Characteristics of High-Functioning Alcoholics

functional alcoholic

For people with functioning AUD, seeking treatment as an outpatient may help them reduce disruptions to their work or family life. Your doctor can give you medication to help manage withdrawal symptoms and help you lessen alcohol cravings to reduce the risk of drinking again. Your doctor may also conduct imaging tests if other laboratory studies come back abnormal. For example, a computed tomography (CT) scan tests for liver enlargement, which can occur after years of chronic drinking. Your doctor may order this test if your blood tests indicate abnormal liver functioning. There is research showing that about 19.5 percent of people with AUD are middle-aged, well-educated, and have stable jobs, homes, and families.

Do People With Alcohol Use Disorder Drink Every Day?

Try to talk openly to the person about your concerns, and encourage them to seek help from resources like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Someone with alcohol use disorder may struggle to cut back on drinking or quit, either when trying to do so themselves or when asked by others to try. These criteria are often internal struggles, not observable to others.

Women who are trying to get pregnant or who already are pregnant should not drink.

Trouble Quitting Drinking

The incredibly important first step is to recognize your need for help and move past denial. American Addiction Centers (AAC) is committed to delivering original, truthful, accurate, unbiased, and medically current information. We strive to create content that is clear, concise, and easy to understand. Teens who drink are also more likely to die by falling or drowning, and are more likely to drink and drive. Teach your children never to get into a car driven by a person who has been drinking; assure them that you will pick them up no matter what the hour.

Tolerance

An intervention is a planned meeting in which the concerned parties confront the alcoholic about their behavior. Issues with work, school, and relationships are common among people living with AUD. These issues can be insidious and increase as a person becomes more dependent alcoholic narcissistic mother on alcohol. Over time, these minor signs can snowball into more significant issues.

Nearly 20% of alcoholics are highly functional and well-educated with good incomes. Because these types james anderson author of users appear stable and mostly unaffected by their drinking, the steps to effectively confront a functioning alcoholic and work with them on their behaviors can be even more difficult. Sometimes, people with alcohol use disorder don’t recognize their drinking is an issue, especially if they meet their work and home life responsibilities despite their alcohol dependence. As such, they may justify their drinking as a normal part of life—even though it isn’t. But they may put themselves or others in danger by drinking and driving, having risky sexual encounters, or blacking out, Benton says. While no single item on this list is absolutely demonstrative of functional alcoholism, patterns of addictive behaviors should not be overlooked.

As their reliance on alcohol increases, you may begin to notice that your loved one downplays the role alcohol has in their lives and makes excuses for their actions, especially their drinking.
You may hear them called “functional” or “high-functioning» alcoholics. But those aren’t official medical terms.
When the pain or embarrassment gets bad enough, they can no longer deny that their drinking needs to be addressed.
Your doctor may order this test if your blood tests indicate abnormal liver functioning.

Risk Factors for Functional Alcoholics

It’s not always easy to see the signs of harwell cause of death alcoholism, but there are some red flags. Functioning alcoholism is just as dangerous as any other type of alcohol abuse disorder. It may even be worse because the alcohol abuse often goes unaddressed, and alcohol abuse itself, though overlooked in this situation, nevertheless has life-threatening consequences.

Going out with a specific boundary set only to exceed your self-imposed limit may be a sign of impulse control issues. The inability to stop drinking or follow a reasonable pace is significant in terms of identifying warning signs of functional alcoholism. Discovery Point Retreat is available 24/7 to answer any questions you may have about treatment for yourself or a loved one. The alcohol rehab center is located in Dallas, TX, and offers a wide array of therapy types perfectly tailored to fit your needs. Discovery Point Retreat is a home away from home for many experiencing alcohol addiction and can help clients establish a speedy but lasting recovery.