How Do I Know if I'm Drinking Too Much?
How Do I Know if I'm Drinking Too Much?
Answer these thought-provoking journal prompts and get ready to gain clarity on your relationship with alcohol.
If you’ve landed on this page or perhaps have listened to an episode of Decidedly Dry, I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume at some point in your life, you’ve asked yourself that burning question: “Am I drinking too much alcohol?”
For those of you that are new around here, I’m just gonna catch ya up - my name is Jess, I’m a mom of two boys, I’m married, and I’ve been alcohol-free for 3.5 years.
I think it’s very important to note that 3.5 years ago, on my last Day 1, it wasn’t as if I opened my eyes that morning and was like, “Good morning! What a beautiful day! I think I’ll quit drinking today!”
Voila! I’m sober. I’m healed. Hallelujah!
No, no, no, not even close. My journey has been far from perfect. 3.5 years ago was my last Day 1, but there were many, many Day 1’s before that. There were days filled with tears, happiness, confusion, pure joy, determination, basically all the feels. Why am I telling you all this? Well pal, I want to remind you that there is a real human behind this screen and behind the microphone. Believe it or not, I’ve been where you are and I say this to give you the courage to not only keep reading, but also to take action on your own goals… because living an alcohol-free life is not only possible, it’s pretty stinking great.
Flashback: I remember countless nights of one too many glasses of wine after the boys went to bed. I’d wake up on the couch, Netflix was once again asking me if I was still watching. I’d head to bed and lay there wide awake (typically around 3 am) and the google searches would begin...
“How much alcohol is too much?”
“How do I know if I have a drinking problem?”
“What are the heath risks for women when you consume too much alcohol?”
“Does alcohol cause breast cancer?”
I’d usually scroll and scroll for an hour, sometimes more. I’d promise myself absolutely no alcohol tomorrow. That promise would unfortunately be out the window the next day when the clock hit 5pm. My fellow mom-friends would help feel okay with my decision by lending me their, “Oh you deserve it, Mama” lines. It took me a long, long time to finally kick booze to the curb. I mention this not to discourage you, but to remind you that sometimes the very best things take time.
So, the burning question of the day, how do we know if we’re drinking too much?
This question can be scary, am I right? For a long time, we’ve only known two types of people: people who can drink normally and people who can’t (sometimes assumed to be alcoholics). In my opinion, this way of thinking is completely harmful. As we now know, there’s an entirely large GRAY area of drinkers in the middle. It’s not black and white anymore, folks.
If I were to put a label on myself, I was definitely a gray area drinker. From the outside I looked like a totally functioning, normal drinker. But on the inside, things just didn’t feel right. I hated the way alcohol was showing up in my life and knew for certain I’d feel better if I could remove it completely.
So back to our burning question, how do we know? Truth be told, I don’t think there’s a simple straight answer I can give you. But what I can do for you, is provide you with some extremely helpful journal prompts and/or questions that will hopefully shed some light on your relationship with alcohol. Ready?