How to Diagnose Your Alcoholism or Problem Drinking

How can you determine if you have an addiction to alcohol?

To the outsider who has no problem whatsoever with alcohol, this question might seem a bit silly. But it truly can be a baffling question, especially if you are the one who is caught up in the slippery slope of experiencing both fun times as well as some problems with your drinking.

In some cases, there are alcoholics who will go weeks or months at a time without drinking, but when they do drink, they tend to binge. This can be tough to determine, because a binge drinker will sometimes stay sober for long periods of time but always return to the chaos of drinking.  In such cases the person might not realize that they should in fact stop drinking.

So really, how can you tell?These are some things you might try to help you out:

1) Try to control the amount you drink. Set a limit on the amount of drinking and cut it down to one beer or shot or glass of wine per day, maximum. Maintain this for at least one year.

2) Self diagnosis. This is the only way. No one else can tell you that you are an alcoholic. You must accept this reality for your own self. Admitting it is not enough. You must accept your alcoholism on a really deep level.

3) Consider this statement: “I didn’t get into trouble every time I drank, but every time I got into trouble, I had been drinking.” Is this true for you? If this is the case then this might be a big warning sign that you have alcoholism.

4) Consider this statement: “When I control my drinking, I don’t have any fun. When I enjoy my drinking, I sometimes lose control.” Another strong indicator if this rings true for you.

So go through those suggestions and give them some thought. Make an effort to cut down drastically on the amount of liquor that you consume over about a six month time frame and notice how you feel about limiting your drinking.  If you come to the conclusion that something needs to change then you might want to start exploring how to stop drinking.