useful, more favorable, or less regretful.
As you continue to drink, then again, you will become aware that drinking does not elicit the same high and you will also become aware that drinking doesn’t help eliminate whatever triggered your discomfort in the first place. You may also notice that the more heavily you drink, the more depressed you feel.
As you continue to drink in an abusive manner, regrettably, you may become an alcoholic and, as a result, you may add another fundamental difficulty to manage rather than unearthing more effective and beneficial ways of coping with your alcohol induced problems.
The Requirement for an Alcohol Appraisal
If you have concluded that you have a drinking problem, perchance the healthiest thing you can do for yourself is to call your doctor or healthcare provider and schedule an appointment for a physical and for an assessment of your drinking activities.
If you sincerely feel that you have a critical drinking problem, it may be a good idea to get prepared to find out that you need to get alcohol counseling.
At this point in time, what are your options? You can unquestionably say no and refuse to see your general practitioner and carry on with your pattern of excessive drinking.
It really doesn’t take a genius, then again, to realize that repeated, abusive drinking, if left untreated, will get worse over time and doubtless result an early death. Therefore, your most practical alternative is to confront your drinking situation and get the alcohol therapy you need.
The Deception of the Functioning Alcohol Addicted Person
It is ironic to note the fact that several alcohol addicted individuals 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 cited for a DWI and may have been fortunate enough to avoid all alcohol-related legal predicaments. Despite this fortunate circumstance, conversely, these alcohol addicted individuals need to drink in order to live on a day to day basis while continuing their facade as they interact with people outside their family.
Ask anyone who has seen them when they are engaging in one of their drinking binges or in a drunken stupor or ask a family member about the problem drinker’s alcohol addiction, nonetheless, and they will be quick to affirm the validity of the drinker's situation and the facts about the alcohol dependent person’s drinking circumstances and about his or her alcohol produced problems.
Why Do Alcohol Dependent People Fail to Address Their Drinking Problems?
As alcohol dependency research and statistics on alcohol abuse have accentualted, no matter how observable the alcohol generated issues seem to those who interact with the alcohol addicted individual, alcohol addicted people commonly deny that drinking is the cause of their alcohol induced issues. Not only this, but alcohol dependent people commonly blame their alcohol-related problems on other people or upon other situations around them rather than seeing their part in the issue. Similarly, alcohol addicted individuals typically manifest conflict in their friendships and relationships.
The root of the predicament is that alcohol addiction is a disease of the brain. Once the problem drinker has become dependent on alcohol, he or she often 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 things more difficult, the experience of alcohol withdrawal symptoms regularly circumvents the alcohol addicted individual’s rare attempts to abruptly quit drinking. As dismal as the alcohol addicted person’s existence is, to the contrary, the positive news is that quality assistance is widely accessible – if the alcoholic reaches out and gets alcohol rehab.
Summary
Coming to grips with the fact that drinking is causing difficulties in your day to day functioning is perhaps the simplest way to find out if you have a problem with your drinking. Stated differently, if your drinking is causing 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 problem with your drinking, furthermore, this means that you are getting involved with abusive drinking.
While some individuals may be able to detect their "alcohol signs," pinpoint their problems, and greatly decrease the amount and occurrence of their drinking, others, conversely, need to address their drinking difficulties by getting quality alcohol rehabilitation. Moreover, due to their tendency to deny the facts and alter the truth, alcohol dependent individuals without a doubt require proficient alcoholism rehabilitation for their hazardous drinking.
And finally, if you feel more depressed the more you drink, you will probably need to obtain therapy for your problem drinking and for your depression.
Filed under Avoid Divorce, Marriage Issues, Relationship Problems, marriage problems by on May 22nd, 2010.