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An alcoholic doesn’t always have to be a person that blacks out or even a wino begging for money on the street. A functioning alcoholic is a person that is medically considered an alcoholic yet is still able to function with their daily life.
These types of alcoholics tend to do everything normal just like people who aren’t addicted to alcohol. One of the reasons an alcoholic admits that he has a problem is mainly because of the embarrassing effects alcoholism has on him. However, a functioning alcoholic has a very difficult time admitting addiction because they don’t have bad things going on in their lives due to alcoholism. There aren’t that many events happening or things being effected in their lives because of their drinking problem.
While a functioning alcoholic may think they don’t have a problem because they’ve never blacked out, or even been in trouble with the law, they still do have a problem. A big one. There’s may be worse than others because they are in complete denial and it is often harder to get help for them.
These types of alcoholics have built up a tolerance for alcohol, which is why it becomes harder for then to get drunk. They then need to drink more and more alcohol in order to feel any kinds of effects from it.
A functioning alcoholic may know that they have a problem, but it will be hard for them to stop because their withdrawal symptoms can be severe. They may even experience symptoms a few hours after their last drink, which makes them want to drink more to curb the symptoms.
If you know someone that has an alcohol addiction, get help for them. Stage an intervention, or even talk to them privately and help them to realize that they have a problem that could potentially kill them.
