Alcoholism Recovery & Treatment

ummm drinking excessively is usually a good indicator! They could be trying to hide this but look hard enough and u will find stashed bottles, empty cans etc.
drinking to excess impinges upon daily living as well such as personal care, daily tasks, getting to work, caring for children
health wise ..under nourishment…not eating well..

Sometimes the signs of alcoholism aren’t that clear. Yes, excessive drinking, drinking in the morning, hiding booze around the house, those are all signs of an alcoholic. But a person can be an alcoholic without being that extreme. There is such a thing as a “functional alcoholic”, which means the person does have a problem, but is still able to keep their life somewhat under control, wake up for work in the morning, etc.

The bottom line is, if you are bothered by someone’s drinking, then you should find help for yourself to be able to cope with living with the person’s abuse. If a person is an alcoholic, they won’t stop drinking until they hit rock bottom, or run into a situation where they basically have no choice. Usually family or friends telling them to stop isn’t enough, it will just force them to try to hide it better. This isn’t something that people want to hear, but it is the truth.

You may find help in a local Al-Anon (friends and family of alcoholics) support group. You can probably look up some groups in your area or go to local churches and see if there are groups hosted there. Just in case this kind of scares you away, Al-Anon is not associated with any religion or denomination and all are welcome to their groups.

I am somewhat of an Athiest, but there is a “prayer” that is used in many Al-Anon meetings (they just ask that you believe in some sort of higher power, whether that is God, Nature, the group as a whole, anything):
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

What this means is, it is important to think about what you have control over and what you can’t control. Fighting with the person who has a drinking problem isn’t going to solve anything. Usually pouring their alcohol down the drain or other things like that won’t stop them either. You can’t change other people, you can only try to find help for yourself.

So there is no real way to tell for sure if the person in question is an alcoholic. But if their drinking bothers or upsets you, whether or not anybody thinks they are an alcoholic, it is important to find help for yourself. Hope this helps you out.