High functioning alcoholic
From Drug Rehab Wiki
High functioning alcoholics are people who drink abusively yet are able to maintain a facade of normalcy. The high functioning alcohol can be highly successful in school, in their career, and will generally appear to be holding things to together quite well. For this reason, they can often slide under the radar when it comes to detecting alcoholism.
The high functioning alcohol could be a binge drinker, who only gets drunk during "off hours" - such as the weekend. Or they could be someone who consistently drinks too much on a regular basis, but manages to maintain many of their day-to-day responsibilities.
The signs of alcoholism do eventually become obvious with the high functioning alcoholic. The physical consequences of heavy drinking eventually take their toll, regardless of how well the alcoholic tries to disguise this. Usually someone begins to suspect the person is an alcoholic when certain patterns appear - and cracks in the facade become more obvious.
The signs that someone might be a high functioning alcohol could be any or all of the following:
• Prefers the company of other heavy drinkers
• Talks a lot about drinking
• Gets irritable if not able to drink
• Starts creating rules about when/how much to drink
• Starts breaking the rules about when/how much to drink
• Tries to conceal how much he/she drinks
• Pre-drinks; i.e., drinks before going to parties/events to loosen up
• Drives under the influence (counts even if they are not caught by police)
• Forgets things they said or did while drinking
• Chooses alcohol/drinking time over time with friends or family
• Physical health problems such as stomach, liver, pancreas
As alcoholism progresses, the high functioning part of the high functioning alcoholic tends to disintegrate. They might show up to work hung over. They might get very sick after drinking and miss work or an important event. They might do something embarrassing that impacts work or family.
In fact, the idea an alcoholic is high functioning is really more a reflection of how far they've progressed in the disease. For some, the progression is slower, which allows them to be highly successful even while alcohol is becoming a serious issue. Over time, alcohol damages memory, physical health, and the ability to maintain healthy relationships.
