Homer and Marge prepare to retire for the evening. Homer: ...so they say I might have a problem. [finishes brushing his teeth, and polishes off a bottle of that wonderful Duff] Marge: [reading from a pamphlet entitled, "Is Your Spouse a Souse?"] Homey, do you ever drink alone? Homer: Does the Lord count as a person? Marge: No. Homer: Then yes. Marge: Do you need a beer to fall asleep? Homer: Thank you, that'd be nice. Marge: Do you ever hide beer around the house? Homer: Do I ever! [fetches a beer from its hiding place in the toilet tank, and takes a swig] Ahhhh. Marge: Do you ever drink to escape from reality. Homer: [looks in the mirror and imagines himself as a big muscular guy] [to "Can-Can"] Duhh, duh duh duh duh duuh duuh, duh duh duh duh duuh duuh, duh duh duh duh duh, duh duh duh duh... Marge: Homey, I'd like you to do something for me. Homer: You name it. Marge: I want you to give up beer for a month. Homer: You got it. No deer for a month. Marge: Did you say beer, or deer? Homer: .... Deer. Marge: Please, Homey, I know you can do this. Homer: All right, starting tomorrow no beer for a month. [puts the light out. We can hear the sound of a can popping open] Marge: What was that noise? Homer: I was saying, "Psssst, I love you."
When you wake up with a wine bottle in your hand everyday... Kidding aside, alcoholism isn't pretty...my dad dealt with it and he finally quit almost two years ago and he hasn't had a drink ever since. His reason of quitting is that he didn't want to die early from liver problems. His doctor told him he would die if he didn't stop. He always drank beer every single day and would hide them from my mom...I would catch him sitting in the truck at our corner store and drinking whenever I passed by. We tried to tell him to stop but he never listened. I guess he finally got the wake-up call. I'm glad he stopped drinking because he's much healthier now and skinny too! Fortunately, I never had an alcoholism problem. I don't need to drink. I can go weeks without a drink. I drank more when I was in college than now. So yea, if you drink everyday and hide them from your family then you got a problem.
I don't think frequency is a good barometer. Alcoholics can be dry for years and still be alcoholics. I think scope is the best barometer. As someone else alluded to earlier, can you stop at two drinks. It seems a defining characteristic of the an alcoholic is the inability to stop once they've had a drink. They might go two weeks without a drink, but then once they have one they drink until they're rocked. I think this also provides a brightline between someone who drinks socially often, and someone who drinks to the redline whenever they drink (aka an alcoholic).
What about the folks who are completely responsible with their liquor, but they have to drink everytime they go out. What about them?
CAGE pneumonic: at least 2/4 yes = problem C: Have you ever felt you should Cut down on your drinking? A: Have people Annoyed you by criticizing your drinking? G: Have you ever felt bad or Guilty about your drinking? E: Have you ever had a drink first thing in the morning (an "Eye opener") to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover?
“So don’t you see Alcohol as one of the disgusting things that separates the civilized man from the savage?” Jimbo laughed at the subtle supposition, the doctor swirling his martini bothered him a bit, “On the contrary doctor, I would like to believe that the drinking man shows commitment. We’ve come along way from the stability of the 15 years after 1990, all the peacetime psychoanalyzing and non diverted minds feeling the emptiness of materialism, I happen to think with the shifting of times the drinking man understands what he has to do to keep drinking and do what he needs to get done. At one point in his life it comes to a head, an inevitable crossroads, where the mans drinking affects his life, and he either quits and deals with that completely, or he just works a little harder to make the relationship work, the people in the aa meetings and filling up insurance monopoly money were pathetic virile creatures, popping moi inhibitors, doubting themselves, doubting everything, and so angry…at least you can thank god for coming down and cleaning up all that mess, for christs sake man they failed to handle their own head, ****, they couldn’t even handle alcohol, what would our forefathers think of that?”
If you do not currently experience withdrawals, but lack self-control over your drinking behavior, you have a "drinking problem." Continued lack of self-control over your drinking behavior will ultimately lead to physical dependence. Then you're an alcoholic. Then it is a b****. Much like a heroin junkie, a true alcoholic will experience withdrawal symptoms if they do not have a drink. There is no choice. The detox and withdrawal period is not a pleasant sight. Google delirium tremens. I do not agree with the concept that it is a disease, but the disease concept arises from the fact that it is a progressive debilitation. I watched my dad drink himself to death. Over a twenty year period. At some undefined point he could not stop. He tried. He couldn't. He died. If you can't control it or quit it for yourself; do it for your family.
That's a myth. A hangover is a result of dehydration and lack of nutrients. The best hangover cure is lots of water, and nutrient rich foods/liquids.
