Am I an Alcoholic?

Sometimes it’s hard to even ask that question. I remember when I realized there was a problem, I didn’t want to use that word. It made me cringe. It just sounded like I had to be talking to somebody living on skid row.

The biggest barrier to getting into recovery is finding that full acceptance that you and alcohol are better off without each other.

I always like to say that you should avoid the definitions when you are trying to figure out if you need help. People still like to think of an alcoholic as only that person who wakes up in the morning shaking so they have a shot of booze in their OJ to settle the shakes.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

I like to define it this way: If when you drink alcohol, bad things happen, you’ve got a problem.

We are hearing a lot about the woman in New York who killed herself, her daughter, and three nieces, as well as two people in another vehicle while driving the wrong way on the highway. Her family doesn’t believe she was an alcoholic. Maybe it’s just the label. This was certainly someone who had a problem with drinking.

It’s likely she didn’t drink all the time – didn’t fit that traditional myth of what an alcoholic is. Maybe she only drank on the weekends, or when on outings. But when she drank, she DRANK.

Binge drinkers are a tough lot to crack – they often think because they only get drunk once and a while, they dont’ have a problem.  If you ask that question: when you drink, do bad things happen – you have your answer. Forget the labels for now – just deal with the problem.