Just an added note. I have a former colleague who, I don't know if he is an alcoholic or not, I'm not a doctor, certainly abuses substances on a regular basis that cause all sorts of detriments to his life.
Of course, he never calls himself an alcoholic, but he also refuses, on principle to call ANYONE else one either, no matter how obvious it is. In fact, some of the people he refers to as "binge drinkers" even refer to themselves as active alcoholics. But he just can't bring himself to say the word. That is a very interesting form of denial from my observation.