Are you an alcoholic? Do you cringe at that thought? Do you have all the pat answers as to why your drinking is okay? Are you secretly avoiding admitting that you might be an alcoholic? Do you tell yourself that you an stop anytime you want?

What happens when you ignore your drinking habits? Actually, you’re ignoring the things that trigger you to drink. And ignoring problems just makes them worse. You end up in a downward spiral, ignoring all the signs of trouble.

That’s the problem with something that so easily takes away our emotional struggles. We end up using alcohol or some other drug instead of looking inside to see what it is we’re running away from. It could be something as simple as no purpose in life – or it could be some long-standing emotional pain. Pretty soon it becomes an unconscious habit to cover up even the slightest feeling of uneasiness.

To find out if you’re on this downward spiral, what are some of the signs to look for?

• When you wake up in the morning, you think about how soon you can begin drinking without others being aware of it.
• You increase the number of drinks you have every day.
• You only hang around others who are drinking.
• You avoid letting others know how much you’re drinking.
• You sneak booze into your house.
• You begin hiding bottles of booze.
• You begin drinking on your breaks at work.
• You take clients out to lunch, have a drink, then after they leave you continue your drinking and never return to the office.
• You lie to others about where you were when you were out drinking.
• You think of any reason to validate you taking another drink.
• You begin getting late to work in the mornings because of your hangover.
• You use breath mints to cover up the alcohol (which by the way doesn’t work!)
• You begin lying and calling in sick to work.
• You get your first DUI
• You spend less time with your kids, and feel guilty more and more for it.
• You’ve lost friends.
• You’ve lost relationships with family members.

If you find yourself in any of the above, now what? Perhaps you’ve tried to quit on your own and weren’t successful. In fact, you’re wondering if it’s possible to ever permanently quit. Yes, it is possible to quit drinking forever!

What’s the first step? To admit to yourself that you’ve got a problem. Until you do, you’ll never have the courage to take responsibility for your life to find out how to change. Notice I didn’t say you had to go to a support group and stand in front of a group and tell everyone you’re an alcoholic. In fact, I encourage you to stay away from support groups. But I do encourage you to find someone (not a former alcoholic) who will work with you as you go through this transition.

Then you need to look at some of the emotional issues you’re running from. Write them down. Which issues can be dealt with first? Which issues do you have no clue on how to handle?

If you’ve got anxieties that you don’t know what is causing them, I invite you to take a look at the “EFT” link on my website. This is a very simple, proven technique that helps you deal with anxieties and other emotional issues. The technique is like “emotional acupuncture” and it will help you through every aspect of dealing with your issues as you stop your drinking.