Jan 18
I know someone I believe to be an alcoholic.What is their emotional state?What is the source of their pain that makes them so alcohol dependent? Her behavior is inconsistent. She is quiet in the morning and loud in the afternoon.She flirts with me and when I flirt back she stops. I can’t figure her out. Now I wonder do I know her or the alcoholic her..Do alcoholics give up social activities to drink alone? Do woman alcoholics wear a lot foundation make up? Do woman alcoholics always look sad? Do alcoholics have a good memory?
Tags: alcoholic, female, mental, physical, symptoms
I can only answer your questions from my own experience as an alcoholic. I used to be quieter in the morning from raging hangovers and get loud when I wanted to go out and drink. I tried to use foundation to hide the fact that my face was dry as could be and beet red at all times. I am very bad with makeup so my so called cover up jobs were really bad. I always looked sad and know a lot of active alcoholics who look sad all the time because they are. Believe or not being an active alcoholic is a sad and often time painful way to live. I used to try and hide this by acting certain ways in certain situations or trying to crack jokes when I was cracking up inside. Many alcoholics drink alone, it is easier to hide how much they are drinking. I wanted to be social and wanted to go out but I was always so darned depressed I drank alone and eventually was completely isolated from friends and family. I also drank alone because I didn’t want anyone to comment on how much I was drinking or say anything about me looking puffy or red or bad. When I drank alone I could drink as much as I want and no one said anything to me. I also could not look myself in the mirror. Lastly, in terms of my own experience, I had a great memory for things that happened a long time ago when I was drinking. I could remember what day of the week my 11th birthday fell or what time it was when something happened when I was a kid but you couldn’t ask me what I did the night before because I couldn’t remember. For me I used to try and write things down to remember the next day. Like if I spoke to someone on the phone I wrote down a few words about what we talked about, what time we spoke anything basically so I could cover up the fact that I had no idea what had happened. I did the same with tv shows, I would jot down a few things while drinking about what was going on with this show or that show so I could try and participate in discussions with my co-workers. Eventually I got so bad I couldn’t read what I wrote the next morning. Not all alcoholics are alike in how they feel but they all have one thing in common…. when they start drinking they cannot stop. Alcoholism is a disease that is treatable. I personally have chosen to recover through AA. It has helped me stay sober for the past 3 1/2 years. I also tried a number of other things and they did not work for me. While you may want to help your friend she may become very angry if you mention your concerns that she might have a drinking problem. She will also have to determine for herself if she is an alcoholic because her acceptance of this will be what she needs to do to get help. If you have any questions you can email me. Good luck.