A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding High-Functioning Alcoholics

If you know a high-functioning alcoholic, you have the power to make a difference. The best way for someone to help a high-functioning alcoholic is to have a forthright conversation with them about their addiction. Your conversation should happen when the person you are trying to help is sober. Most importantly, while you should avoid being judgmental or accusatory, you should also be honest about how alcoholism is affecting you and the alcoholic.

• With our help, patients don’t only appear to function normally, but feel and experience life to its greatest potential as a sober and recovering individual.
• The professional lives of high-functioning alcoholics are often challenging and stressful.
• These individuals may unconsciously encourage or enable the alcoholic’s behavior by allowing the alcoholic to avoid the negative consequences of destructive drinking.
• Functional alcoholics are often intelligent, hardworking and well-educated.

An intervention should follow a specific process for optimal results, and to ease potential risks that can occur. This is one of the main reasons many seek out a professional interventionist when the time comes. These professionals can decide on the best method, based on your knowledge of the addict, and offer guidance throughout the process.

Socializing Usually Involves Drinking

By getting help for your loved one, you may be able to avoid further consequences of alcoholism and build a healthier future for your family. The participants in an intervention could include the alcoholic’s spouse or partner, children, parents, friends, coworkers, employer, friends and other individuals who have been affected. A substance abuse counselor, family therapist or spiritual advisor may also attend to provide an objective presence and keep the agenda on track. If someone close to you is a high-functioning alcoholic, it’s just as important to seek support for yourself as it is to get help for your loved one. You likely have questions about how to deal with an alcoholic, or how to help an alcoholic.

• If you are living with a high-functioning alcoholic, you may be more likely than someone living outside of the household to notice their seemingly benign drinking habits.
• The classic picture of someone with alcohol use disorder  is someone who always drinks too much and whose life is falling apart because of it.
• Some stop caring about food altogether, while others might use meal times as an excuse to drink.
• High-functioning alcoholism is defined by the alcohol’s ability to work or function normally.
• Your doctor can give you medication to help manage withdrawal symptoms and help you lessen alcohol cravings to reduce the risk of drinking again.

Eventually, all functioning alcoholics break and, in some cases, it’s too late to get help. HFAs typically do not realize the extent to which their drinking affects others. The fact that they are “functioning” and able to go to work, excel in academics, provide for their family and still drink excessively feeds their denial. They believe that their drinking only impacts themselves, that they deserve to drink because of their hard work or stress, and that if life appears “put together” on the outside that they are entitled to keep drinking. With high-functioning alcoholics, the negative consequences of their drinking may be obscured by their outward successes.

Are You a High-Functioning Alcoholic?

A person who appears to be managing their alcohol intake but is experiencing issues with their relationship to alcohol has what is now known as an alcohol use disorder (AUD). Functional alcoholics may seem to be in control, Benton says, but they may put themselves or others in danger by drinking and driving, having risky sexual encounters, or blacking out. People with alcohol use disorder can appear responsible and productive.They might even be a high achiever or in a position of power.

Although a person with high-functioning alcoholism may appear fine, they are not. A high-functioning alcoholic will usually appear healthy despite consuming large amounts of alcohol. People who live fully functional lives can still have AUD and can benefit from treatment and support. The condition causes changes in the brain that decrease the ability to quit on your own.

When is someone considered high functioning?

This can lead to binge drinking, blackouts, and other risky behaviors. When confronted about their drinking issues, some alcoholics are capable of providing seemingly reasonable and rational explanations for why https://ecosoberhouse.com/ they drink so much or so often. Often, this will involve issues that everyone deals with in their own way, so it’s not a big leap of logic to believe that someone might have a few drinks to take the edge off.

My denial was deeply rooted and was reinforced not only by my loved ones but by society as a whole. The term high functioning alcoholic is no longer in use in the medical community. However, some people may use the phrase to refer to individuals who are experiencing an AUD but are still able to successfully function in their work and personal lives. If you are living with a high-functioning alcoholic, you may be more likely than someone living outside of the household to notice their seemingly benign drinking habits. Consider having an open and honest discussion with your loved one about their alcohol use and encourage them to discuss it with a counselor or their primary care doctor.

If you believe your loved one is relying on alcohol for any need, it may be time to take a closer look at whether or not they fall into the category of a functioning alcoholic. Because these indicators tend to appear gradually over time, they can be challenging to identify, as well as to connect directly to drinking. Denial is such that the individual tries to believe there is no serious problem that needs to be addressed. Generally, functioning alcoholics are convinced that they have everything under control and are often able to convince others of the same.

• This can help you learn new coping skills so you can turn to other behaviors instead of drinking in order to live a healthier life.
• We realise that relapse and obstacles may occur during one’s path to recovery, which is why we provide a Relapse Assurance Guarantee for our clients who have completed our drug and alcohol addiction programme.
• This can lead to binge drinking, blackouts, and other risky behaviors.
• If it’s time to seek help, contact us to learn about our treatment approach and facilities.
• Dietary Guidelines define moderate drinking as one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men.
• When confronted about their drinking issues, some alcoholics are capable of providing seemingly reasonable and rational explanations for why they drink so much or so often.

High-functional alcoholics can often drink excessive amounts without experiencing a hangover the next day. Medical diagnoses for alcohol addiction vary from mild to severe, so it can look quite different in different people. Adults aged 50 and older do not metabolise alcohol as quickly as younger people. Therefore the alcohol stays in their body for a longer period of time and has more time to harm their organs. They may no longer decide to have a drink, but must have one to feel normal.

What is a High-Functioning Alcoholic?

Because alcohol withdrawal can be dangerous – and even kill you – make sure you have medical advice from your doctor or a rehab facility when you decide to stop drinking. It’s common to see those with high-functioning alcoholism replace meals with a few drinks. They tend to lose all interest in high functioning alcoholic food and instead use mealtime as an excuse to start drinking again. Different signs can point to someone having high-functioning alcoholism. Each person’s experience can be different, and no specific set of criteria exists. These are 10 common signs of someone with high-functioning alcoholism.

• As alcohol use increases, high-functioning alcoholics may begin to cancel appointments or other engagements in an effort to hide hangovers, withdrawal symptoms, and other indications of addiction.
• High-functioning alcoholics drink because they “need to drink,” not always because they want to drink.
• An experienced intervention specialist can help the participants prepare for these reactions so they can respond effectively.