In this article, I want to zero in on that feeling – that special moment – when a person caught up in a DUI (or really any other legal mess) just \u201cknows\u201d his or her relationship to alcohol has become troubled, or at least is no longer able to deny to themselves that their drinking is causing problems. In that context, one of the best observations I\u2019ve ever heard is that \u201canything that causes a problem IS a problem.\u201d This kind of dovetails with a well-known AA slogan: \u201cI didn\u2019t get in trouble every time I drank, but every time I got in trouble, I had been drinking.\u201d If you\u2019re facing an OWI, or some other kind of criminal charge or problem (like a probation violation for alcohol), and you\u2019re wondering if your drinking might be part of the reason, the answer is almost certainly \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
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>\n
It\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
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
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
Another misconception that holds people back from recognizing that they\u2019re relationship to alcohol<\/a> has become troublesome is the idea that \u201cproblem\u201d drinking has to be frequent, or severe. If Social Sam only drinks a few times a year, and almost never has any issues, except that, once in a while, he overdoes it and then winds up in some kind of messy situation, his drinking is a problem, if for no other reason than it is a risk for him however infrequently he imbibes. You don\u2019t have to be old, or some last-gasp alcoholic with the shakes for your drinking to be problematic.<\/p>\n