Originally Posted by
Got2Stop 
SoberRightNow and Anna:
Thank you both for your replies. My very first post on here was in regards to the degree of alcoholic that I am. The fact is that I do drink excessively on weekends when I'm by myself. In the company of others, I can limit myself to a drink or two. It's frustrating because I don't want my "drink or two" on social nights to interfere with my bigger problem (drinking 750ml 2-3 nights a week). I acknowledge that the mass quantity I drink alone is very unhealthy and has caused a lot of problems with my friends, family, and otherwise but I'm honestly not sure how to proceed moving forward.
A part of me recognizes what both of you have said about abstinence, but that's the toughest trend to break as I've been a "social drinker" for almost half my life prior to doing a cannon ball into a bottle for awhile. If abstinence is required, then I'm still an alcoholic due to my 4 drinks tonight. It does pose an interesting question though in regards to "acceptable" drinking limits. If the people around me are drinking as much or more than I'm drinking, what should I label myself as???
Again, please keep in mind that I'm new to this site and am a recent but (hopefully) recovering "alcoholic". I might be confused as to what qualifies "alcoholic" vs "average joe" especially on a night like tonight where I drank less than everybody at the party. Not sure. I've trashed weeks of my life and sabotaged a lot of relationships because of this problem, but some people say I'm not an alcoholic while others do. It's frustrating but it's STILL a problem because I have had weeks where I was drunk for half the week.
Your drinking sounds very similiar to how I used to drink. When by myself, I could polish off a fifth of whisky, but when out with friends I had few problems limiting myself to 3-4 drinks over the evening. You are the only one who can decide if you have a problem and what the extent of the problem is. Once you figure that out, you have to decide what to do about it.
For me, I found that if I continued to allow myself to drink "socially" with friends, I would eventually end up "giving myself permission" to get hammered by myself. My rational was that I could drink "normally", as shown by my ability to "control" my drinking with friends, so it wouldn't matter if I caught a buzz at home by myself. For whatever reason, when drinking alone, I almost always end up drinking way too much. For this reason I decided that, for me, it was best not to drink at all. I still go out with friends occassionally and just say that I am not drinking because of the medication that I take, which is true. Nobody is really bothered by that, and I sure don't miss the hangovers. Hope this helps. Take care.