I remember the summer of 2015 when I wasn’t coping very well with seemingly anything, I would find myself most mornings at 6am standing in front of the cupboard assessing if today was the day I needed to drink to get through the day.
I would figure out how it could help as well as how bad it could be if I started drinking. I sometimes picked up the bottles and contemplated opening them, I was lucky that I was able to risk assess, I was able to challenge my thoughts, I was able to rationalise my options and make choices. I chose to drink energy drinks and used sugar to boost my energy and get me through – another coping tool, and not so healthy either.
Alcohol is a coping mechanism and often we find ourselves with a problem before we realise it, it is socially accepted and encouraged as part of our culture and the people who come alive when drunk are praised and loved. I have a client who many people class him as fun, ‘crazy’, the best and can’t wait until his next drunk antics. Not one of those people know the real him, they don’t want to know, they don’t ask. They just hero worship the person they think is him and what a place to be for someone with low self esteem, worshipped and ‘loved’.
Alcohol issues don’t discriminate. It can happen to anyone without realising it, it isn’t something to be ashamed of or to judge someone by. We never know what someone is going through or has been through, although it is something to seek help for, the right help for you