How Alcohol Removes the Important People in Your Life
When you have entered the realm of alcoholism, your priorities change then and there.
Even though you may not be aware of it yourself, alcohol has become the priority, so you can't allow anyone to interfere with your drinking.
At the least, you minimize your drinking to the outside world, never letting anyone know how much you are really putting away.
Many withdraw from their family and friends, holing up so they can drink as much as they want to, whenever they want to.
This of course makes you unavailable to the people who need you and may want to spend time with you.
Since, as a problem drinker, you drink at the most inappropriate times knowing full well there are going to be sometimes serious consequences, you start missing family functions or outings with your friends, particularly the friends that don't approve of heavy drinking.
You make promises you can't keep.
You become a no-show.
You become unreliable.
For all intents and purposes, you are now keeping everyone at arms length.
So while you are drinking your life away, your friends and family have no choice but to carry on without you.
You start to notice that your friends are making progress, maybe getting a house, getting a promotion at work, buying that new car, getting married.
Funny how nothing has changed in your life.
It's always the status quo - there you sit with a drink in your hand and everything is always the same.
The important people in your life have learned to live without you.
Some may be hurt because youchecked-out of their lives.
They don't understand what alcohol addiction means.
This is how your relationships can erode while you are under the influence, and since it is a process, by the time you notice and decide to do something about it, it may be too late to repair the damage.
Chalk another one up for alcohol.
Even though you may not be aware of it yourself, alcohol has become the priority, so you can't allow anyone to interfere with your drinking.
At the least, you minimize your drinking to the outside world, never letting anyone know how much you are really putting away.
Many withdraw from their family and friends, holing up so they can drink as much as they want to, whenever they want to.
This of course makes you unavailable to the people who need you and may want to spend time with you.
Since, as a problem drinker, you drink at the most inappropriate times knowing full well there are going to be sometimes serious consequences, you start missing family functions or outings with your friends, particularly the friends that don't approve of heavy drinking.
You make promises you can't keep.
You become a no-show.
You become unreliable.
For all intents and purposes, you are now keeping everyone at arms length.
So while you are drinking your life away, your friends and family have no choice but to carry on without you.
You start to notice that your friends are making progress, maybe getting a house, getting a promotion at work, buying that new car, getting married.
Funny how nothing has changed in your life.
It's always the status quo - there you sit with a drink in your hand and everything is always the same.
The important people in your life have learned to live without you.
Some may be hurt because youchecked-out of their lives.
They don't understand what alcohol addiction means.
This is how your relationships can erode while you are under the influence, and since it is a process, by the time you notice and decide to do something about it, it may be too late to repair the damage.
Chalk another one up for alcohol.
