Not for me (I don’t drink)
However there is a family member that day-drinks every day, doesn’t matter if it’s the football, a party, or just chilling at home.. even drinks on the way back from work. On a daily basis starts from around 3pm but if at work, starts from when they leave & carries on until the evening.
Minimum 4 cans of Carling if not more & it’s beginning to be a concern.
They will not go to the doctors, in fact they are completely oblivious to it all. However they’ve been drinking for years, but paranoia & anger is present.
I am prepared to step back and walk away, but this is definitely an alcoholic or… am i an idiot for worrying when it’s just “casual drinking but NOT A PROBLEM.” - they said.
I’m a recovering alcoholic and in AA we’re told nobody will tell you you’re an alcoholic so I wouldn’t want to label anyone. We’re also told that you don’t have to be homeless, begging, tramp with a brown paper bag etc to be an alcoholic - there are many high functioning alcoholics out there and those somewhere in the middle. I’ve never heard of anyone actually pouring vodka over their cornflakes but it’s a good analogy for someone who needs to drink as soon as they wake up.
I used to buy a little bottle of wine to drink to get the bus home from work and having been there, I don’t think that’s normal behaviour. If someone can’t wait to get home before drinking then that’s a problem imo.
Most of my friends and family had concerns about my drinking a long time before I stopped. I did too but alcoholism is an illness of the mind and body - it’s a disease that tells you you don’t have it. You don’t want to drink but you literally can’t stop. But even having that insight, I couldn’t stop. My partner at the time found out about AA meetings for me and I went for over a year before I eventually stopped drinking, worked the 12-steps and learned to live without alcohol.
Medical intervention may be necessary - does the person shake for example? If the person is perhaps drinking more than you know of, it could be dangerous to simply stop.
Alcohol is a depressant so sadly the characteristics you mentioned are common. And if someone is in denial, the mere suggestion they have a problem may anger them.
If anyone feels they can, perhaps they could download information on AA meetings (a lot of them are still online I believe but you can also talk on the phone to people who are in AA and sober). There is a strong chance that this won’t work straight away if they can’t even talk about it.
Al-anon is a fantastic organisation for people who have an alcoholic in their life. They help you find a better way of dealing with it - a lot of people will try and monitor and control an alcoholic and then get frustrated when they can’t make them stop it. Absolutely nobody can make an alcoholic stop but themselves.
Every day I’m grateful that I got sober because alcoholism is hell on earth and I hope the person in your life gets help. It’s not an easy process but it’s so worth it
