what makes you an alcoholic? What is that line that you have to cross that makes you go from just a drinker to an alcoholic?
Everybody is an alcoholic, as Homer Simpson put it: "Alcohol, the solution to, and cause of, all of life's little problems" When you start to use alcohol to deaden feelings inside you, that is the point in which you are defined as an alcohol. Essentially using it as a defense barrier is alcoholism...
Pretty much. If you are wondering if you drink too much, then you probably do. Some people have a glass of wine daily, a beer, a mixed drink, etc. and are fine. But I think if you are getting hammered daily, can't just have a "couple of drinks" and alcohol is getting in the way of your daily life, you have a problem. I have a couple of friends like that. I rarely hang out with them because they have to get lit whenever they go out.
Drinking to make you feel better; Making decisions while drinking (driving); Having a constant need for the next drink; and of course, asking your primary question. This is just my opinion. I hope you seek help if you think you are man.
It's cultural as well -- 2-3 drinks a night in France is standard, but here in the US that will put you in a treatment center.
My mother told me -- when I said my Dad was an alcoholic -- that he was not; he had proved it by going dry for 3 weeks. I found that explanation... inadequate.
If ALCOHOL interferes with your life, you're an alcoholic. Well, at least if it interferes badly. Let's say I don't want to spend $5 to get my daughters some clothes, but I do want to buy a $5 small bottle of liquor. Well now they didn't get what they needed, so alcohol interfered. This is what I mean. That's not the entire way to tell, though. I think it plays a big part.
If it concerns you, go to an AA meeting in your area and find out for yourself. Most of the people here have no clue what they're talking about in this area. Many drink alcoholically but will deny it up and down.
FWIW (not implying anything to, or of, you swilkins... just to clarify in general to help)- I knew I had the potential to be an alcoholic (and by many definitions.... am one) at the age of 21. -Although I believe there is freedom from definitions, any person can fall from grace given the right set of tools/circumstances/surrounding (you get the point). I waited until then to ever even try a beer. Soon after, my mom passed. I went straight past go and collected the "200 dollars" that was hard liquor. Meaning: I skipped beer and never looked back. 4 months of craving the "burn" was enough. I a)wised up, b)got sober, c)got saved... d)whatever you wish to say, but I've never hit the stuff again. I will admit to still craving it now and again, but I've got way too many depending on me to go that route. I like Swoly's definition fwiw... and every time I feel froggy, I remember my wife, kids, church, etc., and don't jump. I got to the point, after about 3 short months of hard stuff, that I was asking myself the same question as the OP. hat's usually a "all indications point to yes" moment. Self awareness is a blessing. Run with it. I hope no one took my first post in this thread as a snide remark... I was in a hurry.
Oh hell no. I hate when people try to say alcoholism is a disease. Such a cop out. If that was the case, my p*rn and weed disease has been really flaring up lately.
When you tell yourself that you'll knock back a few tonight, because you've had such a bad/good day, and pretend that it's something unusual for you. Then you do it the next night, and the next, and the the nights after that. The clincher is having "the hair of the dog" in the morning. I've known more than one friend who fell into doing that. One is dead because of it, and there are at least two broken marriages that were happy ones, until they fell into this trap. Thankfully, never a problem for me. I have different desires if I'm feeling down, anyway.
Try this: 1. Drink two drinks, and only two, of your favorite alcoholic beverage, then stop. 2. Repeat this process, drinking only two drinks a day, for an entire month. 3. Do not 'save up' by skipping two drinks one day and having four the next. If you can honestly drink two and only two drinks a day for a month, chances are you do not have a drinking problem. If you find that you cannot keep up the regime, and drink more than two, you may be an alcoholic or be alcohol dependent. I found this at about.com and I've seen similar postings elsewhere on the net. Personally, I feel that if you feel like you need a drink, you are, at some level, an alcoholic. I have a drink about once every 6 months and I never feel like I need a drink,
I've had that problem too as of late. I'm not sure what defines an alcoholic. I'd like to think that its someone who just doesn't have the control to either not drink or know when to stop. They say you can be an alcoholic and rarely drink. Its just that when you do, you go overboard. As for a the disease aspect, I don't know about that either. I guess I'd need to read more about adopted kids whose biological parents were alcoholics and whose adopted parents didn't drink. I'll look into it more, but until then I don't really agree with the disease thing.
drinking almost every day not drinking in moderation when you "need" a drink daily when you can't go weeks/months without getting drunk there are lots more
One of my friends liked to sit around and drink by himself (either literally by himself in his room while watching tv, or while with another friend or two but he'd be the only one drinking) to the point of intoxication, i.e. he wanted to get drunk just to be drunk. Around this time he would also consistently drink the the point of memory black outs when we went out as a group. I considered him to have, at minimum, alcoholic tendencies during this time.
