When Drinking Becomes Alcohol Abuse

By Dr. Neill Neill, Registered Psychologist

Drinking alcohol is very much a part of Western culture.  It is almost a rite of passage. And most people who drink alcohol don’t get into any real trouble with it.

But some do get into trouble.  As individuals and as a society we need to recognize when drinking alcohol becomes alcohol abuse, so we can do something about it.

Alcohol abuse is any kind of drinking that has negative effects on the drinker or on those around him. The problem drinking need not have progressed to alcoholism to be considered alcohol abuse.

Obviously, if your drinking leads to impairment, you are abusing alcohol.  But if it leads to social, legal, employment, family, or financial problems, it is considered to be alcohol abuse.  If your drinking is affecting your health, you are abusing alcohol. 

The form of the drinking does not matter; that is, it could be moderate social drinking, heavy regular drinking, binging or addictive drinking. Whether or not your alcohol use should be considered alcohol abuse depends entirely on the effects of your drinking.  Some effects could be poor judgment, memory lapses, deteriorating social skills, interference with job, deteriorating health, interference with education, messed-up relationships or a chaotic family life.

How does this play out in real life?

In my own case I have an allergic reaction to alcohol in any form and in any quantity.  So for me a glass of wine once a week would be alcohol abuse, because it would have a bad effect on my health. So I don’t drink anymore.

For someone else, it might not be a problem at all to have a daily glass or two of wine with dinner or a beer on coming home from work. It all depends on the effects.

Let’s look at some examples of alcohol abuse. 

A man is periodically absent from work because of hangovers.  He is abusing alcohol, because his drinking is affecting his work.  He has an alcohol problem even though he may never drink on the job.

If there is money to buy alcohol, but not enough to buy needed groceries, there is alcohol abuse.

If alcohol leads to domestic violence, it’s alcohol abuse. 

If drinking leads to impaired driving, it’s alcohol abuse.

 The above examples are pretty obvious.  But let’s look at an example of alcohol abuse that is not so obvious, that of the student drinking on weekends. A good memory is critical to being a successful student.  But what if the student’s memory were affected by going out for a few drinks on Friday night?  Then it would be alcohol abuse. 

Recent research has shown that a relatively small amount of alcohol consumed on Friday night wipes out the student’s memory for much of what he learned on Thursday and Friday. Since so many students drink on weekends, one cannot help but wonder how much more effectively they would learn if they simply abstained from drinking alcohol.

You get the picture.  Whether or not drinking has become alcohol abuse is determined entirely by looking at the effects of the drinking — socially, financially, professionally, educationally, mentally, legally, family-wise and health wise.

And if the effects of your drinking are turning negative, it is time to do something about it.  Do it before you spiral downwards into low self-worth, shame, failure and unhappiness.  

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Dr. Neill Neill maintains an active psychology and life coaching practice on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. He is on the treatment team at Sunshine Coast Health Centre, an addiction treatment facility for men. He writes regular newspaper and magazine columns on psychological healing and self-improvement. His goal is to facilitate growth in human consciousness and increase the human store of hope, happiness and generosity of spirit.