Originally Posted by Eroica

I agree with gneiss and I don't think she was trying to be smart. Its common sense. Anyone who drinks enough will lose control because alcohol affects judgment. When you're drunk, its easier to say, "one more won't hurt."

If we bought Jim's definition, a person can declare himself an alkie after just a few drinking sessions. And someone who can stop at 5-6 drinks every night wouldnt be an alkie, because they didn't lose control, nevermind that six drinks everynight will cause problems.

Thats what I don't like about the word "alcoholic". I prefer talking in terms of how addicted or physically dependent the person is to their DOC, and the only reliable measure of how addicted someone is is by how often they drink and the severity of withdrawals.