| While you might be in denial about your alcoholism, signs might be pointing to your having a problem and needing treatment. Look carefully at these symptoms and honestly look at them and try to see if that is portraying a picture of you. It could be that only one or two of them apply, but you wouldn't be off the hook. All you need is for a couple of these to be right and you could still very well be an alcoholic.
1- Feeling guilty or ashamed for drinking. You might act defensive when questioned about it and you may try to hide it, but take a close look and honestly at yourself if you feel ashamed for what you are doing.
2- Are you using alcohol in situations where it is physically dangerous to do so? Driving a vehicle while intoxicated is the most obvious, but by far not the only one. It may be operating equipment of any kind can put you at risk. Using heavy machinery at work can be deadly when you are drunk. Also, consider drinking when pregnant. There are some serious issues that come along with this.
3- Don't know when to say when. You may have had in your head how much you want to drink, but once you get started you can't stop. A few drinks will turn into a lot more.
4- Alcohol takes up your energy and focus. How often do you think about drinking. Does it ever interrupt your thinking? Also, how often do you have to plan your schedule around going to get a drink? If this is a recurring and daily theme with you, you might have a problem.
5- You want to quit, but you can't. You know the benefits of stopping and know what bad can come from not. As much as you want to do it, you just can't pull yourself away from it.
6- Finding excuses to drink. It might have started out with you drinking socially, but then you started doing it to ease some pain or calm yourself down. Now you look for any and every reason to throw one back.
7- Drinking in secret. You try to hide it. You hide the booze where you can and you try to do it when no one is around. You may just not want to be bothered, but you are being bothered for a good reason. You need to stop.
8- Blacking out or forgetting what you did while drunk. How do you know you have any control over what you are doing? How do you know you aren't going to do something that will totally screw up your life or the life of someone else because you can't stop. You don't know what you are capable of and not capable of if you have blackouts. You have no control.
9- Hurt someone because of being drunk. Alcohol is often looked as something that will make you bold. Sometimes that can be too bold and could harm seriously one that you love.
10- Built up a tolerance. Have you reached a point where it takes two or three times more alcohol to get that buzz than it did in the past? If you feel like you can handle more that doesn't mean that you should. It just puts you at greater risk.
11- Lie to others about your drinking. If you have to hide it, you probably shouldn't be doing it. Lying betrays trust and hurts relationships.
12- You drink even though you know it causes you problems. You know better, but if you don't do anything than your knowledge is useless. You choose every day to do the right thing or the wrong thing. The right thing for you is to not do those things that cause you and your family hardships.
This is not an exhaustive list of symptoms by any means, but it can give you an idea of what to look for. If you can honestly look at yourself and see some of these traits then you need to do yourself a favor and get help. |