Originally Posted by
Carlygirl 
Here goes. I don't think of myself as an alcoholic. I do think I have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol. I think of an alcoholic as a person who gets physical withdrawal symptoms when they don't drink.
I have not experiencied financial, work, relationship or legal problems because of drink. I know i could insert the word YET here. However, alcohol impairs my quality of life and I have many, many reasons not to drink (I wrote down over 60 of them ). I think about alcohol a great deal and before I stopped on 21 June, I drank every evening.
Basically, I am having difficulty believing I will never drink again and I think the main reason for this is that I don't think I am an alcoholic.
I envisage scenarios in the future, such as only drinking socially, only on holiday, only with friends etc.
I have tried and failed to moderate my drinking time and again......Never in the house, only at weekends, never alone, no more than two bottles wine a week, no more than half a bottle a night and so on. Despite this, and a fair length of time due to pregnancy and breast feeding where my alcohol intake was minimal, here I am back to knocking back 50-70 units a week ( til two weeks ago).
What are others views about 'defining' the problem and how this influences how it is viewed and approached?
You arent quite to the level where sobriety will work, in my opinion. For recovery to work, you have to dig deep and be as honest as you can with yourself. It can be unnerving and uncomfortable, but its the only way. Your definition of what is an alcoholic is not exactly right. If booze is something causing you problems or is something that takes up a lot of your time and energy...........then you are an alcoholic. Drinking every night? Alcoholic. There is no shame in admitting it, but its the first step to solving this problem and getting your life back.