Alcohol addiction. Dark side of alcohol. Broken relationship.

Although we don’t always think of it as such, alcohol is a psychoactive substance, meaning it can radically change the way we think and feel:

It can alter both our mood and inhibitions, affecting our decision-making in the moment, meaning we are more likely to make rash choices, or perhaps instigate verbal or physical confrontations that we later regret.
If our partner or loved one is regularly drinking more than we are, it can impact on our own feelings, creating tension and anxiety. For example, we may feel that we take second place to our loved one’s drinking, or that they are increasingly physically or emotionally absent.
If we are the ones drinking regularly or heavily, we may be neglecting or ignoring the needs of our loved ones, and not fulfilling our responsibilities as a romantic partner, friend or family member.
It can negatively impact on our sex life.
The quality of our relationships with others can also impact on our own drinking in many different ways:
When someone close to us drinks frequently or heavily, we might be more likely to do the same.
Unhappy romantic situations, for example, can exacerbate our drinking as a means to cope with our feelings.
Household tensions caused by issues like financial worries or family crisis can also be a prompt for us to drink more.
When we break up with someone we are close to or experience a bereavement, we can find ourselves drinking more heavily and more often to try to cope with the changes in our lives.
Loneliness - the sense of being disconnected from others – can also act as a trigger for increased drinking.