Are you worried that you may be an alcoholic? Here are five warning signs you have a drinking problem. Click to learn more!
Approximately 18 million people have issues with alcohol abuse, and one of those people may be your or a close family member or friend. If you’re not sure whether yourself or someone close to you has issues with drinking, then we’re glad that you’ve chosen to read this article.
We’re going to provide you with some signs you have a drinking problem. And if you find that one or more of these signs pertains to you or someone you know, then it’s time to reach out for help.
Continue reading this article to find out what these signs are and keep an eye out for them.
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Frequent Blackouts
If you’ve begun drinking and every time your drink you blackout, then you could have an issue with alcohol. Being addicted to alcohol is not knowing when enough is enough and continuing to drink beyond the point of being coherent.
Blacking out a regular basis can lead to making irrational and irresponsible decisions. It can also put you in dangerous situations that could involve drinking and driving and causing a car accident.
If you find that you wake up struggling to remember the events that took place the night before, then this is a definite sign that alcohol may be a problem for you.
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Withdrawal Symptoms When You Don’t Drink
Withdrawal happens when you stop drinking, and your body then reacts by flooding itself with adrenaline. Your body is full of this adrenaline can lead to withdrawal symptoms.
If you’ve found that your body begins to suffer from symptoms of withdrawal whenever you stop drinking, then you have a drinking problem. When you decide to get clean withdrawal symptoms, you can set in from the time you last took a drink to a few hours after your last drink.
If you’re curious about alcohol withdrawal symptoms and how long they last, check out the link, we’ve provided. In some cases, an addict must seek medical help to detox because it can kill you if your addiction was severe.
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Finding Excuses to Drink
You’ve gone from occasionally drinking at dinner or during family celebrations to finding reasons to drink all day. You’ve heard the saying, ‘it’s 5:00 somewhere?” This is a common excuse to begin drinking.
An alcoholic comes up with various excuses to drink at all times of the day because it reduces the need for them to admit that they have a problem. And it also gives them something to say when people around them start to question their drinking habits.
As long as there’s a reason, an alcoholic feels that it’s okay to drink. Eventually, there will be no more excuses given, and the reason for drinking will be because they want too.
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Ignoring Responsibilities
As an alcoholic begins to lose control over their ability to control their drinking and how much they drink, they’ll start to disregard any responsibilities they have. This means that bills that need to get paid won’t get paid if it means that there won’t be any money left over for alcohol.
It means they won’t attend work because getting up and going to the bar when it opens or spending all day drinking is much more critical. Alcoholics family members and loved ones will take a backseat to their addiction as they become more and more focused on drinking and less on keeping up with their responsibilities.
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Hiding Their Drinking
You know you’ve got a problem when you begin to hide that you’re drinking from others. This could mean drinking in secrecy or drinking away from home it an effort to reduce the issue and keep loved ones from finding out.
There are some cases where you’ll speak to someone’s family members, and it will take them by complete surprise that there was ever an issue. If you keep your eye out for the signs that we’re listing here for you, it’ll be easier to identify that there’s a problem and start taking the necessary steps towards recovery.
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Becoming Distant
As the disease of addiction begins to tighten its grips on an alcoholic, they will start to withdraw and spend more time isolated. This may be because they don’t feel the need to explain themselves to others or could be because of the shame they feel.
Most addicts isolate themselves because they don’t want to face judgment from other people about their addiction issues. And once the alcoholic has kicked in, they won’t care about being around others. All they’ll care about is getting their next drink.
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Changes in Appearance
As a person continues to suffer from alcoholism, you can tell there’s a problem because of the change in their appearance. A person who’s been continuously drinking may look tired because their body is continually interrupted by the ingestion of alcohol and is not allowing them to get restful sleep.
You also may notice bloating or reddening of the face because alcohol can cause a person to become dehydrated the more that they drink. The reddening of the face may also be caused by enlarged blood vessels.
And perhaps you’ll notice that their eyes have become bloodshot the more that they drink.
Signs You Have a Drinking Problem
If you or someone you know is exhibiting one of the signs you have a drinking problem, then it’s time to put down the drink and seek help. Alcoholism can wreak havoc on your life and the lives of those around you, causing you to throw away valuable relationships.
Alcoholism can also lead to a plethora of health issues, including kidney failure and liver disease.
We hope that the information you found in this article will prove useful in getting the help needed for addiction. And if you’d like to check out some of the other articles published on our site, continue reading through the blog section.
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