There’s a long list of reasons, arguments, and excuses the alcoholic provides as an explanation for his or her decision to continue drinking. The following is only a partial list.

• I am not hurting anyone but myself.
This is a standard statement by alcoholics based on denial of the fact that their addictive behavior is indeed causing harm to others, including their family members. They believe it is their life, their body, and their right to drink.
• Everyone drinks.
Alcoholics will proclaim that drinking is a universal practice and that they’re no different than anyone else who enjoys a cocktail. Alcoholics may proclaim that they don’t drink nearly as much as other people do.
• I don’t have a problem with alcohol, so the problem must be you.
Denial again, but this time an attempt to shift the blame to the other party. This offensive strategy aims to disarm the loved one who objects.
• I need to drink.
Citing job stress or constant family demands as a clear need to relax by using alcohol, alcoholics attempt to garner support for the comfort that “only alcohol can provide.”
• You knew this when you married me.
Alcoholics attempt to justify drinking as some sort of inherent trait that was clearly visible when the partner decided to marry them. In other words, “accept me as I am.”
• I work every day, so I am not an alcoholic.
High functioning alcoholics will point out the ability to succeed in their profession, work out at the gym, and participate in parental duties, stating that they couldn’t do those things if they were “true alcoholics.”
• I can quit drinking whenever I want.
Probably the most common excuse of all is the claim that they have control over their drinking and can quit at will.
• Drinking is part of my job.
When alcoholics are confronted about their need for treatment, the thought of quitting is so frightening that they may state their livelihood depends on and must involve social drinking.
• There is nothing wrong with me.
Denial of the physical toll that drinking is taking on them, alcoholics will proclaim that all is well, ignoring the distended gut, puffy face, red-rimmed glassy eyes, and other physical signs of deterioration.
• I don’t have time for treatment; I will handle it myself.
A classic excuse used by busy professionals who cite time constraints as the reason they can’t go in for treatment. Utter denial of the power of addiction is exposed when they emphatically state they can handle recovery on their own.
• Everybody drinks.
To alcoholics, it seems that everyone drinks, because this is their reality. They always socialize with other drinkers and avoid events and activities that prohibit drinking. They may even feel that people who don’t drink are stuck-up, no fun, or untrustworthy.
• There is nothing wrong with me.
As long as the alcoholic insists that everything’s fine, then there is no problem to be treated. This denial is another aspect of addiction, functioning to protect the addictive behaviors.
• I’m not hurting anyone.
Alcoholics are often quick to claim that their drinking doesn’t hurt anyone, or at least not anyone but themselves. Their disease has made them unable to see the many ways that their alcoholism impacts everyone who cares about them.
• This is the last time.
There is no need to seek treatment if I’m never going to get drunk like that again, right? For a moment, this claim can seem completely true. In reality, alcoholism has produced actual structural and chemical changes in their brain’s reward pathways—changes that have trained them to be alcoholics.
• I need to work.
While technically true for most people, not all forms of addiction treatment will require a recovering alcoholic to miss work. Residential substance abuse programs can be great, but so can outpatient programs that provide treatment after work hours or on weekends. Many companies support addiction treatment, and the right to rehabilitation treatment is usually protected by state or federal laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Family Medical Leave Act.
• I can’t afford treatment.
Yes, there are fancy, celebrity-filled rehab programs that cost more money for a month than most people make in a year, but there are many excellent low and no-cost programs all across the country. Also, thanks in part to the Affordable Care Act, addiction treatment has been designated as an essential health benefit that most insurance plans are required to cover.
• I don’t have time for treatment.
Many Americans are busier than they’d like to be, but alcoholism is a devastating, progressive disease that will wreak more havoc on life the longer it is left untreated. Addiction treatment should be an alcoholic’s top priority. Besides, healing alcoholism tends to provide alcoholics with a whole lot of additional time and energy they didn’t have before treatment.
• I deserve a few drinks with a job/family/marriage like mine.
Most people view alcohol as a reward for doing well, working hard, or enduring difficulty. Alcoholics usually feel that they’ve “earned” a drink. Of course, they almost never stop at just one drink, and they tend to “earn” the right to drink nearly every day for a variety of reasons.
• I can’t ____ without drinking.
Some alcoholics talk themselves into believing that they need to drink to speak in public, to socialize, to have fun, to write, to paint, or to play music. They feel blocked or frightened without drinking, and even falsely believe that alcohol enhances their abilities. Once they are past the withdrawal phase of treatment, recovering alcoholics often start to realize that they can do anything without drinking, and that they do it much better while sober.
• I’m not an alcoholic because I don’t drink half as much as my father/mother/my friend/that alky passed out at the end of the bar.
When playing the comparison game, alcoholics will always be able to find someone who appears to be worse off than themselves. However, just because so-in-so lost their job, their home, and their wife because of their drinking, doesn’t mean that a high functioning alcoholic doesn’t also have a problem. There is no hierarchy when it comes to addiction. If you are an addict, you need and deserve addiction treatment.
• My only problem is all the judgmental people around me.
Alcoholics quite often blame others not only for seeing a problem where there is none, but for creating a problem. They believe that they wouldn’t drink so much if everyone would just get off their case for a while. Of course, this isn’t true. The alcoholic will never run out of reasons to drink. Alcoholics may also be extra-sensitive to being judged, as addiction can bring out paranoia in many people.
• I can quit whenever I want to.
Another famous excuse. Many alcoholics sincerely believe or at least pretend to believe, that they can quit drinking anytime they want to. They don’t want to, yet. However, the truth is that very few people can quit drinking without some form of professional help.
• I can’t handle detox.
It’s natural for alcoholics to be intimidated by the thought of going through withdrawals and detox—they’ve likely experienced withdrawal symptoms when they haven’t had a drink for a while, and they know that sobering up completely will be worse. They ignore that substance abuse treatment programs have  resources, from medications to counseling to lifestyle changes, that can drastically reduce withdrawal symptoms and make detox much easier.