Alcohol Freedom Blog

If you were searching for proof that your drinking before or during work is not hurting anyone but yourself; the new book Flying Drunk by Joe Balzer is an eye opener to the dangers involved in drinking. As the Flight Engineer on a commercial airline flight, Mr. Balzer, along with the Pilot and Co-Pilot, was arrested for flying drunk with 91 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft that he was responsible for getting safely from Fargo to Minneapolis.

As we’ve discussed in a previous post about alternative alcohol treatments, alcoholism is a progressive disease that forces most people to hit bottom before they get help. For professionals, it’s important to realize that you are in the grasp of alcohol before the loss of your health, family alienation and or the loss of your job. In Mr. Balzer’s case, getting arrested for being intoxicated at the controls of a passenger jet was his bottom and it resulted in a federal prison sentence.

While most people may not directly put other lives in danger by succumbing to their cravings for alcohol; the risk to your career and the consequences can be the same. You could hurt yourself or another innocent person while driving to work or make mistakes that would jeopardize your career path.

Many in the financial and insurance industries could also make compliance related mistakes that, while sober, would not have occurred. The important thing to do is become aware of the warning signs of an alcoholic and have the courage to reach out for help. There are many confidential alcohol treatments available that don’t require in-patient care. Please get help today.

At Freedom From Alcohol®, we encourage anyone that needs help eliminating or controlling their drinking to get the help they need. Whether that is with our proven alternative treatments for alcoholism or a more traditional twelve step approach, we want you to get the treatment that works for you.

While there are many twelve step programs that effectively help you eliminate alcohol from your life, these programs are not for everyone. Many successful managers and business people are caught between their drinking and the stigma of what they know of alcohol treatment. Unfortunately; Hollywood has made us think that there are only two alcohol treatment options:

• Publicly implicate yourself as an alcoholic (It seems that AA and similar meetings are popular fodder for movies and we are all familiar with the line, “My name is … and I am an alcoholic.” )
• Attend in patient alcohol treatment. This seems to be the fad with actors, especially after a DUI arrest.

Unfortunately for busy professionals, self identifying in a group or going away for a six week treatment program is not usually an option that is conducive to career growth. While we always recommend that you put your life and health first, there are treatment programs that will allow you to remain at work and help you win the battle with alcohol addiction. Please get the help you need and contact us to learn more about alternative treatments for alcoholism.