Originally Posted by
armaviva 
im confused about what makes a person an abuser or a dependent... does dependency mean alcoholism? if it's hard to be around alcohol and not be tempted to drink does that make you dependent?
This is tough to anser because I am one of thoise alcoholics that had to go a long time drinking before I actually knew I was an alcoholic. For a long time I knew I drank too much(abused) but the last 2-3 years were just obsessive.
My best advice would be to see how well you can control your drinking. If you can't go periods of time without a drink then you are depending on it to fix something in your life and that's addiction IMO.
Chances are you think you might have a problem or you wouldn't be here, right? So, see how long you can go without a drink starting tomorrow. And, when you drink, see if you can just drink 1-2 that night. If you are unsuccessful both times and you really were trying, you might want to see a counselor, or, better yet, go to an open AA meeting and just listen. If you here your story being told, keep going back and talk to someone there.
