Stay at Home Mum Getting Drunk Regularly By Myself: Worried I May Be Developing a Drinking Problem

I'm a stay at home mum of a three year old boy and I study part time. I have always been a social drinker and loved to go out before I had my son. Over the last two years I've found that I am frequently getting drunk at home by myself to the point where I feel so hung over the next day I can't do anything.

When I'm drinking I tell myself that I need to relax and that it is good for me to stay up till 2am and drink but I know that it is not. I feel like I am starting to loss control and am worried that my life will start to fall apart.

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Answer

A drinking problem can creep up on you before you know it. What starts as drinking socially and then seemingly innocently progresses to having a few drinks at home to unwind, can quickly become a serious problem. So the fact that you are honest enough to recognise that is a good start.

'Normal' drinkers don't generally drink alone to excess. Especially not to the degree that they're so hungover the next day they can't do anything. So you have a drinking problem without question. The question is what do you do about it?

You need to try and stop drinking for a while. Maybe it's just a phase you're going through and is something you can get a handle on. If that's the case then no problem.

But know that alcoholism is essentially defined by 'loss of control' and 'dependence.' When you can't control your drinking any longer, as you've already started to experience - and when you become emotionally and/or physically dependent on alcohol, you're actually regarded as an alcoholic.

That's nothing to be ashamed of, it simply means you need to take what's happening seriously. Here's a test for alcoholism you can take to give you a better idea. Because if this is a genuine problem for you, the best time to do something about it is now. Alcoholism is progressive, so the sooner you do something about it, the better.

There is lots of help available - alcohol treatment programs, AA, counseling etc. So you can get through this. Don't feel this is something you need to hide. There are lots of specialists you can talk to confidentially and who can recommend a course of action. So try and address this now, especially for the sake of your young son.

Best of Luck.

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