How to Avoid Bartender's Alcoholism

Bartenders are surrounded by alcohol almost on a daily basis, and their jobs can be quite stressful. They are also surrounded by drunk, potentially belligerent people basically every time they work, and some turn to alcohol to help relieve the anxiety they feel dealing with these people. This can lead to imbibing a few more drinks every time you work and eventually lead to bartender's alcoholism.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Recognize that your drinking is getting out of hand. You're starting your day off with a shot to steady your hands and function properly. You find you have to have a couple of drinks before your bar-tending shift in order to deal with your customers and a couple of drinks after your shift just to unwind. So, now you're probably spending a good deal of your time either drinking, drunk or nursing a hangover until you can start drinking again. Calculate how much time you don't drink compared to when you do and see if alcohol is taking over your life.

2. Avoid staying after hours. After the bar is closed, most bartenders need to unwind, and the first thing they usually do is grab a drink or several. Instead of sitting around the rest the night sharing stories and alcohol with your fellow bartenders, just do what needs to be done and go home.

3. Go home when your shift is over. Same concept as staying after closing time. Your bartender shift has ended before the bar actually closes, but you choose to stay and close the bar down on the other side of the bar. In this situation, not only are you going to end up spending all the tips you've made that day, you're lifestyle is leading to alcoholism.

4. Don't drink on your days off. Bartenders tend to become a tight-knit group. It comes from backing each other up when breaking up bar fights or escorting belligerent customers outside, sharing horror stories or stories of conquest and because you tend to socialize together at the bar and at get-togethers outside the bar.

5. Refrain from drinking during your shift. Some bartenders get to the point that they can't deal with their customers unless they have a little "buzz" themselves. So, they grab a beer or shot or two or three throughout their shift, and by the time they're done for the day, they're already well on their way to being drunk. Then, they usually drink a few more when their shift ends before they leave for the night. If you can't make it through a shift without drinking, then you've probably already got bartender's alcoholism.

6. Get help. If you've come to realize that you're drunk more than you are sober or it's starting to affect your health, job and relationships, it might be time to ask for help. You won't be the first bartender to enter rehab or attend AA meetings on a regular basis.

7. Quit your job. Asking for help may not be enough. If you can't control your drinking, then continuing to be a bartender is a bad career choice. Switch to a job where alcohol isn't readily available.

Tips & Warnings

• Bartenders consider and even accept that alcoholism as an occupational hazard.

• When alcohol becomes a "need" and not a want, you have a problem.

• In a 1988 National Health Interview Survey that studied the incidence of alcoholism when compared to occupation, bartenders had the highest prevalence out of all occupations surveyed.

• If you already have a drinking problem, are a recovering alcoholic or suffer from social alcoholism, then becoming a bartender is not the right career choice for you. For more information about social drinking and alcoholism, read the eHow article, "How to Avoid Social Alcoholism."

Resources

• Bartender lifestyle series by Shawn Soole.
• Article on alcoholism by occupation.
• Comparison of alcohol consumption by job.
• Self assessment test.
• Alcoholics Anonymous