A question you may find you’re asking yourself is a very common one among young people; am I a young alcoholic? If you find yourself asking this question as you reflect your drinking habits, it can be challenging to answer. I think one of the main questions you need to first ask yourself is “is alcohol having a negative impact on my life?”. The answer to this can have a thousand different perspectives, and I believe if you really are a young alcoholic the disease of alcoholism will only cloud your judgement. At least that was the case for me.
Perhaps it’s best to explore what a negative impact looks like. Here are six questions that helped me come to the realization that I was and still am an alcoholic:
- Is alcohol causing me to lose interest in my passions? Do you find that you are no longer pursuing your passions in life and that drinking is replacing them? You could be participating less in team sports you once loved, or letting your hobbies take a back seat to drinking. For me I found that I gave up on a lot of what used to motivate me in life because drinking was becoming a priority. I was losing interest in bands I was playing in, working out less and even my volunteer work was growing less important. If you realize the things you once held dear to your heart are no longer in your life, drinking may be a problem for you.
- Am I missing work or school because of alcohol? Are you starting to show up late for work or school? Maybe you’re taking more sick days than usual. Or perhaps you’re showing up but are so hungover that you are unable to be a productive person. While it’s one thing to miss a day because you got caught up in a birthday celebration and genuinely made a bad decision one night, it’s another when missing work becomes a frequent occurrence. When alcohol starts impacting your career aspirations it is a very healthy sign that you have an issue with drinking.
- Is alcohol impacting my relationships with family and friends? I found that family and friends were taking a back seat to my drinking schedule. My romantic relationships were impacted as I began lying more to cover up what I was doing and how much I was drinking. I was often late for family dinners or just didn’t show up altogether because I had been drinking and was ashamed. Be mindful of how your drinking is impacting your personal relationships.
- Do I get defensive when people challenge my drinking? I’ve had past partners question me and my drinking, and I would always get defensive and often try to shift the conversation onto them. I’d do anything to deflect attacks against how much alcohol I was consuming and whether or not I had a problem. Looking back I see it as the addiction fighting for itself. Because I couldn’t admit to myself that I was an alcoholic I sure wasn’t going to allow others to accuse me of having a problem.
- Is alcohol causing me financial hardship? The more we drink, the more we spend. Going out for a bar night with friends now and then and blowing $100 isn’t the worst thing ever. But when the drinking becomes more frequent money troubles can soon follow. Debt can start to mount, bills go unpaid and you may even start borrowing or stealing from family and friends. For me, once I started drinking I was indifferent as to how much I spent, just so long as I was satisfying my craving for alcohol. It impacted me financially and is a definite sign that there was a problem.
- Do I feel regretful and remorseful for my actions after a night of drinking? For me these feelings were often worse than the physical feeling of the hangover. I’d lay in bed trying to piece together my actions from the previous night, often wondering why I always seemed to be in this endless pit of shame. I’d regret drinking and hate myself for doing it, even though I knew it wouldn’t be long before I was repeating my actions. It was an endless cycle that I couldn’t seem to escape.
There are many more questions that can be asked to help evaluate whether or not you’re a young alcoholic. And I’d recommend checking them out on well-reputable sites like WebMD or Alcohol.org. However, if you are reading there is a chance you may have challenges with alcohol. And I can speak from experience in saying if that’s the case, you’ve never too young to start reaching out for the help you need. You deserve a better life. Let yourself live!
