Are you a High-Functioning Alcoholic?

I’ve written about this before and feel it’s necessary to present the facts about how an intelligent, well-liked, family orientated person can present themselves to the world as “a normal drinker.”

Ninety nine percent of my patients present to me as “normal” and only self-medicate with alcohol to de-stress at the end of the day. Or that’s what they believe they are doing. The fact remains, they are drinking more than the recommended levels of alcohol and start presenting physical and mental health issues they maintain, have nothing to do with their drinking history.

Family and friends are great enablers and will stand by their partners, even in times of extreme dysfunction in the family home. “He’s a lovely husband but gets irritable and edgy when he drinks too much alcohol.” “She’s a good wife and mother but I wish she wouldn't drink every night.”

The classic picture of an alcoholic is someone who always drinks too much too often and whose life is falling apart because of it. But not all problem drinking fits that template. Some people seem to be just fine while they abuse alcohol. These are people I call “functional alcoholics” or “high-functioning alcoholics.”

You can still be an alcoholic even though you have great “outside life,” with a job that pays well, home, family and friendships and social activities that appear normal on the surface. A functional alcoholic might not act the way you would expect them to behave because you may be comparing their drinking levels to someone you know is a true alcoholic.

You might think she is responsible and productive because she works every day and can maintain a well-organised home environment. These attributes delude the outside world into thinking that she is a great mother with a successful career and a happy marriage. You never know what goes on behind closed doors.
Her friends might think she is a good role model because she appears to have everything under control and her children are well behaved and she projects an image of what people will accept. In fact, her success in raising her family and climbing the corporate ladder might lead people to overlook her drinking.

She could also be in denial about her drinking and might think, “I have a great job, pay my bills and have lots of friends; therefore I am not an alcoholic. She is in denial. Most alcoholics are in denial until they come crashing down when a disaster happens like a drink driving charge or a bad fall. Constant arguments, often behind closed doors, become a daily occurrence and the children start noticing that “Mummy gets very angry and starts yelling at me as soon as she gets home.”

I've even had women tell me that they can’t be an alcoholic because they only drink the best wine or they limit their drinks to 3 or 4 glasses per night or “I haven’t lost everything or suffered setbacks because of my drinking.” They constantly compare themselves to other friends who, they believe, may have a drinking problem. “I don’t drink in the morning like so and so.” or “I wait until I get home and I only have a couple of drinks while I’m preparing dinner.” They don’t remember the couple of drinks they had during dinner and after dinner.

What are the signs of a heavy drinker? Women who have more than three drinks a day are “at-risk” drinkers. If you drink more than the daily limit, you are at risk. You are not alone as one in four people who drink this much, already has a problem or is likely to have one soon. Over all, as many as 20% of alcoholics may be highly functional.

A drink count isn't the only way to tell if you or someone you care about needs help. Here are some other red flags. Someone who needs help may:

Say she has a problem and jokes about it
Often takes Monday off because of a heavy binge on the week-end
Needs alcohol to relax or feel confident
Drinks in the morning or when alone (not too many women start drinking in the morning)
Gets drunk when she didn't intend to
Forgets what she did while drinking
Deny drinking, hide alcohol or get angry when confronted about her drinking
Cause loved ones to worry about or make excuses for her drinking

I give my patients a questionnaire to help them come to terms with their drinking. You might like to answer a few questions to see how legitimate your drinking history is.

Does alcohol cost you more than money?

If it does, then ask yourself the following questions and answer them as honestly as you can.

Is drinking making your home life unhappy? Yes/No
Have you ever felt guilty after drinking? Yes/No
Do you drink to escape from worries or trouble? Yes/No
Do you drink to build up your self-confidence? Yes/No
Have you ever tried to cut down on your drinking? Yes/No
Have you ever tried to stop drinking? Yes/No
Does drinking make you careless of your family’s welfare? Yes/No
Have you ever been in trouble with the law, domestic violence or drink driving? Yes/No
Do you drink alone? Yes/No
Do you resent the advice of others who try to get you to stop drinking? Yes/No

If you answered yes to any one of the above questions, there is a definite warning that you may be abusing alcohol. If you answered yes to any two or more, the chances are that you have become alcohol dependent.

While you are pondering your answers to the above questionnaire, I can highly recommend Tyrosine Mood Food supplement for your Dopamine Neurotransmitter. Take a teaspoon in water or juice half an hour before leaving home. Dopamine is one of the principal neurotransmitters involved in substance dependence.

Alcohol is a major substance abuse chemical that increases dopamine levels. The excess dopamine that is produced gives rise to powerful feelings of pleasure. However, excess dopamine levels, with alcohol abuse, also take a long-term toll on brain chemistry and promote substance dependence.

It is proactive and good planning to take the amino acid supplement, Tyrosine Mood Food, before venturing out to parties where alcohol is served. You also need a good dose of common sense and don’t pick up the first drink. Remember, it’s not the 6th or the 7th drink that causes the compulsion – it’s the first drink.

Keep LivaTone Plus capsules handy to rejuvenate your liver after a heavy drinking session. Hopefully, you won’t be needing them but your liver will be eternally grateful even if you don’t drink too much in 2016. Is this one of your New Year’s Resolutions? LivaTone Plus also supports liver function and metabolism and contains the full range of B vitamins essential for a fatty liver.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.