A Cautionary Tale

The daily life of a Paralegal or Legal Assistant is, if nothing, filled with pressure and stress.  Deadlines, increasing workload, demanding clients, demanding attorneys, uncooperative courts, the list goes on, and that doesn’t even include our personal lives.  In an environment like this, the ability to decompress and de-stress regularly is vital to both mental and physical health.  For many, alcohol is typically turned to as a socially accepted (and legal) way to de-stress. 

For some people, it can turn into something worse, such as alcoholism. 

That’s what happened to me. 

Without going into detail, I’m not what you would call a “functioning alcoholic”.  I didn’t need to have a shot the minute I woke up, and frequently went for days or weeks between drinks.  The problem lay in my lack of ability to stop drinking once I started.  Classic binge drinking.

I’ve spent the past couple of weeks trying to come to grips with the problem, with varied and increasing success.  It’s a lifelong struggle, but I’m nothing if not one stubborn bastard.  I am fortunate enough to have loved ones concerned enough to confront me about the problem before it became too severe.

I’m not going to get all preachy, or tell anyone to stop drinking.  I just want my experiences to try and serve as a cautionary tale, especially for people in our profession. 

It’s OK to de-stress, but don’t let the de-stressing cause entirely new problems.