And while we might all have a stereotypical image in our minds of what an alcoholic looks like, a functioning alcoholic might not actually look any different to ourselves, our friends, our family or our colleagues.

Dr Mohiuddin estimates that a massive third to a half of the people he sees for alcohol addiction don’t prescribe to our stereotypical image of an alcoholic.

“They’re working in high-powered jobs, in the City or the media and drinking heavily is accepted, almost expected,” he said.

“They have carried on for years in this way but suddenly they’re getting physical symptoms such as feeling sick in the mornings and needing a drink and perhaps a partner has said they have had enough and it’s the drink or them.”

To help lower your risk of “alcohol-related harm”, the NHS has published a number of recommended guidelines online.

These include:

not regularly drinking more than 14 units of alcohol a week
if you drink as much as 14 units a week, it’s best to spread this evenly over three or more days
if you’re trying to reduce the amount of alcohol you drink, it’s a good idea to have several alcohol-free days each week

The guidelines add, “Regular or frequent drinking means drinking alcohol most weeks. The risk to your health is increased by drinking any amount of alcohol on a regular basis”.

You can calculate how many units of alcohol are in a variety of different drinks using the Drink Aware unit calculator here.

And if you’re worried about alcohol, or the relationship someone close to you has with it, you can find out more information from the NHS here.

The 4 signs you could be a functioning alcoholic, according to a doctor