mattyo123

Hey all,
This is my first post on this forum. I'll be 23 in November, I just graduated from college in May. As many of you know, drinking reaches pretty absurd levels in college. Being back home has made me rethink my drinking patterns. I think that the amount I drank at school was quite normal, but the way people drank at school in general was very unhealthy, if that makes sense. I'll give you a little background regarding my personal history with alcohol.

I didn't drink until senior year of high school/freshman year of college. I was drawn to drinking because I was shy and insecure in high school, and alcohol helped me to open up. I now realize that starting my relationship with alcohol in that way was not healthy. At the time, I didn't think much of it, though, because I just wanted to have fun. And I had a lot of fun. The main thing I noticed about drinking was that it made talking to girls a whole lot easier (something that had frustrated me to no end throughout all of high school).

Since that time, I have become much more social and comfortable with myself when sober. I don't need alcohol to talk to people I don't know. I still feed the need, though, to drink more to become more social. The main problem I have with alcohol is that I tend to black out if I let my drinking go unchecked on nights when I go out with friends. I tend to only drink when going out with friends--I have never gotten drunk alone. For the past month, I've been job at home, for example, and I haven't gotten drunk in that entire month. I hardly ever have gotten sick from drinking too much, nor have I ended up in the hospital, passed out, hurt myself or anyone else, or anything like that. I just end up blacking out, which I don't like. I'll add that a month ago, I accidentally knocked over a picture frame while drunk, that's the most intense thing that's ever happened.

So here are some questions:
1) I am considering seeing a counselor to talk about my drinking. Do you think it makes sense to?
2) From what I can gather, I think that I abuse alcohol, not that I am an alcoholic. Do you agree?
3) Do you think I should completely abstain from drinking, or that I should be able to get my drinking under control? If I see a counselor, will they tell me I need to be sober, or that I could gain control over my habits?

Thanks! Let me know if you want more info from me.