By Cynthia Grau/WJEZ News

Alcohol is sometimes considered the forgotten drug, and IHR’s Executive Director Joe Vaughan has some advice about recognizing whether or not a person has a problem with it.

Vaughan said there are several questions you can ask yourself that would answer that question.

“The simplest answer is when it becomes destructive in some way. If people are asking you to slow down or if you are saying to yourself that you have a problem, because you’re drinking a lot more or doing things that you don’t normally do out of your normal personality, that may be an issue that you need to at least come in and have an assessment or talk to someone about, have a consultation with someone and just see,” Vaughan said.

Vaughan says there is a definite dividing line between addiction and disease.

“Everybody has a choice. I’m a firm believer we all have a choice, even when we’re in the worst case scenario. Alcohol can change your brain structure to the point where your brain starts to tell you that you need this. You absolutely have to have this. And you have to continue destructive behavior in order to get it. You’ve made a choice to the point where the alcohol has kind of taken over your brain structure and that’s where addiction comes in and that’s where it becomes a disease,” Vaughan said.

Vaughan was a guest on a recent Community Forum, where he further explains the disease and treatments that IHR offers. That is available at WJEZ.com.