![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.randalawyers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/286\/2018\/09\/Alcoholism-Who-Does-It-Hurt-How-Does-It-Affect-Loved-Ones-300x272.jpg\")
You haven\u2019t spent much time wondering if something else<\/em>\u00a0is the problem, have you? Did it ever cross your mind that you\u2019re sitting in the back of a cop car because you eat too much pizza, or work out too often, or watch more TV than you should? The point I\u2019m driving at is that once you get any kind of nagging feeling that something\u2019s up with your drinking, it almost always is. The simple truth is that alcohol screws more lives up than you could ever imagine. I see it every single day. If you could do my job for any length of time, you would have a front row seat to watch people going out and getting in trouble again and again, all because of drinking.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s often said that \u201cthe definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result.\u201d When it comes to racking up DUI\u2019s or other criminal charges after drinking, people frequently live in a state of denial, while everyone around them sees their use of alcohol as the real problem. Whatever else, there has probably NEVER been an occasion, in the history of the world, where someone has had that sinking feeling that their drinking has become a problem and been wrong about it. So how do we deal with this?<\/p>\n
To be clear, lots of people get a single DUI<\/a> and don\u2019t have a drinking problem. The truth is that most of us have probably driven while over the limit at some point (or points) in our lives without getting caught. To be sure, getting caught is often just a matter of bad luck. Yet we must also remember that every 2nd and 3rd offense DUI driver started out with a 1st offense. Numerous studies have consistently validated that, as a group, people busted for OWI<\/a> have a significantly higher incidence of alcohol problems than the population at large. In other words, people caught driving drunk just one time are part of an \u201cat risk\u201d group, while it is a foregone conclusion<\/a> that those caught a second or third time do have a drinking problem.<\/p>\n I want to circle back to what you think, though. If you\u2019re reading this because you\u2019re in hot water for something that is related to alcohol in any way, are you scrambling to explain how your drinking isn\u2019t as bad as it looks? One of the most self-defeating tactics that most of us employ at some time or another is to compare ourselves to someone who is \u201cworse\u201d than we are. If Tina is overweight and eats too much junk food, she\u2019ll point to Jenny, who eats way more. If Tim is confronted about smoking, he\u2019ll say he\u2019s not as bad as Mike, who goes through a whole pack of cigarettes a day. It\u2019s human nature to do this, but is also fails to address the real issue; has something become a problem for you?<\/p>\n I cannot count how many times, in the context of a real heart-to-heart conversation with a DUI client, I\u2019ve had a person just \u201cfold\u201d and admit that they know something is wrong with their drinking. It is a prerequisite to fixing something that one first admits it\u2019s broken. That said, not everyone has to have some kind of profound, \u201cCome to Jesus\u201d moment. Sometimes, good things happen when a person just cracks the door a little bit and lets in some light, rather than slamming it shut against any notion that his or her relationship to alcohol may have become problematic. In other words, you don\u2019t have to dive into all this stuff headfirst; instead, you simply have to allow yourself to be open to the idea, that, yes, your drinking is making your life difficult.<\/p>\n For most people, however, there is some kind of \u201clightbulb\u201d moment, often described as \u201chitting bottom,\u201d when they realize that drinking is a problem, and that fixing it means quitting.<\/p>\n One simple truth about hitting bottom, at least for those who have that experience, is that everyone\u2019s bottom is different. Some people struggle with their drinking, and, when popped the first time for a DUI, know they\u2019ve had enough. For many people, it takes a 2nd<\/a> or even a 3rd DUI to wake up, while other folks will rack up 6 or 7 drunk drivings, and not quit drinking until years after that, often for reasons unrelated to drunk driving. However it comes, it comes, at least for those lucky enough to \u201cget it.\u201d<\/p>\n Statistically, most people who have a drinking problem will never get over it. As sad as that may be, this article isn\u2019t really for them.<\/p>\n What is universal among those who do \u201cget it\u201d is that absolutely every last person who does quit drinking looks back and wishes they would have done it sooner. In hindsight, they easily recognize some the signs that seem so clear now, but meant nothing before. What\u2019s also universally true is that you won\u2019t stop until you\u2019re ready. However, sometimes, a person can hear or read one little thing that may change their thinking and affect how they process things in order to tip the balance, at some point down the road, in favor of not drinking anymore.<\/p>\n Although pure logic tends to go out the window when dealing with addiction issues, one cannot really argue against the idea that anything that causes a problem is a problem. Those drinkers in the thick of denial will point to everything under the sun (except alcohol) as the \u201ccause\u201d of their difficulties, and sometimes have to put in a hell of a lot of effort to overlook or rationalize away the role that drinking has played in creating the situations that have caused them so much grief.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve been arrested for a DUI, you may or may not be ready to look at your drinking. Even though DUI drivers have a statistically higher rate of drinking problems than the larger population, the fact also remains that most 1st offenders don\u2019t have a drinking problem. If your DUI just \u201chappened<\/a>,\u201d then it probably isn\u2019t symptomatic of any larger problem. However, if your DUI is yet another in a line of problems or setbacks in your life, then it may mean there\u2019s something more to it. It\u2019s the same thing if you\u2019re facing a DUI and you have, to any extent, been thinking or wondering about your drinking.<\/p>\n