A social drinker doesnt care whether they drink or not. My wife is a normal drinker and it is of no consequence if she doesnt have a drink. she enjoys a glass of wine sometimes and occasionally may have one too many. But she can can also go weeks or even months without alcohol without giving it a second throught. It is just not an issue to her and if she was told she could never drink again it would be about as upsetting to her as it would for me and you being told we could never drink apple juice again. No big deal.
Therefore, to drink like a social drinker as these people suggest should mean never thinking about it and abstaining with ease for indeterminate peiods of time. Clearly they have failed on both fronts here. the fact that they are even taking time to label themselves as normal drinkers in my opinion points to an abnormal relationship with alcohol. I think what they are doing is drinking LIKE a social drinker which is wholly different to BEING one. I dont feel the need to write a book explaining how I am able to drink coffee like a normal person. I just can and until now I have never really thought about it.
I believe it is possible for an alcoholic to create an illusion of controlled drinking even for quite long periods of time. but it takes a huge amount of efffort and anyone who has tried knows that drinking totally dominates your throughts and eventually it all falls apart. The closest thing an alcoholic can ever be to a normal social drinker is never drinking at all because thats the way most normal drinkers are most of the time anyway!