Do I have a problem with alcohol?

Understanding and admitting that you have a problem with alcohol is the first big step towards seeking help, finding appropriate treatment and getting your life back. This is, in itself, an important milestone, and we understand how difficult it can be.

When considering your current drinking patterns, relationships and lifestyle choices, do any of these issues apply to you?

Drinking patterns

• You simply cannot control your drinking anymore. You drink more than you planned to and consistently break promises to yourself to stop drinking. It is affecting your health, but you just can't stop.
• You have been caught by the police driving under the influence of alcohol or have had other legal problems as a result of your alcohol use.
• You are suffering financial consequences related to your alcohol use. Funds needed for other purposes are diverted to alcohol or other important financial matters are ignored or put off.
• You are preoccupied with alcohol. A good deal of your time is spent either drinking, thinking about it or recovering from your last drinking session. Drinking features heavily in your social life.
• You continued drinking even in situations where it became dangerous. For example, driving while under the influence of alcohol, drinking when also using prescribed medication (against medical advice) or operating machinery while under the influence of alcohol.

Social

• Relationships are suffering as a result of your drinking – your partner or spouse is dissatisfied with your relationship, your children are neglected or you spend less and less time with valued friends.
• Your drinking and the effects of your drinking mean you do less of the things that were important to you, for example, seeing friends or family, going out or enjoying hobbies.
• Your responsibilities at home or work have suffered as a result of your drinking. Your performance in your domestic or professional life has deteriorated. You are not taking proper care of your children, or your children are having to take care of you.
• You find that your values are slipping and that you are doing more and more things that have previously been against your value systems.

If you can relate to any of these, it may be time for you to get help to deal with your drinking.

At Life Works, we believe that drinking has become a problem when you continue to drink in spite of negative consequences – whether they are health, relationship, professional, financial, legal or other problems.

This is because when your drinking starts to cause problems in your life, it is likely that you have a drink problem.

As a leading Behavioural Health Facility for the treatment of alcohol addiction, Life Works is able to help you.

If you need help or advice about your drinking, please call us on 0800 081 0700 to speak to one of our counsellors in confidence or email us for more information.

 We can answer any questions or concerns you may have, and help you find the right treatment.

Not sure if you have a problem?

Denial is common and symptomatic of problem drinking, so you may deny that you have a problem both to yourself and to others, through:

• Minimising the effects of your drinking.
• Criticising those around you for making too much fuss about your drinking.
• Considerably underestimating the amounts you drink.
• Placing the blame for your drinking on other people or situations in your life, such as "I drink because my job is so stressful".

It is worth considering why you feel the need to do any of these things, if you don't have a drinking problem. It is likely that you are relying heavily on alcohol but you are not ready to admit this to yourself or to anyone else.

Why admitting you have a problem can be so hard

Denial is a key characteristic of alcohol dependence. It is one of the few illnesses which perpetuates itself, as one of the symptoms of alcoholism is that it tells you that you don't have a problem. This is one of the reasons why individuals stay trapped in alcohol addiction for a lifetime. We advise you to stay open to the feedback from others and professionals and look at the evidence.

Why it is so important to get help

At Life Works, we know that alcoholism is an illness. This is central to our Clinical Philosophy and underpins our approach to treatment. We use the latest neuroscientific thinking to inform our understanding of how problems with alcohol affect the individual and how we can provide effective treatment of these problems.

Having a drinking problem means that you have an illness which affects different parts of the brain and seriously impairs your ability to make choices. This means that over time, your decision-making ability and your behaviour become increasingly focused on drinking, to the detriment of everything else in your life – your partner, your job, your family and your friends. Getting a drink becomes your number one priority. You may have done things that you feel deeply ashamed about but you couldn't avoid doing them because you had to be able to drink.

Feeling ashamed or guilty about your behaviour can be incredibly difficult and often increases your need to drink, if only to help you feel better. But the satisfaction or relief you feel each time you drink becomes more and more short-lived and, over time, this will worsen the problem for you. Each drink leaves you wanting more, and you are often left feeling dissatisfied and desperate for more relief. But over time, this will worsen the problem for you, increasingly isolate you from those who care about you and leave you with feelings of loneliness, fear and desperation. Sadly, many individuals do not ask for help when they really need it, to the extent that their alcohol problem worsens to the point of crisis - medically, physically and emotionally.

Is it really a problem?

Alcohol dependence is a progressive, life-threatening, psychiatric illness. If left untreated, it causes serious long term health problems – for example, increased risk of heart disease, cancer of the throat and mouth, stroke, weight gain, diabetes, pancreatitis, impaired memory, Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome and lowered fertility.

In some cases, individuals with alcohol addiction die. This is not uncommon.

Being in this situation can often be terrifying, exhausting, depressing, upsetting and deeply shaming. The future may seem totally bleak and pointless, and the only thing that seems to make you feel better is having a drink.

What is recovery?

There are many misconceptions about what being "in recovery" means. Recovery is commonly misunderstood, especially by people who have not received treatment and also among their friends and families.

At Life Works, we truly understand that the prospect of recovery can seem frightening. You may believe that recovery offers you nothing but a lifetime of having to live with your own problems, frustrations and feelings without even being allowed to have a drink. Imagining your life like this may seem incredibly daunting and overwhelming. Faced with a choice between your life as it is, or recovery, it is understandable why you may have reservations about recovery.

However, by finding the strength to seek professional help, you will get the support and guidance you need to start reaping the benefits of the first stage of recovery.

There are many misconceptions about what being in recovery means. Recovery is commonly misunderstood, especially by people who have not received treatment and also amongst their friends and families.

We believe recovery is about so much more than stopping drinking. We define recovery as getting your life back, especially those aspects that are valuable and precious to you. It also means putting more into your life than you may have previously and finding meaning either once again, or for the first time ever. Recovery means creating a healthy, fulfilling and meaningful life that is characterized by abstinence from alcohol, more effective tools for coping with the stresses of life, and a greater connection with yourself, those close to you and the larger community.

At Life Works, we strongly believe that recovery is not about what you are taking out of your life, but rather what you put back into it. Alcoholism is a disease of isolation and the life of someone dependent on alcohol tends to get smaller and smaller. Recovery is about expanding and enhancing your life.

By taking that first step and receiving treatment for your drinking problem at Life Works, you will be able to start leading the new life you deserve.

Life Works is a leading behavioural health clinic for the treatment of alcohol addiction.

If you need help or advice about your drinking, please call us on 0800 081 0700 to speak to one of our counsellors in confidence or email us for more information.

We can answer any questions or concerns you may have and help you find the right treatment.