Originally Posted by
jamdls 
I always felt a negative connotation to the term "alcoholic", saying that I'm an alcoholic made me feel bad and it was as if I had no control over it and I didn't want to feel bad nor powerless. By changing my words to "I don't drink" I changed my thought process and this empowered me that it is my choice to not drink.
The term "alcoholic" is basically an AA term. The DSM doesn't have a diagnosis of "alcoholic" and the medical diagnosis is alcohol dependent. I received no medical diagnosis of "alcoholic" and I choose not to give that label to myself. I had self-defeating behaviors and a destructive relationship with alcohol, but that is in the past. I am learning from my past mistakes, I have put my self-defeating behaviors behind me and I no longer have a relationship with alcohol, destructive or otherwise. I believe that the negative self labeling keeps many trapped in a cycle of self-defeating behaviors.