One of the most famous phrases surrounding alcoholism is that “denial is the first sign.” Of course that is absolute hooey because there are millions of people who abstain completely from alcohol who would deny being an alcoholic. But the facts are the facts. First fact, life-long teetotalers never are accused of being an alcoholic. For many years I have been sober and yet when accused of being an alcoholic, there is no denying that fact. Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic!

As a counselor for both in class and online alcohol awareness classes my students and I often engage in lively discourse of about “facing the facts.” There is no doubt that all alcoholics go through denial. This article will address questions which help all people who drink to face the facts.

You Never Expected to be an Alcoholic

Let’s face it – nobody ever expects to become an alcoholic. I remember the first time when I was 22 when I joked with my friends that my “AA counselor would not approve” of our getting hammered that night.

That was just a joke, at that point, despite the fact that I was getting drunk at least three times a week, there was not a rational thought in my mind that worried about me becoming an alcoholic. I am not abnormal – none of us think we will become an alcoholic.

Fact #1 – How Much Do You Drink?

The first fact about drinking is very simple – how much do you drink? That is followed by how often do you drink and how many alcoholic beverages do you consume when drinking?

If you drink two or more alcoholic beverages daily you could be an alcoholic. If you binge drink frequently you could be an alcoholic. The standards for drinking are pretty straight forward – one ounce of booze per day for women and two for men. Any more than that and you are exceeding recommended dosage.

Fact #2

Simply put – people who do not have drinking problems do not drink every day. They do not think about drinking and they do not have a nightly cocktail or two. At its natural state, your body never will seek to have alcohol absorbed into the blood stream. Remember, alcohol is a poison and has no medicinal value for your body.

Fact #3

Your drinking habits are very indicative of how important alcohol is in your life. While genetics play a role, you and your behavior are the sole determining factor in if you are or will become an addict to alcohol.

If you know you are genetically predisposed to addiction, I urge you not to drink. If you have parents with addiction issues and find yourself getting really drunk, even if you drink infrequently, I urge you to stop all consumption of alcohol immediately. This is a red flag toward addiction issues. Stop the snowball before it gains too much momentum.’

Remember, alcohol is a serious drug and its use should be closely monitored. Take a look at the facts. Closely examine your drinking behavior. If you or anyone you love has a drinking problem, please seek help immediately. If you prefer to maintain total anonymity, there are online alcohol awareness classes as well.

Because of pornography industry is legal in some countries or regulated, we can access many porn sites on the internet easily although there are some countries that still illegalize pornography. The most common products of pornography industry are erotic photos and videos that contain the pictorial of people having intercourse or other explicit sexual activity. The internet technology provides global connection for marketing facility to sell the pornographic products. Even in the countries where pornography is illegal, the laws and regulations that prohibit the distribution of pornographic materials are likely unable to block the porn site from being accessed. The rapid growths of websites that provide free porno materials to be accessed or downloaded also contribute on the popularity of pornography.

The people who perform the pornographic acts usually called as porn models or porn stars. There are classes or level of the porn materials. Some of the porn models are only made the erotic or softcore videos or photos. Some are doing the higher level porn. Some porn models did every level including the hardcore category. Most of the law and regulation did not allow porn models under the age of 17, some country made the regulation of 18 years as the minimum age for porn models.

The regulations also arrange and regulate the users who can access the websites that contain the erotic materials or websites that the user should pay or register to make the access. There is always a disclaimer about the age of the users on a legal porn site, it is usually 18 years or older users are the only users allowed to make the access. The profession on the porn industry is no longer taboo in the country where pornography industry is legalized; even there are porn award for appreciation and celebration to the world and work of pornography industry.

All alcoholics share a few common characteristics. Of course drinking too much alcohol and being dependent on the poison is one thing. Lies and excuses are two other things they all share as well.

As a counselor for both in class and online alcohol awareness classes I hear the lies and excuses people with alcohol problems tell themselves and those they love every day. They even try out those same lies on me and their classmates.

Just last night I had one of my students who is in one of the more progressive stages of alcoholism lie to us. Martin is a truly sad story. His story is one of how casual use turned into horrific abuse and now all he has are smoke, mirrors, lies and excuses.

Martin’s Story

Martin is a 36-year-old small business owner. Martin was born in Bosnia and was one of the few members of his family to survive severe oppression. Two of his siblings and his father never made it to America. Immigrating to the United States at the age of 10 he never had it easy. Learning a new culture was difficult. Learning an entirely new language was something few of us can say we have had to experience.

While other kids were outside and playing, Martin was taking English classes, becoming fluent before he had been in the country 2 years. Martin’s father had been an alcoholic before he disappeared during the Serbian-Bosnian conflict. Upon arriving in America he doesn’t remember his mother sober.

When his mother failed to show up for one of his gymnastics meet in high school, he swore he would never drink alcohol. That was the first real lie he remembers telling himself. Since that day more than 15 years ago, the lies have piled up to where he doesn’t even know who he truly is anymore.

Big Lie #1 – “I will only drink socially”

By his senior year of high school all of his friends were drinking at parties. He remembers the logic behind his taking his first drink – a shot of Smirnoff vodka. Before his first drink he tried to reinforce his negative attitude toward alcohol – “I hate the taste of alcohol and it has ruined my mother.”

Numerous drinks later, passed out in one of the bedrooms of the house, all he remembered were the drinking games and how much fun he’d had. Now the rationale became, “That wasn’t so bad. I don’t even remember it tasting bad after a couple. That was fun.” That was probably the last truthful thing he said to himself about alcohol.

The First Wake Up Call

Like most drinkers, Martin did not have a truly negative experience with booze for quite some time. It was almost four years later, as a college senior that his first “real” trouble with booze surfaced. Martin went to a university with a zero-tolerance policy for breaking the law. Martin and a few of his roommates had been out drinking and were relieving themselves outside of their fraternity house when the police arrived.

Zero tolerance meant he and his mates were expelled. He not only lost his gymnastics scholarship but found himself with no career path. His drinking continued despite the lack of parties to go to.

The Second Wake Up call

After working for a landscaping company for a few years he decided to start his own business. Martin swears it was totally “BS” that he was busted and blamed everyone from his roommates, to fraternity brothers to the rent-a-cops in his college town that got him kicked out of school.

At the age of 29 he received his first offense for driving under the influence (DUI). Of course there were lies and excuses for that as well. He “kicked ass” on the sobriety test. He did not fall to the side, followed the police officer’s finger and even recited the alphabet backwards (he memorized it in college).

Unfortunately he felt so confident after the field sobriety test he took the breathalyzer and blew a.10. His excuse of course was he’d only had a couple of beers.

Of course there was a third and fourth wake up call, another DUI and a domestic violence charge where alcohol was involved, which finally had him in my classroom. He still complains that all of these problems are unrelated to his drinking. He continues to believe the lies he tells himself even as his business has begun to crumble.

Martin is a perfect example of how alcoholics can lie and blame anyone and everything except alcohol on their problems. It seems to be the premise that if you continue to do things the same way and they don’t work, keep trying the same method.