When the personal cost of drinking or drug use becomes noticeable

When the personal cost of drinking or drug use becomes noticeable, it can   still be written off or excused as merely atypical. Addicts tend to orient their  activities around their addictive behavior; they may forego friends and activities  where drinking or drug use is not featured. Some may isolate themselves; others  may change their circle of friends in order to be with people who drink or use in the  same way they do. They engage in faulty yet persuasive alcoholic reasoning, willing  to take anything as evidence that they do not have a problem; no amount of  reasoning will persuade them otherwise. Each time the addict makes a promise to  cut down or stop but does not, the chains get more constricting. (“In the Cave: Philosophy and Addiction - NYTimes.com”, 2)