Am I addicted to Alcohol?

In this post, we answer the burning question ‘Am I an Alcoholic?‘ If you have asked this important question, perhaps you have typed this into a search engine, then what follows could be the most important message you hear this year!

If you have asked ‘Am I an Alcoholic?’ then it is highly likely you are concerned by how much alcohol you currently consume each day. Since November 2015, the UK Government has recommended men not consume more than 3-4 units of alcohol per day. For women, this limit is set at 2-3 units of alcohol per day. This equates to around one strong pint of larger for men or one large glass of wine for women.

If you drink in excess of this amount, then you will be putting your health in the face of unnecessary harm. This harm could lead to high blood pressure, poor mental health, diabetes and even cancer.

In this post, we list various signs that may mean you suffer from alcoholism. Please do not substitute proper medical advice with the below checklist. If you require further assistance, please call Ocean Recovery Centre today on 0800 880 7596.

What is an alcoholic?

At Ocean Recovery Centre we feel an alcoholic is somebody who cannot exercise self-control over his or her desire to drink alcohol. An alcoholic is really a label for a person who suffers from alcoholism.

Many people may also be high functioning alcoholics, meaning they may still be performing well at work or in education or managing a healthy relationship with their partner or children. But left untreated high functioning alcoholics will slowly slip into more and more damaging behaviours until alcoholism has taken hold of the suffers whole life.

Alcoholism is also known as alcohol dependency or simply alcohol addiction. Alcoholism leads to physical changes to the brain of the sufferer. This means a number of withdrawal symptoms are experienced when alcohol is withdrawn. These withdrawal symptoms mean people suffering from alcoholism require an alcohol detox.

As well as physical symptoms, alcoholism typically involves mental health problems. These mental health problems commonly consist of anxiety and depression, as well as low self-esteem.

Signs of alcoholism

Now we detail some of the more common signs that may mean you suffer from alcoholism. If you drink more than the recommended daily allowance of alcoholic units then it’s not always clear whether you have jumped from problem drinker to alcoholic.

Please read the below signs of alcoholism carefully. By the time you have finished reading these signs, you may conclude you do suffer from alcoholism. If this is the case, then we strongly urge you to seek out our help by calling us today on 0800 880 7596 emailing us at info@oceanrecoverycentre.com or filling in our online contact form.

It is important to remember that if you do contact us, you will be treated with respect and professionalism and we never want a potential client to feel judged or be treated poorly.

Sign #1: You commonly feel guilty or ashamed about the actions you take when under the influence of alcohol.

Sign #2: Following a morning of heavy drinking you wake up feeling sweaty.

Sign #3: Your hands wobble when you do not drink alcohol for more than ten hours. Your hands stop wobbling when you continue to drink alcohol.

Sign #4: You drink all of your stockpile of alcohol as fast as you can during a drinking session. You then visit the shops in order to purchase more alcohol. This is a very frequent event.

Sign #5: You experience powerful cravings for alcohol, even following a day of heavy drinking.

Sign #6: Your family, friends and/or colleagues are highly concerned about your drinking. And voice these concerns often to you.

Sign #7: You commonly wear perfume/aftershave in order to ‘cover up’ your smell of alcohol.

Sign #8: You lie about how much and how often you drink alcohol, especially to loved ones and employers.

Sign #9: You regularly drink more alcohol than you planned to.

Sign #10: You use alcohol in situations where it is illegal and/or dangerous to do so, such as when you drive a vehicle or when you are at work.

Sign #11: Your relationships with loved ones suffer because of your drinking. You may no longer speak to your siblings or parents. Perhaps you’ve split up with your partner or even got divorced because of your drinking.

Sign #12: You’ve built up an incredibly high tolerance to alcohol to the point that people are shocked when you inform them of how much you are capable of drinking.

Sign #13: You express a wish to stop drinking but you simply cannot give in to the ‘cravings’ to continue.

Sign #14: You regularly ‘blackout’ following a night of heavy drinking. This means you cannot recall the moments leading up to the blackout until you awake. You often find yourself in risqué places following a blackout such as the bed of a total stranger.

Sign 15#: You feel powerful anxiety when you awake in the morning following a heavy drinking session. This means you struggle to face the world e.g. going to work, tending to family etc. You may even feel scared or depressed.

Sign #16: You may make jokes about how much you drink or alcoholism.

Sign #17: You need alcohol to feel confident or to relax.

Sign #18: You frequently drink alone and actively avoid social events because you would rather drink alone.

Sign #19: Not only do you stockpile but you hide alcohol in unlikely places.

Sign #20: You feel nauseous when you are not drinking.

Contact Ocean Recovery Centre today

If you suffer from five or more of the above signs of alcoholism, then call Ocean Recovery Centre today on 0800 880 7596 and one of our qualified counsellors will walk you through your treatment options.

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John Gillen - Author - Last updated: March 15, 2023

John is one UK’s leading professionals in the addiction recovery industry. Pioneering new treatment techniques such as NAD+ and ongoing research into new therapy techniques such as systematic laser therapy, John is committed to providing the very best treatment for people throughout the UK and Europe. During his extremely busy schedule, John likes to regularly update our blog section with the latest news and trends in the industry to keep visitors to our site as well informed as possible on everything related to addiction treatment.