Drinking is often encouraged during social events such as weddings and holiday celebrations. People tend to use alcohol as a social lubricant that helps them to relax, laugh and enjoy being with a large crowd. While someone might occasionally have a glass of wine while eating dinner alone, choosing to drink frequently when you are by yourself is a huge red flag. Although the answer to why do people drink alone will vary from one person to another, there is often an underlying reason for why someone would keep drinking when they aren’t involved in a social situation. If you find yourself drinking alone frequently, then you may need to do some deep soul searching to figure out why.
A person who drinks alone might tell you that they just like the taste of beer or wine. Or, they may say that having a small drink at home after work helps them to unwind. While these reasons are both valid, you could be running into a problem if you notice that these other reasons for drinking alone ring true.
•You prefer to prime yourself by drinking before a social occasion
•You still want to keep drinking after others have left or gone to bed
•You drink by yourself so that people don’t notice how much you have
•You frequently get out of control when you drink with other people
•You drink to forget past traumatic experiences
•You need to drink to stop symptoms such as hand tremors or headaches
At the point that you notice that you are drinking alone on a regular basis, you have to wonder if you’ve crossed a line. Drinking to ease the symptoms of depression or stress is a sure sign that you are using alcohol to cope with your problems. You may also need to worry if you tend to drink far more than the other people in your life. For example, continuing to drink after your partner goes to bed might mean that you’ve been drinking more than the generally accepted amount.
Discover How Good It Feels to No Longer Be Alone With An Addiction
While drinking alone every now and then doesn’t necessarily signify a problem, you might have an addiction if this has become your norm. If so, you don’t have to feel guilty or ashamed about your solo drinking. Many people start out drinking socially but find it hard to stop even once they are alone. There are also other people just like you who have started to rely on alcohol to help them feel better emotionally or physically. As frightening as it is to realize that you’ve lost control over your drinking habits, you never need to feel alone again.
The best way to address drinking alone is to break the barrier of solitude by asking for help. Professional addiction treatment counselors won’t judge you for your habits. They also don’t have to let anyone else know what you’ve been doing unless you want someone to know. Instead, going to rehab gives you a confidential place to start your recovery. You’ll be able to talk to your therapists to begin to uncover the deeper reasons why you might be drinking alone. Once you reveal the things that are troubling you, they’ll even help you to start finding solutions for your problems. For example, you might have chronic pain that will benefit from learning healthier ways to ease your symptoms. Or, you might need to release some burdens from your past in talk therapy. Stepping out of your comfort zone and into a supportive environment gives you more people in your life that can help you stop drinking.
Going to rehab is only the first step towards ending solo drinking. You’ll find that life tends to get easier each day that you stay sober, and you’ll also begin to build a new lifestyle that makes you not want to waste your time drinking alone. By the time you finish your treatment, you’ll have a range of support options for helping you to get through tough times and enjoy the good things that happen in your life.
Are you tired of drinking alone or worried about someone else who tends to do this? Give us a call today at 833-846-5669. We’ll help you connect with resources that get to the heart of solo drinking.