Printer FriendlyAlcohol:
Alcohol Abuse/Alcohol Dependence
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
Alcohol abuse occurs when drinking alcohol negatively affects your health, behavior, relationships, and your ability to work and perform daily activities.
Signs of alcohol abuse include:
- Not being able to keep up with responsibilities at school, home, or work
- Continued drinking even though it’s caused relationship problems (with parents/guardians, siblings, friends etc.)
- Getting into legal trouble because of alcohol
- Drinking in risky situations (such as while driving or operating heavy machinery)
Alcohol dependence (also called alcoholism or alcohol addiction) is a chronic disease, and is different from alcohol abuse.
Signs of alcohol dependence include:
- Craving alcohol
- Not being able to limit or stop drinking
- Using alcohol even though it causes problems with your physical or emotional health
If you’re not quite sure if you’re having a problem with alcohol, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is drinking constantly on your mind?
- Do you feel like you need to drink in order to have fun?
- Do you drink by yourself?
- Do you go to parties or social events specifically because you know there’s going to be alcohol there?
- Do you often forget what happened (“blacked out”) while you were drinking?
- Have you gotten into a fight, hurt yourself, or done something that you later regretted while drinking?
- Have you ever gotten in trouble with the police while drinking?
- Have you ever driven a car after you were drinking?
- Have your friends ever made comments about your drinking habits?
- Have you ever missed school or work because you were hung over?
If you’ve answered yes to one or more of these questions, you likely have a drinking problem, and you should talk with your HCP, parent/guardian, or another trusted adult about getting help.
 Previous |
Next: Getting Help |
Updated: 8/8/2011
