Early Indicators of Alcoholism to Look Out For

 

Because drinking is so commonplace in various cultures, it’s often difficult to identify when a person is early on their path to problem-drinking or alcoholism. The developed signs are easy to spot, but early indicators are a bit more elusive. These are several early indications that a person is at risk for developing alcoholism.

 

Drinking Alone

A common early indicator of alcoholism is drinking alone and outside of social situations. While this person might still engage in social drinking, they still have no problem consuming alcohol without others around. They might often purchase alcohol in relatively large quantities for the home. For example, this person might purchase a large case of beer with the sole intention of drinking it all themselves. Drinking alone might also be indicative of embarrassment related to the drinking problem.

 

Using Alcohol as Emotional Therapy

Many alcoholics use drinking as a method for self-medication. To an alcoholic, the drink is a “quick fix” that can temporarily wash away all emotional problems, pain, and stressors. This person might be more apt to drink if they’ve had a bad day at work or a catastrophic life event has taken place. According to Rod Gregory, an Edmonton DUI attorney, the risk factor is particularly high if the individual immediately turns to alcohol after something negative has taken place.

 

Failing to Show Effects of Alcohol Use

Alcoholics typically have higher tolerance levels for the substance than average people. This means that it takes quite a bit of alcohol for the person to feel “buzzed” or drunk. The person could be able to remain composed despite consuming large amounts of alcohol. Likewise, the person might not appear to suffer hangovers, sickness, or any other negative effects associated with drinking heavily.

 

Lying about Drinking Habits

Many people that are in the beginning stages of alcoholism will regularly lie about how often or much they drink. They might go out for a night of fun with a few friends, but by the next day, they could possibly deny to others that they did anything at all the night before. Lying about the drinking habit is directly related to embarrassment concerning the addiction.

 

Becoming Defensive When Approached about Drinking

Lastly, a drinking problem could be imminent if the person is perpetually defensive about their drinking habits. When questioned or approached about their drinking, they might either clam up or become annoyed with the concern. In some cases, the irritation from being questioned could be so severe that it causes problems in the relationship between the two people.

 

Categories: Alcohol, alcoholism, Drinking, drinking habits, drinking problem, early indicators, indicators, look out, nbsp, person

How Much Alcohol is Too Much? 5 Steps to Recovery

Many people have no problems enjoying an occasional drink with dinner or when they are celebrating special occasions like anniversaries or birthdays. However, you, like many others, might have a problem keeping your social drinking under control. When one or two drinks give way to total inebriation, you may put yourself at risk of incurring some of the worst consequences of excessive drinking, including driving while intoxicated and being charged with a DWI.

 

If you are charged with a DWI, your life could be gravely impacted. You could face paying huge fines to the court, as well as serving jail time, losing your job, and jeopardizing your personal relationships with your loved ones and friends. Retaining an experienced DWI attorney with many year’s experience is vital. One NJ DWI attorneys group stated “People mistakenly think that nothing can be done to defend against a DWI charge. That’s incorrect.”

 

 

And if or when you can recognize that you have a drinking problem and want to get help for it, you can heed these pieces of advice in your path to recovery.

 

1. Accept and Acknowledge the Problem

It is one thing for you to think that you have a drinking problem. If you are serious about getting help and recovering, you must accept and acknowledge it to friends, family members, and your employer. You may have previously thought that verbalizing your alcoholism would make you weak and put you at risk of losing everything. However, hearing yourself say it out loud to those who are closest to you can give the clarity to begin to seek the help you desperately need.

 

 

2. Surrender Control and Accept Help

Your recovery may include going to rehab and joining a support group. When you first go through these programs, you may struggle to maintain some sort of control over your life. However, it is essential that you relinquish control to the professionals who are there to help you. When you realize that you are powerless against your addiction to alcohol, you can then take the steps needed to regain control over your behaviors that lead to your drinking.

 

 

3. Stay Away from Temptation

Your drinking buddies might be the most fun and most exciting people you know. However, during your recovery, they are also the most toxic influences you could encounter. If you are serious about recovering, you must stay away from people and situations that lead you to drink. This avoidance could include staying away from ball games, restaurants, clubs, and even after-work get-togethers that make you want to drink and join your friends in consuming alcohol.

 

 

4. Look to the Future and Plan

As you take your recovery one day at a time and start to regain your former sense of self, you may reach the point where you can look to the future. Your future plans may be less grandiose that what you might have imagined when you were drinking. Even so, they may also be more realistic. You can plan on getting a good job, going back to school, patching up neglected relationships, going to church, and enjoying normal, yet important activities in life.

 

 

5. Acknowledge that Recovery is Forever

You can stay sober if you accept that your recovery is not ever going to be a one-time thing. You will always be recovering, and you will always be a former alcoholic. You cannot change those things about you. However, you can add to your personal resume, so to speak, and include exciting and respectable events and titles to your life. You can be a friend, spouse, parent, teacher, and inspiration to others who will look to you to mentor them out of the grips of alcoholism.

 

 

Excessive drinking and alcoholism can invite disaster to your life. When faced with a DWI charge, retaining an attorney is imperative to obtain the legal help of the charge you are faced with. When faced with the reality of an addiction, you can be successful by taking several pieces of advice into consideration.

 

 

Lisa Coleman shares ways that a person who is facing a drinking problem caused by too much alcohol consumption can obtain help; physically, emotionally and legally. Retaining an experienced DWI attorney, such as Levow & Associates, a NJ DWI attorneys group, is important when faced with a DWI charge. They can represent and help fight the charge legally, while their client can focus on their own physical recovery and well-being.

 

 

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lindseygee/6952756877/

 

Categories: alcohol addiction, alcohol recovery, attorneys group, consequences of alcohol, drinking alcohol, drinking problem, DWI, DWI attorney, dwi attorneys, dwi charge, excessive drinking