Alcohol

If alcohol is affecting you or someone you know and their health, relationships, work, finances or other life situations, please contact us for support.

Roughly 1 in 5 lawyers are addicted to alcohol

Alcoholism or problem drinking is a chronic and progressive disease.

Lawyers are very adept at hiding personal problems, including difficulties with alcohol. The onset of alcoholism can be very gradual. Denial, combined with the fact that the progression to alcoholism can take 15 to 20 years or longer, means that many lawyers who have a problem do not face the issue until the addiction has become long-engrained. Then there is the wrongly-held belief that if you can continue to function at work and produce work, you are not addicted to alcohol.

The effects of drinking

Alcohol affects everyone differently depending on many factors. Problematic alcohol use can affect your concentration, speech, balance, vision, coordination, judgement, and overall health. Long term problematic alcohol use can also lead to professional, personal, financial and legal problems.

Drinking too much alcohol can cause

drowsiness
slurred speech
dizziness
loss of coordination skills
inability to think and judge things clearly
confusion or memory loss
negative mood states
violence
suicide
vomiting
irregular heart beat
respiratory depression, coma, or death

Long term health effects include

increased risk of suicide
increased risk of high blood pressure
increased risk of stroke
increased risk of heart disease
liver damage
stomach ulcers
impotency in men
menstrual irregularites in women
some types of cancer
death

Signs of problem drinking

Being unable to limit the amount of alcohol you drink
Have tried to quit drinking but can't
Feeling a strong need to drink
Drink to cheer up
Developing tolerance to alcohol so that you need increasing amounts to feel its effects
Having legal problems or other problems with relationships, employment or finances
Drinking alone or doing so secretly
Making excuses for your drinking
Experience physical withdrawal symptoms
Not remembering conversations or commitments
Making a ritual of having drinks at certain times and becoming annoyed when this is disturbed or questioned
Losing interest in activities and hobbies that used to bring you pleasure
Irritability when your usual drinking time nears

Withdrawal

Giving up alcohol after drinking for a long time is challenging because the body has to get used to functioning without it. Please seek advice from a health professional.

Symptoms can start within a few hours after your last drink and can last 2-7 days.