"Am I an Alcoholic?" Have you asked yourself this question lately?

“Am I an alcoholic?”

Wondering this is more subjective than what people think. When patients ask me this question, I turn it around and ask, “What makes you think so?” That’s where the real meat of the matter is because you’re not going to change anything unless you think it’s a problem.

1. Stop worrying about what others think.

The first thing to do is, stop worrying about what someone else’s checklist is and think about you. In Psychiatry, a diagnosis or a problem is defined by whether the issue is negatively impacting the persons functioning. Such as your socializing, intimate relationships, or your job, then that’s what we call a problem. If you’re not able to cut back and keep those things from negatively impacting your life, then we call it a problem.

If you’re doing something that is causing you a problem in one of those major areas of your life and you haven’t been able to corral it, then that’s a problem.

2. Don’t beat yourself up.

To finish reading, go to https://www.drldabney.com/article/am-i-an-alcoholic/.