I used to think there were two types of drinkers – normal drinkers and alcoholics.
For a long time I considered myself a normal drinker.
Even when my drinking increased, I didn’t consider it an issue.
Sure, I was drinking more than the government guidelines (10 standard drinks a week) but weren’t most people drinking that way?
Starting to worry about my drinking
So when I did start to worry about the way I was drinking, I didn’t know how to fix it.
“Just cut back,” I thought.
But that’s surprisingly difficult to do. There are good reasons why, which I learnt later on, but at the time I just thought I was weak willed.
Grey-area drinking
I was what is known as a ‘grey-area drinker’ – someone who is worried about the impact of their drinking but hasn’t hit a rock bottom or who wouldn’t necessarily think they had a ‘drinking problem’.
The thing is, the way we drink falls on a spectrum.
It goes from those who only have the occasional tipple right through to people who are at ‘rock-bottom’ with their lives spiralling out of control.
Most people fall somewhere along that spectrum.
You don’t have to reach rock bottom
The women who reach out to me for support generally fall into the grey-area drinker category.
They tick some, if not all, of the following:
- Juggle work, family and home commitments – and drink to manage the stress of it all.
- Look after their health – have a healthy diet, exercise and generally make good lifestyle choices.
- Can take breaks from drinking although that has become more difficult in recent times.
- Drink in a similar way to those around them but feel it is no longer serving them.
- Worried about how their drinking is affecting them – hazy memories of the night before, waking up at 3am unable to get back to sleep, hangovers are worse, tolerance is greater.
- Spending more time than they would like thinking about drinking.
Sound familiar?
If any of the above sounds familiar, you are not alone.
I’ve been there and work with women who want to do something about their drinking but can’t seem to get it under control. If you want to have a chat about the support I provide you can book in for a free discussion call.