Topics: Social Media, Alcohol, Mental Health, Health
A recovering alcoholic has claimed there are 'three different types of drinkers', busting the myths around what you might think addiction looks like.
Corey Warren, from Michigan, began struggling with addiction from an early age, but after multiple stints in rehab, he has now been sober since 2011.
Corey regularly speaks about his journey to sobriety on social media and what it was like during his addiction.
Now, the dad, who previously admitted that during his addiction he was 'drunk by 10 o’clock in the morning', has opened up about what addiction can look like for different people.
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He says there are three different types of drinkers, and there can be one big red flag for addiction.
Over on his YouTube channel, Corey said: "This is the guy that all of us wish we were. This is the guy that can have one, two, maybe even three and then go home for the night.
"He knows his limits, he knows his boundaries. If he is drinking, it's usually a Friday night, a Saturday night, a special occasion, a wedding, an event.
"This guy's not taking it too far."
Corey explained that if you're trying to establish if you're a social drinker, there's a pretty easy test.
He explained that social drinkers 'probably wouldn't have thought about alcohol at all today', adding that they can 'take it or leave it'.
Corey explained the second type of drinker is the 'escape drinker'.
"This guy from the outside looking in looks like he's got his whole life together, he's probably raising a family, got a good job, taking care of business, smiling for the pictures, everything looks good," he said.
"But what you don't see is why this guy is drinking. When he's sad, he's drinking. Lonely, drinking. Bored, drinking. Happy, drinking. Angry, drinking.
"Alcohol is a coping mechanism. See, it has nothing to do with how much you're drinking, but why you're drinking, that's what starts to make it a problem.
"And this guy, the escape drinker, is a perfect example of that."
"This is not what you may think," Corey explained.
"A lot of us think the dependent drinker is a guy that wakes up in the morning, drinks, blacks out. We associate this with jail, rehabs, hospitals, DUIs, alcoholism.
"But that's not always the case. The dependent drinker doesn't drink for fun anymore; he drinks because he needs it.
"It's not about partying too much, and it's not about being weak, it's about the fact that alcohol has hijacked the brain and now we need alcohol in order to survive, or at least that's how we feel."
Corey explained that he lived for 'many years' as a dependent drinker.
"Alcohol has such a hold on me and I didn't even realize it," he added.
These days, Corey opens up about his experiences with alcoholism and his journey to recovery, and recently shared one sign which for him is a big red flag that someone is not drinking 'casually' anymore.
This is when someone drinks so much that they black out, so they can't remember what happened while they were drunk.
"If you’ve ever blacked out, you probably think it’s because you drank too much," he said in a video. "I used to think that blacking out was just a part of drinking, part of having fun, a part of the story I’d tell the next day.
“What I didn’t realize is that blacking out is not what happens when I drink too much one time. Blacking out is what happens when my tolerance is so high that I drink past my body’s limit and I don’t even realize it."
If you've been affected by addiction and want to speak to someone in confidence, you can call American Addiction Centers on (888) 324-0595, available 24/7, or contact them through their website.
