I was always thinking about what I was going to drink, when I was going to drink, hiding bottles so my husband wouldn't know how much I drank. It was exhausting. Just where alcohol abuse crosses the line into addiction remains blurry. But it is often a mean- ingless distinction to family members, loved ones, and employers. They know that excessive drinking can ruin lives through betrayal, broken promises, lost jobs, car accidents, and a host of other personal tragedies.
Alcoholism is a disease that can start with a first drink.
With that drink, one fork in the road appears, leading some to a future of alcoholism and others to a lifetime of enjoyable, moderate drinking. For them, the first drink is a hit of dopamine, and of pleasure, they haven't felt as strongly before. And then, it's love at first tipple. We broke into her father's liquor cabinet, and then we had a food fight. I never had so much fun in my life.