Have A Drinking Problem
Most people love to take a sip of an alcoholic drink once in a while. It helps to relieve themselves from stress, forget their problems, and have a good time. Some just miss the taste of alcohol in their mouth. Whatever the reason is, there’s always a limit to how much you can drink for the day.
Some people might even go through the stage of excessive drinking, especially if they’re experiencing an intense problem. However, if you notice that there’s more to your drinking habits, you should identify the signs to prevent your condition from getting worse. You could be experiencing effects on your body. You can click this link and see the dangers alcohol addiction could bring to your body and your system. Moreover, listed below are the signs that you might have a drinking problem:
Table of Contents
1. You Always Drink Excessively
One of the most obvious signs that you have a drinking problem is that you always drink above your alcohol tolerance. Whenever you have a bottle or glass in your hand, it’s impossible for you not to grab another one as one wouldn’t suffice. It’ll cause chaos in your head once you get to sip an ounce of alcohol and not ask for more.
Every time you have a drink in hand, you always try to push your limits and drink as much alcohol as you can for the day. Unless you’re knocked out, you’ll keep on drinking. This also happens on every occasion and not just in difficult times. Every single time you drink, no matter if you’re celebrating, grieving, or just hanging out with friends, you just need to drink more than everyone else. It’s like you’re just drinking water with alcohol.
2. It’s Difficult For You To Stay Sober For A Day
As you’d like to drink as much as you can for the day that you’d like to knock yourself out due to alcohol consumption, it might make your body crave more alcohol each day. If it’s difficult for you to stay sober, even just for a day, it’s a clear sign that you have a drinking problem. While having a sip of alcohol would be fine, craving its flavor and feeling that you’d go crazy without one is a sign of a bigger problem.
If you can’t pass the day without any alcohol in your hand, you should consider having yourself checked for alcohol addiction. Even if you’re not pushing yourself drunk but just cannot survive the day without any alcohol in your system, you should free yourself from addiction by trying to skip a drinking day or looking for distractions.
3. You Drink For No Reason
Most people drink to celebrate or to weather bad times. These people usually occasionally drink as they can grab a drink whenever there are things worth drinking for. But if there are times when you just go and grab yourself a drink even though there’s nothing special on that day, this could be a sign that you have a drinking problem. You just grab a drink for no reason other than just to drink it. It means that your body is longing for the taste of alcohol.
When you drink alcohol for no reason, it just shows that you don’t need any occasion or anything special to happen for the day for you to grab a drink. You just go and drink right ahead even though you don’t know why you’re drinking. It’s just you want to, and that’s the only reason you have.
4. Your Drinking Tolerance Is Getting Higher
There are times when people get drunk a lot faster. Three or two glasses or even just a glass can make them feel dizzy. These people have a low alcohol tolerance, as people may say. As for you, you don’t notice any change, even though you gulp down several drinks. You just continue drinking, and still, you’re not feeling anything. This just means that you have a higher alcohol tolerance compared with others.
Even though some people naturally have high alcohol tolerance, some can improve their tolerance over time. You can notice that your alcohol tolerance is getting higher by the day as you drink a lot. You can see that alcohol doesn’t have the same effect as before because your body is almost used to it. You need to consume more just for you to feel its effects.
5. You’re In Denial About Your Drinking
Sometimes, you know there’s a problem when you don’t want to admit there’s a problem. Denial could cause you to shun suggestions that you get help for your drinking or to even totally resist the idea that you could be facing an alcohol problem. When anyone tries to hint at the idea, you go ballistic or maybe just begin staying away from that person. But what if everyone begins to tell you the same thing? Apart from being a sign that there’s a problem, denial could have you pushing away the people around you.
6. You Opt To Drink Rather Than Do Anything Else
Before, you had a lot of time for hobbies. You spent time doing exciting and fun things. Once you start drinking and become addicted to alcohol, you’ll notice that you don’t have time for anything else. You just want to sit all day with a drink in your hand, wasting the minutes of the day. There are times when there are better things to do right in front of you, but you still opt to drink.
Although there are times when you still do the things that you love, you now do these things with a drink in your hand. It’s now normal for you to do anything with a drink always with you. It would be difficult for you to function without a drink as it seems like your energy fuel.
7. You’re Experiencing Alcohol Withdrawal
If not having a drink within a day can make you feel sick, this just means that you’re experiencing alcohol withdrawal. Your body has been accustomed to alcohol, and it’s longing for it when you’re not drinking. Your system will always look for it until you get your drink. This just means that you’ve been drinking for a long time, and your body isn’t used to not having any alcohol.
Other alcohol withdrawal signs include nausea, vomiting, insomnia, anxiety, shaky hands, headache, and sweating. If any of those symptoms happen to you within six hours after your last bottle, you’re having alcohol withdrawal. Moreover, it can also lead to hallucinations, harming you and the people around you.
8. It’s Difficult For You To Stop
As your body is already experiencing withdrawal when you try to stop drinking alcohol, it just makes it harder for you to stop drinking totally. It seems that having alcohol in your body is normal. So, if you decide to stop drinking alcohol, you need to fight more as your body will not allow you to quit right away.
This is one of the most common signs that could indicate that you’re an alcoholic. Your body makes it harder for you to stop drinking as it knows that you like to drink and that not having a drink can make you feel sick.
9. You’re Doing Risky Activities Under The Influence Of Alcohol
Closeup empty glass bottles. On background homeless drunk woman is sitting on cardboard on floor in abandoned house. Addicted teenage girl drunkard is drinking beer. Alcoholism, alcohol abuse concept.There are a lot of risky activities that you should not do when you have a drink. If you’re an alcoholic, you’ve likely already done things that you shouldn’t do while under the influence of alcohol. Surely, you’ve tried driving, doing sports or any physical activities, or even posting on social media after gulping a few drinks. These are some activities that are risky to do when you’re drunk.
Driving under the influence is a big no-no as it’s not safe for you and the people around you as well. It would be dangerous for all who are on the road. While drunk, it’s also not advisable to do physical activities as this could just result in an accident. Lastly, posting on social media under the influence can be risky as being drunk removes all your inhibitions, making you post anything you like from secrets, private messages, or even pictures.
10. Drinking Affects Your Relationships
There are times when you get together with your family and friends just to hang out. Maybe grab a couple of drinks and talk about life. Or perhaps just go out and do fun things without drinking any alcohol. Being an alcoholic makes it hard to hang out with these people as you always want to make drinking a part of your bonding. You always want to make sure that there’ll be drinks wherever you go. This can make it hard for them to hang out with you as not all of them want to drink all the time.
Drinking can have a negative effect on your relationship as it will be much harder to talk to you, especially when you get drunk. All you want to do is drink, giving them a hard connection with you. Moreover, drinking can also affect your attitude, which can influence your relationship with your family and friends, as you’re turning into someone else in the first place.
11. Drinking Affects Your Work
Your work performance isn’t the same as before. You’re drinking a lot, causing you not to finish your deliverables and not meet your deadlines. This just means that drinking alcohol harms your work. It affects how you work and can also affect the quality of your work.
Being an alcoholic and working can raise many issues. If you’re an alcoholic, chances are, there were times when you went to work drunk and had some issues in the workplace. There are also chances that you experience withdrawal while you’re in the office, causing you not to function properly.
12. You Continue To Drink Despite The Consequences
There’s plenty of news and articles online about the harmful effects of alcohol on one’s body. Doctors even highly recommend their patients stop drinking to make their bodies healthier. With that, you can just imagine how alcohol can harm your body, especially with excessive consumption.
Being aware of the consequences of alcohol should help you to stop your unhealthy drinking habits. However, if you still continue to drink despite the adverse effects it’ll bring to your body and your relationships, it’s a clear indication that you’re addicted to drinking and don’t care how it can negatively affect your life.
13. Drinking Is Your Go-To Activity
If every time your family and friends ask you out to hang out and have some fun, your first suggestion would always be to drink or go to a place where you can drink as much as you’d like. While there are plenty of other things that you can do, drinking would always be your go-to activity, any time of the day. Even a single glass would suffice so that you could get your daily dose of alcohol inside your body.
Takeaway
If you notice that you’re experiencing any of the signs above, this should stand as your wake-up call to try to fix your alcohol addiction immediately. The earlier you try to quit, the better your body can respond. You can begin by stopping on your own, surrounding yourself with the right people, doing relaxing exercises, distracting yourself, and going for alcohol therapy that could provide you with medical ways to quit alcohol as quickly as possible.
Having a drinking problem affects everyone around you, especially yourself. Apart from the dependence you develop from alcohol consumption, it can make you go crazy even if you just don’t have a drink in your hand. While the process of being sober for a few days might be difficult, think about the advantages it’ll bring to your lifestyle and health.
But before trying to get any help, it’s paramount to assess the state you’re in. The signs discussed should be more than enough for you to ascertain if you have a drinking problem.
