For every action there is a cause. For every cause, there is a reason. From every reason there is a thought pattern that self justifies the action. This is typical of every alcoholic. They either think they have the right to drink excessively or believe they have no problem with controlling it, “if they wanted to.”
There are eight signs to look for to be made aware of this problem. As soon as you notice any of these signs in yourself, a friend or a member of your family, you should consider taking alcohol abuse awareness classes or advising the affected person to do so:
Drinking in the morning or afternoon
Drinking alone regularly
Drinking every day
Carrying alcohol in a flask
Deny that you have been drinking when you really have been drinking
Slow physical movement
Slurred speech
Delayed reaction
While having an occasional or regular night cap is the norm for many, beginning one day with an alcoholic beverage of any kind is a tell tale sign of someone with a drinking problem. Chances are, they had a “night cap,” the night before as well. On the average, such a person may act out this way because of a high pressure job, or possible depression for one or more of multiple reasons (i.e. laid off from work, divorce, loss of a loved one, strong dislike for one’s surroundings, etc.). They reason that they have the right to escape their physical reality by drinking and living a drunken stupor to lessen the pain. Their tolerance level has excelled to the point that often times they are the only ones that know that they are legally drunk by alcohol percentage level.
Another sign would be one that would continually choose to take it beyond social drinking and desire to drink alone. These people may opt to not drink in front of others for fear of losing control of themselves in front of others. For them, they cannot stop after a glass or two … their tolerance level is so high that they tend to drink until they pass out.
Take notice if someone carries an alcoholic beverage in a flask. Chances are, they have such a need to have a drink that they do not want to get stuck without having it at hand. Thus, they may carry a flask inside their coat jacket or pocket book for the middle class, upper class, and the wealthy. For the upper crust, others in their social sect may even deem it fashionable. However, it does not take away the fact that it is a disease that has taken control of the person’s life. They, too, have reasoned why it is ok to constantly carry a flask of alcohol where ever they go.
For one that has gone out for a social evening with friends or alone, they have no problem admitting that they have had a few drinks when asked. However, an alcoholic given the same scenario may opt to become very defensive and deny drinking at all. At the very least, down play the number of drinks they actually did have. They have the need to hide their drinking because no active alcoholic wants to acknowledge to themselves (let alone others) that they have a drinking problem. To do so would mean that they would either have to 1) deal with it and seek help, or 2) by their action of not seeking help showcase their weakness and lack of self discipline.
Because alcohol effects the body’s motor skills, it slows down physical movement, delays response to stimuli, and causes one speech to become slurred. This is the reason a police officer will ask a driver that has been stopped for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol to perform simple task’s that would be very simple for a sober being: 1) walk a straight line, 2) holding their arms out and touching their nose using one forefinger at a time, and 3) repeat a simple tongue twister. To fail one or all three would be means for arrest and taking away driving privileges. You could prevent all this from happening by taking substance abuse classes online or at the local court hall – you can choose if you prefer to do it from the safety of your chair in front of your computer or if you would rather talk to somebody face to face. Arizona alcohol education is one of the leading states for taking these classes, probably due to the fact that there are two major universities so close to each other.
Keeping in mind that alcoholism is a disease, it needs to be treated as such and the one infected not expected to be truthful about. The best thing you could do is to seek professional help for such a person as soon as possible. If is highly unlikely that he/she will ever stop drinking to get drunk on their own. Alcohol awareness classes are available also online, which makes them a lot more easier to attend and you also get a certificate of completion in end. Effective, easy to attend to at any time during the day or night – all it takes is to enroll and begin, we recommend a simply 8 hour online alcohol class.