Could You Or Someone You Love Be An Alcoholic?

A lot of us grow up around people with alcohol or drug problems and fear that we, too, may have those issues. Hopefully we won't, but here are a few questions to ask yourself. I can't tell you whether the answers make you an alcoholic; only a doctor or therapist can do that. However, these questions can at least give you an idea of where to start the conversation.

-Do you drink in the morning? We've probably all made the joke about it being 'five o'clock somewhere', but it's usually when we're at a wedding or taking a celebratory drink. However. It's not normal to start the day off with a drink or be a regular for a Mexican restaurant's lunch margarita special. 

-Can you have 'just one? Some of my 'fancier' friends will have a glass of wine with dinner. My father-a very 'un-fancy' guy-will sometimes drink a glass of red for his heart. However, note the word 'a'. They stop after one. Alcoholics might try to, but they'll  often end up taking a few nips off of the bottle when no one's looking. Which leads me to my next point-

-Do you drink in secret? Do you remember what your parents would say when they caught you sneaking a Blow-Pop? 'If  you feel the need to hide something, it usually means you shouldn't be doing it.' The same principle applies here. We often hide things from others because we don't want to hear what they'll say about it. If you're scared to death that your husband will get mad if he sees you, there's a problem. 

-Do people tell you you drink too much? I'm not talking about your Mormon coworker or Baptist mother-in-law. Some people think *any* alcohol is too much. But do people who normally don't have an issue with people drinking tell you you drink too much, or that they're worried about your drinking? You might shrug such things off as someone 'being a stick in the mud' or being hyper-vigilant because of a bad experience they had. It's possible that these things could be true and that they're the one with the problem. However, that doesn't necessarily discount what that person says. You should at least think about it if more than one person says something or if the concern comes from someone close to you.

-Have you had problems at work or home because of drinking? Have you found yourself missing work or coming in late because of last night's bender? Do you wake up feeling as though someone is going at your head with a jackhammer? Has your performance slipped? Have you missed important things in your family's life because the hangover was so bad you couldn't get out of bed?

-Do you lose entire blocks of time from your memory? I'm talking about total 'blackouts', where you honestly can't remember anything you did while you were drunk. This normally happens when someone gets so wasted that it damages their memory and/or consciousness, which is why you'll hear stories about things like a woman being taken advantage of or someone doing a table dance and not remember it the next morning. It's one thing to do that once when you're in college, but to do have it happen on a regular or semi-regular basis is a problem.

I've baby-sat enough drunk people to know that it is not something anyone should have to do on a regular basis. If you think you or someone you love may have a drinking problem, please seek help. You're worth it.