Its easy to look for reasons other than plain unvarnished alcoholism but I think thats at the bottom of everyone;s problem..
I have no doubt that you've come to feel that a few drinks makes things better on the dating scene.
The danger is getting to the point where it stops making things better, and starts making things worse - and then finding you're unable to stop.
It's been nine days since I jumped on this forum and I've drank twice. The other seven days, 1-2.5 glasses of wine. So I'm still drinking.
I call that drinking everyday.
You came to SR for a reason Darin - try and remember those reasons.