Twenty

When I think of an alcoholic, I think of someone who drinks every day, when he/she wakes up, etc. I don't do this, and I know of no family members with a drinking problem. What I do do is black out for long periods of time nearly every weekend when I go out and sometimes engage in extremely embarassing behavior, have to make apologies the next day, etc. My friends all drink a fair amount, but none on my level. And I know I am drinking to escape certain self-image issues I have. My question is at what point do you go from just being a weekend partier to actually having an alcohol issue? Thanks in advance.

barb dwyer

The easiest way - try to stop.

Something to think about -
'normal' drinkers ... don't ask how to know.
"Normal drinkers ... aren't drinking every weekend.
Just occasionally.
Meaning - at occasions.

spittake

Alcoholism is progressive. You don't have to be at an advanced stage of alcoholism to have problems because of your drinking.
Case in point. If you are unable to sufficiently control your alcohol consumption in order to avoid these things, that might be considered problematic for you.
It's not too difficult to determine whether there's a problem. Is your alcohol consumption creating issues for you? Then you have an alcohol issue.

The appropriate response can range from self-imposed drinking limits to intensive medical treatment. Appropriate is the operative term. It all depends on the severity of the problem.

I find it best to look at a situation like this practically. What is the problem, and how do I solve it? Perfectly sensible.

Dee74

Hi Twenty

I think it's easy to get caught up in labels - if your drinking causes you problems, it's best to try and do something about it now before it gets worse, cos it usually does.

It's easy to lose ourselves in comparisons too - I could always find someone 'worse' than me...that didn't do me any good in facing my own problems....

but I realised when I got here that most of us search out a recovery site, so that may or may not be a small signpost for you too.

Welcome to SR
D

Wolfchild

Welcome to the Sober Recovery community.

SelfSeeking

I knew people who went through phases where they were drinking every weekend, or several times a week, or an extreme amount. They may have done something (or someone!) really stupid; gotten a hangover from hell and had to call out sick; or just felt exhausted. One weekend they would say, Nah, I don't wanna go out. Lets just see the movie, then I'm going to bed. And they'd call it quits for a while or cut way back. These people that I know, they did not become alcoholics. Getting trashed was fun, then it wasn't, so they stopped getting trashed!

Blacking out is really unsafe, for several obvious reasons, so whether or not you're an alcoholic, sounds like it may be time to reassess your drinking. Welcome to SR.

Sikkisirus

If booze is causing somebody a problem everytime they drink then booze is more than likely the problem. I find removing the root cause of the problem a great help. Its like me with fast food, Id eat it all day every day but that would give me a heart attack so I don't go near burger places. Too many people think its the actual stopping of their bad habits that is key to recovery but its not. They key to STAYING quit is REALISING and KNOWING your problem. All the best.

Dee74

OK...I meant I realised when I got here that most of us DON'T search out a recovery site...



D

Charmie

hello and welcome to sr.for me it wasnt about how much i drank it was what it did to me.when i took that first drink,that was it,,,i changed.its great you are addressing this and like someone said,,just try stopping for a while.only you can decide if you are alcoholic or not.someone once said in a meeting if alcohol is costing you more than money then maybe its time to quit.

navysteve

Try some controlled drinking. If you can ALWAYS stop when you want, then you may not have a problem (yet). You may never have a problem, you may just be going through a phase. You may just be using alcohol to deal with another problem altogether. Many people do. The Big Book of AA has some good stuff in the Doctors opinion about who has an alcohol problem. Alot of the stuff you will hear from people is "Only an alcoholic would question if they have a drinking problem" Bull Pucky!
Not everyone who shows up at AA is an alcoholic, some folks do show up by mistake.

Now having said all that, your post does sound all too familiar as to how you drink. Here is a link to the Big Book:

The text of Alcoholics Anonymous

If you find that your drinking resembles the stuff described in this book then there are people who can help.

NEOMARXIST

There is an invisible line that when crossed there is NO returning back from. Some will binge-drink heavily every weekend for years and never cross it, whereas others will cross it.

I would say that you run the risk of crossing it as you are not in control as to how much you are drinking and thus blacking out, you are drinking away self-image issues and you say you are visibly drinking more than your peers. These are all big indicators that your drinking may progress to be alcoholic drinking as drinking to cover up self-image issues means that you are very vulnerable to becoming alcoholic as you will find that booze is becoming an emotional crutch for you without even realising it.

I too was a weekend partier and asked exactly the same questions as you. But I found that I was always much more hard-core than my peers and then when I mixed with some people who were more 'seasoned' ie- binging 24/7 over the whole weekend then that is where I picked up the habits of drinking to cure hangovers and to pick my 'low' mood up and thats when my drinking became 100% alcoholic.

Alcoholism is progressive and gets worse (I can vouch for that) and so if you are alcoholic (you have to 100% decide and then act upon that decision) otherwise you will be brought down like a sack of sh*t by alcohol mate TBH. That is the harsh reality of it mate.

Only you can decide.

CarolD

Welcome to SR and our Alcoholism Forum....

Please read this link for information about alcoholism
you will find Blackouts discussed there

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...influence.html

Good to see a new memeber seeking answers...

Freedom1990

My version of an alcoholic was the skidrow bum, drinking wine out of a brown paper bag. I was a 'weekend warrior' for a long time too.

The fact of the matter was in between binges, I was restless, irritable, and discontented. I was never comfortable in my own skin. The drinking was just a symptom of those deeper issues.

digderidoo

I was a weekend partier, problem with me is i can never stop at one. If i could party at the weekend and in the week when offered a drink be happy and content with one, then great. If i could put the cork back in the bottle of wine and leave half or tree quarters of it until another time then great, but i can't.

I never woke up and said that i'm going to become an alcoholic, but i did wake up one day and say that i have become an alcoholic.

Paul

Twenty

for the messages...quite interesting. My biggest issue is how easily I blackout from drinking. Back in college, it happened maybe a couple times max and now it happens nearly every weekend. I'll simply wake up on Sunday morning and have no memory of half the night. I'll have phone numbers in my phone and have no idea who they're for, receipts in my pockets for bars and food places that I have no memory of going to. I was in vegas this past weekend celebrating my 30th bday and had my first blacked out random hookup (or so I was told because I can't remember anything about it). I think one of my issues is that since I'm not in a relationship there's no other social life to have except for going with friends to bars. But I think I will see if I can be moderate

Boleo

1. Alcoholism is always progressive - Do you drink more now than this time last year?

2. Alcoholism always leads to loss of control - Do you sometimes find you drink more than you intended to?

3. Alcoholism typically has consequences - Do you sometimes get in trouble or find that you are ashamed of what you did while drinking?

4. Alcoholism sometimes includes blackouts - Do you sometimes have gaps in your memory about what you did while drinking?

kurtrambis

They way I look at it you have a problem, forget whether you are an alcoholic or not I don't think it's helpful as others have said. Medically speaking at the moment you don’t sound like you are but you are drinking dangerously and risk it getting worse and developing into full blown alcoholism

Bingeing at your level increases risk of depression, dementia, cancers (not just liver).

You will be developing increasing a level of tolerance not only to how much drink you need to get drunk but how drunk you like to get.

You recognise you are drinking more heavier than friends, a bad sign.

You sound similar to me and the others on this thread, like you there was no alcoholism history in my family, I was a heavy weekend drinker for years. Eventually I didn't address properly the issues that made drinking so desirable, I lived for weekend the excitement comfort and confidence that drink gave me.

In the end my weekend drinking meant getting to work on Monday got harder until often I couldn't make it. My binges got longer which meant to going to hospital for withdrawals.

I hope you get help, maybe see an understanding doctor. Try abstaining for a period and seek help in addressing your self image problem.

Please, please don’t do what I did and settle for a life where weekend drinking was everything, for me and many others it ended in hell and I am lucky to be alive.

kurtrambis

It you are thinking of trying moderation try this site.
Moderation Management
good luck and always keep a reality check on much you drink.

smacked

Remember that moderate drinking = 1 drink per day for women, 2 drinks per day for men (and not added all together in one day )

Not knowing your gender, lets just assume you're male. Try drinking 2 drinks every time you drink, and if you never want more and can stop at 2 with no problem, then no problem. If it's an issue, well.. there ya go.

My 'alcoholic' mind quickly thinks, 2 drinks? Why bother? But that's just me, and I know I had a problem, and though it was mostly only weekend binging too, it almost killed me.

shaun00

you black out for long periods.....most weekends....complete with embarasssing behavior....
and you ask at what point does it become an issue??.......how about NOW.
how about the problem is the elephant in the room.
i cant tell you whether your alcoholic......or problem drinker.

smacked has suggested limiting your drinks......sounds like a good idea.
stop for long periods...stop after 2 drinks.....see how you get on.
How do you feel when your NOT drinking?...

keep posting your results....