9 Reasons a Person Can Lose Control of Drinking
Lose control of drinking – what does this mean and how does it happen?
Lose control of drinking – what does this mean and how does it happen?
What does it mean to lose control of drinking?
Losing control of one’s drinking results in drinking behaviors like those listed below. These kinds of drinking behaviors occur when a person drinks more alcohol (which contains ethyl alcohol chemicals that change how the brain works) than their bodies and brains can process.
- Verbally, physically or emotionally abusing someone – often a spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend or child
- Doing poorly at work or school because of the drinking or recovering from the effects of drinking
- Fighting with loved ones about the drinking
- Being admitted to the emergency room with a high BAC
- Experiencing blackouts
- Driving while under the influence
- Having unplanned, unwanted or unprotected sex; committing date rape
This loss of control occurs with a variety of drinking patterns, including binge drinking, heavy drinking, alcohol abuse, and alcoholism.
With the relatively new capabilities to study the live, human brain in action and over time and the resulting scientific discoveries, it is now understood that people who are binge drinkers, heavy drinkers or alcohol abusers can change their drinking habits before their drinking behaviors disrupt their education or careers, harm their relationships with family members and friends or damage their health. This only works if their drinking has not crossed the line from alcohol abuse to alcohol dependence (alcoholism), however. One way to wrest control is to understand how it is that a person can lose control of their drinking.
9 Reasons a Person can Lose Control of Drinking
Below you’ll find the nine key reasons a person can lose control of their drinking.
1 Not staying within moderate drinking limits:
For women: no more than 7 standard drinks in a week with no more than 3 of those 7 in a day
For men: no more than 14 standard drinks in a week with no more than 4 of those 14 in a day
2 Not knowing standard drink sizes.
A standard drink equals 5 ounces of table wine or 12 ounces 
of beer or 1.5 ounces of spirits (such as vodka).
3 Lack of awareness that not all ‘drinks’ are the same.
A margarita, for example, may contain 2-3 “standard” drinks; a bottle of table wine contains 5.
4 Not understanding the difference between alcohol abuse and alcoholism.
Alcohol abuse is defined as routine binge and/or heavy drinking. Binge drinking for women is having 4 or more standard drinks on an occasion, and for men, it’s having 5 or more. Heavy drinking for women is having 8 or more standard drinks a week, and for men, it’s having 15 or more standard drinks a week.
Alcoholism is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease characterized by cravings, loss of control, tolerance and physical dependence. The key risk factors that contribute to a person developing alcoholism are explained in #7.
5 Not understanding that brain changes occur with both repeated alcohol abuse and alcoholism.
The drinking that occurs with repeated alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence (alcoholism) causes chemical and structural changes in the brain. These changes affect the very areas a person needs in order to “think straight” and act responsibly.
6 Not understanding the impact of early use of alcohol on a person’s brain development.
This recent brain research shows the brain goes through a critical developmental stage from ages
12 – 25. The portions of the brain that deal with emotion, memory, learning, motivation and judgment are the last to develop. As such, they are the areas most deeply affected by alcohol (or drug) abuse. An adolescent can become addicted to alcohol in as little as 6 to 18 months. See related post, “How Teens Can Become Alcoholics Before Age 21.”
7 Not understanding the risk factors that contribute to a person developing the disease of alcoholism.
Alcoholism is ‘caused by’ a combination of alcohol abuse and biological, developmental and environmental risk factors that include: genetics, mental illness, early use of alcohol, social environment and childhood trauma.
8 Not understanding that treatments of alcohol abuse and alcoholism differ.
People who abuse alcohol but are not alcohol dependent (alcoholics) may be able to return to moderate drinking limits (see #1).
People who are alcoholics cannot drink any amount of alcohol if they want to stop their drinking behaviors long-term. Alcoholism can successfully be treated, however, and the brain can recover.
9 Not understanding the consequences to a person (child or adult) of living in a family where there is alcohol abuse or alcoholism.
Living with and trying to cope with a loved one’s drinking behaviors when a person does not understand alcohol abuse or alcoholism can cause that person to experience serious psychological and physical problems that interfere with school, work, family & relationships. See related post, “The Ripple Effect of Loving Someone Who Drinks Too Much.”
For help and information, consider the following resources:
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Drugs, Brains & Behaviors: The Science of Addiction
World Health Organization, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)
My latest book released November 2019, 10th Anniversary Edition If You Loved Me, You’d Stop! What you really need to know when your loved one drinks too much.
©2009, Rev. 2020 Lisa Frederiksen
Lisa Frederiksen
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