Should there be a word for an 'almost alcoholic'?
 

Everybody thinks they know what an "alcoholic" is, but what about those who drink too much but fall short of the common definitions of alcoholism? Should there be a word that bridges the gap between alcoholic and non-alcoholic?

Article in the BBC today. BBC News - Should there be a word for an 'almost alcoholic'?

Heavy drinker? Hard drinker? Problem drinker? Labels don't really matter. If alcohol causes problems in a person's life, they are better off not drinking.

I don't think there should be labels for anyone. You must decide what you are and if your drinking worries you, whatever it's pattern, then you should do something to rectify it. xx

Oh man. There are just way too many journalists.

No,keep it simple,you are either an Alcoholic or not one.

Presumably the journalist was paid to write this rubbish!

There are labels for everything these days,pointless.

Actions speak louder than words.

Sadly in this day and age of heavy drinking people who would have been labeled alcoholics twenty years ago are now just party animals. Oh she/he loves a drink, every weekend, maybe in the week a few times but it's nothing major.

I'd say that this country, UK, has a huge alcohol problem. More than anyone would like to admit

And a shortage of news? :lmao

"Almost Alcoholic"

I suppose that would make you someone who can almost drink! As a weekend binge type drinker I initially struggled to identify myself as an "alcoholic". I have decided drinking became destructive to my life, and to have the life I want, I cannot drink at all. That's all that matters to me.

I think "problem drinker" fits the bill. A lot of people who won't go near the term "alcoholism" will readily admit they have a drinking problem.

Apprentice? LMAO

Or maybe people who lost almost everything due to their drinking.

Labels are a necessary evil, one that allows us to communicate more effectively. Without them, we'd be forced to describe any particular category of being by what it looks like, what it does, and how it came to be, and then comparing it to other categories that it does not match. Small talk would be elevated to a lifelong conversation. Categorizing data, inserting labels, and then applying them where necessary is the way the human mind works. It's a type of shorthand that our minds naturally use so as to avoid writing a dissertation about everything and everyone we confront in reality.

For example, the term/label 'recovery website' would become "a place on the Internet where people talk about their struggles with addictions in different forums, where each person can start his or her own thread based on their personal issues, and where other people could respond with help, support, their own struggles, and then the thread continues until no one responds after a certain indeterminate amount of time, and where some people are still active in their addictions and others are in some stage of recovery, where you can be a friend or family member of someone who's struggling with addictions, where you can find methods and places that will help you with your addictions, where people celebrate their sober time and others talk about their spouses, where most people choose an avatar and an ID so that people will know who they are..." and on and on. Ordering a meal at a restaurant would be an eternal nightmare for everyone involved.

I've never had an issue with labels. It matters little to me what labels people use to describe me, whether those labels are positive or otherwise. I get that some people are sensitive to being labeled and that there is a stigma attached to many of the labels we use. It simply isn't an important enough or useful enough issue for me to either worry over or argue, for or against.

In all my years in active addiction and recovery, the many years I've spent in psychotherapy, the detox and rehab I was in, the ER visits due to my drinking, not once was I rejected for health insurance or life insurance, put at high risk for any kind of insurance, rejected for work because of my past medical history or even had a hint that any of these data were available to anyone besides me and the proper individuals and facilities.

When I struggle, the thing is to act, not ruminate over labels, descriptions and categories that have acquired surplus meaning because someone on the planet might find them objectionable.

I like that: an alcoholic in training:lmao

Almost Alcoholic ?

There probably was a time before the "Almost",
"Not an; Almost Alcoholic, Yet".

Threshold!!! Gave me a laugh!!!!

I was in London about five years ago a day I was amazed that the pub was full of office workers on their lunch break throwing back as many pints as possible before heading back to the office. And I was told that was socially acceptable. So I guess the culture makes it hard to quit?

Yeah. I had just completed my training. The physical dependence was about to start setting in and my compulsion was about to turn into obsession. I actually agree with that article. I think almost alcoholic is not so much a type but a stage though. If it gets people to start thinking about how abusing is going to lead to the final stage of alcoholism it's good. If it gets people thinking there is a door 3 not so good.

what a strange article.... i was going into it thinking (sarcastically) MAYBE i am an almost alcoholic...!!!!:dance8: then i read "their definition" ... :rohno!: - dang it! alcoholic by their standards too.

edit/addition - i think this is pretty sketchy ground for a journalist or anyone to try and tackle... and i dont know why anyone would try honestly ... but they did - i dont agree with a lot of the article's assumptions etc , but imagine there are cases ... i also think for most it is a matter of time - and ever impending "yet" of doom - and by adding an Almost - they just add a little longer to suffering of anyone who thinks they may be an alcoholic .. no one WANTS to be an alcoholic. No one wants to be the drunk. we all want to think well maybe we are ALMOST alcoholics.

Since I got sober a few years ago and because I have never made any effort to hide the fact that I am an alcoholic and that I attend AA many "civilians" have asked if they or someone they know "is an alcoholic?" In the beginning I shied away from answering simply saying it was not my place to sit in judgment. However that usually didn't satisfy the inquirer so I finally started answering with this simple response.

"If alcohol is interfering in your life and causing you problems, then you have an alcohol problem by definition." I then go on to offer this analogy. "If you have fallen off a cliff, but haven't yet hit the ground I don't think you have to call yourself dead as you are falling, however if you don't stop the fall that term will very likely apply in the future."

This response usually brings a smile and seems much easier for people to accept and I do believe sometimes to feel less threatened and somewhat more willing to look into getting help. A pejorative label like alcoholic puts us on the defensive when we know, even if not willing to admit it, we do have a problem. It seems that many folks just want to be anything besides what they suspect or in many cases already know they are.

Jon

Well said Jon...