Morning After Apologies

We all know the scenario. Last night was a particularly nasty display of drunken behavior and you said a whole lot of things you regret. Your friends tried to calm you down, get you home, but you were just too smashed to listen to reason. You wake up hung-over and it all comes flooding back, one painful and embarrassing piece at a time. You made a fool out of yourself (again) and said some pretty hurtful things to people you love.

It’s time to start calling around and making your apologies.

The habit of blacking out when drinking, so much so that you aren’t yourself and end up doing significant harm to your relationships without a clear memory of what you said, is a clear sign of severe alcohol abuse and possibly addiction. 

Some people just don’t know their limit and can’t stop themselves from getting to the belligerent and obnoxious stage of drunkenness. If you’re someone who gets angry and/or embarrassing when you get drunk, the truth is no one wants to drink with you. Each time you lose control and hurt someone, you diminish their ability to be forgiving. Each time you call to ask what happened and apologize for anything you may or may not have done (you don’t remember, right?), you wear down the relationship with that person. It becomes a vicious cycle of abuse that drives people away.

You don’t want that. No one wants to drive their loved ones away, not really. 

If you’re finding yourself in this morning-after situation more than once, then you’ve developed a wildly unhealthy, irresponsible, and dangerous abuse of alcohol and it’s time to reassess your priorities. Your loved ones and the relationships you have with them will always be more important than a buzz or a night of partying. 

Don’t put yourself in the position to make apologies. Take responsibility for yourself and your drinking by admitting that you have a problem. That’s the hardest and first step because you can’t go any further with recovery if you continue to deny the issue. Accept and admit your problem and then reach out for help from the many addiction recovery resources you have at your disposal.