What type of problem drinker are you?
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 86
What type of problem drinker are you?
Can you pinpoint the motivation for you to drink and what your triggers are?
Around 2008 there were 9 types of problem drinkers identified by research according to patterns and principle motivations for drinking. Here are a few links that make references.
BBC NEWS | Health | Drinkers fall into 'nine groups'
The Different Types of Problem Drinking | Alcoholism Treatment California
The types of drinkers are;
(note; some of these have had some of my interpretations added beyond what's cited in the above links)
Depressed drinkers; where alcohol takes on the role of comforter, confidant. A form of drinking alone or 'self-medication'
De-stress drinkers; mostly professional people who drink after work, usually daily. Again, usually done alone.
Re-bonding drinkers; where drinking is the shared activity for socialising
Conformist drinkers; men who drink largely to fit in, or because it's seen as what men are supposed to do.
Community drinker; drinks largely because the drinking provides a sense of safety and community
Boredom drinker; people with restricted social lives, although it cites single mums and recent divorcees, I'd argue anyone with a restricted social life who drinks mainly to fill a gap is in this category. Another form of 'self medication' done alone.
Macho drinker; drinks mainly because it helps them assert themselves and (citing the below link) helps them feel better about themselves or see themselves differently.
Hedonistic drinker; single men who are divorced who live the party lifestyle, who see drinking and hedonism as a way to embrace their freedom.
Borederline dependent; someone who typically drinks in a pub alone for a variety of reasons already cited; for comfort, out of boredom, or to escape from their home and family life.
Also, I think that the motivations for drinking identified in this document correlate well with the above, scroll down to 'session 3';
https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publicati...ries3/core.htm
Conclusion
I also think it's important, particularly for discussion, to understand that not all problem drinkers are the same and that one must not jump to conclusions about people or why they started drinking, or what their most difficult triggers are. I think that Identifying specific patterns should be done much, much more, and that interventions should be tailored to the specific patterns and motivations identified. Note; some people will be in more than one category or pattern.
For me, my most problematic drinking most certainly is 'boredom drinking'. With reference to 'boredom drinking' scroll down to 'to stave off boredom and loneliness' in this article
https://www.elementsbehavioralhealth...ost-alcoholic/
One thing is clear from all these links, that these situations are recognised. I think that the current way these problematic drinking patterns is tackled is not up to standard.
Around 2008 there were 9 types of problem drinkers identified by research according to patterns and principle motivations for drinking. Here are a few links that make references.
BBC NEWS | Health | Drinkers fall into 'nine groups'
The Different Types of Problem Drinking | Alcoholism Treatment California
The types of drinkers are;
(note; some of these have had some of my interpretations added beyond what's cited in the above links)
Depressed drinkers; where alcohol takes on the role of comforter, confidant. A form of drinking alone or 'self-medication'
De-stress drinkers; mostly professional people who drink after work, usually daily. Again, usually done alone.
Re-bonding drinkers; where drinking is the shared activity for socialising
Conformist drinkers; men who drink largely to fit in, or because it's seen as what men are supposed to do.
Community drinker; drinks largely because the drinking provides a sense of safety and community
Boredom drinker; people with restricted social lives, although it cites single mums and recent divorcees, I'd argue anyone with a restricted social life who drinks mainly to fill a gap is in this category. Another form of 'self medication' done alone.
Macho drinker; drinks mainly because it helps them assert themselves and (citing the below link) helps them feel better about themselves or see themselves differently.
Hedonistic drinker; single men who are divorced who live the party lifestyle, who see drinking and hedonism as a way to embrace their freedom.
Borederline dependent; someone who typically drinks in a pub alone for a variety of reasons already cited; for comfort, out of boredom, or to escape from their home and family life.
Also, I think that the motivations for drinking identified in this document correlate well with the above, scroll down to 'session 3';
https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publicati...ries3/core.htm
Conclusion
I also think it's important, particularly for discussion, to understand that not all problem drinkers are the same and that one must not jump to conclusions about people or why they started drinking, or what their most difficult triggers are. I think that Identifying specific patterns should be done much, much more, and that interventions should be tailored to the specific patterns and motivations identified. Note; some people will be in more than one category or pattern.
For me, my most problematic drinking most certainly is 'boredom drinking'. With reference to 'boredom drinking' scroll down to 'to stave off boredom and loneliness' in this article
https://www.elementsbehavioralhealth...ost-alcoholic/
One thing is clear from all these links, that these situations are recognised. I think that the current way these problematic drinking patterns is tackled is not up to standard.
quat
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: terra (mostly)firma
Posts: 4,822
There is one type of problem drinker or as many as there are problem drinkers.
Quitting solves all the problems of problem drinking and even just the one.
The standard needs to be quitting, not stopping and hoping for the best.
Quitting solves all the problems of problem drinking and even just the one.
The standard needs to be quitting, not stopping and hoping for the best.
voices ca**y
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: St. Paul Minnesota
Posts: 4,350
The closet I can come on that list would be hedonistic. I drank because that's just the way it was. It started out as social and a way to reward myself but at some point I lost control. I think I blew a pathway open in my brain because I still have the same problem with sugar. I used to be able to control that and I can't anymore.
Soberado
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Cleveland Ohio-ish
Posts: 395
I drank because I liked the buzz, the faster I could get in the zone the better. But after drinking for years and at different stages, I would be able to loosely fit into most of those categories one time or another.
12 Step Recovered Alcoholic
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 6,613
I didn't see the insane drinker on the list. That was me, the real alcoholic who drank because he couldnt not drink, even though it was completely insane to do so. Triggers didnt come into it.
Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: canada
Posts: 7,242
hi vulcan,
i'm not any type of problem drinker. i don't drink, you see.
in addition to that, i'm a sober alcoholic.
anyway, i remeber you have another thread here on SR about drinking patterns, and you described yours in detail.
so i'm thinking that patterns and types seem important to you, and having a quitting method tailored to whatever the pattern is makes sense to you?
and maybe it does, and for sure there are different things to relive boredom from those needed to deal with depression, but in order to quit drinking one needs to stop drinking.
patternschmattern...if you want to quit drinking and stay quit, you need to stop drinking!
if you want to quit drinking and stay quit, you need to put the energy into the way forward instead of analyzing your pattern of drinking.
if you want to quit drinking and stay quit, there are ways to go about that.
do you want to quit drinking and stay quit?
i'm not any type of problem drinker. i don't drink, you see.
in addition to that, i'm a sober alcoholic.
anyway, i remeber you have another thread here on SR about drinking patterns, and you described yours in detail.
so i'm thinking that patterns and types seem important to you, and having a quitting method tailored to whatever the pattern is makes sense to you?
and maybe it does, and for sure there are different things to relive boredom from those needed to deal with depression, but in order to quit drinking one needs to stop drinking.
patternschmattern...if you want to quit drinking and stay quit, you need to stop drinking!
if you want to quit drinking and stay quit, you need to put the energy into the way forward instead of analyzing your pattern of drinking.
if you want to quit drinking and stay quit, there are ways to go about that.
do you want to quit drinking and stay quit?
Member
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 2,775
Never could enjoy a few drinks like many can. Once I took that first drink that was it. I wanted another.
Weak-willed? Heredity? Disease or just plain f-up?
Who really knows? I'll cop to all four but the reason doesn't matter.
All I know is my life is much simpler if I avoid that first drink.
Weak-willed? Heredity? Disease or just plain f-up?
Who really knows? I'll cop to all four but the reason doesn't matter.
All I know is my life is much simpler if I avoid that first drink.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 2,775
My drinking history is a bit different . I drank during my late teens but this wasn't a particularly happy time for me. O.k. I get that.
However, when I turned 22 my life was never better.
I was the happiest I'd ever been. It was all good.
Unfortunately, it was around this time my drinking began causing problems. There were comments made by friends and trouble at work.
Fast forward to age 35 and I had taken a wrong turn somewhere.
My drinking was out of control and I was a mess.
However, when I turned 22 my life was never better.
I was the happiest I'd ever been. It was all good.
Unfortunately, it was around this time my drinking began causing problems. There were comments made by friends and trouble at work.
Fast forward to age 35 and I had taken a wrong turn somewhere.
My drinking was out of control and I was a mess.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 11
I didn't fit neatly into any of those boxes. My boozing seemed to find a variety of excuses. I can't even remember what got me started. Drinking at home alone was my primary way, distressing after work or any stress, or any reason. I drank when happy, i drank when stressed. I used to enjoy it that's what was really scary, also when away from home, the hedonism side was scarily attractive. Of all the things I used to not look forward to going for a "quiet few" with my "normal" mates as boozing was something I liked to do alone and they all were far too restrained and I didn't like spending an evening hearing them say things like "not as young as we used to be, don't want to go mad tonight, work tomorrow" (we're only in our 30s not 80s btw :-)). I was nervous in them scenarios as knew I stood out as being the one restraining myself and felt a bit of a fraud and shameful. I think if my boozeles fitted into a neat box id have more of a handle on how to go about addressing it, but because it's so vague that's the problem.
Boxes and categories don't work for me and any time I've read things like that I feel alienated by the "expert" who wrote the original research.
Boxes and categories don't work for me and any time I've read things like that I feel alienated by the "expert" who wrote the original research.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 145
I don't know why I found this post amusing. Guess I just pictured some random research person interviewing a bunch of drunks, asking them why they drank, and getting paid to do that. The conversations must have been stimulating.
Member
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 82
I know exactly why I unravelled and it was stress. I'd been keeping a lid on my PTSD for a long time but the last straw was my marriage failing. I couldn't take any more and surrendered.
If there is an easily identifiable reason for drinking I think it makes sense to address that issue. If you can.
If there is an easily identifiable reason for drinking I think it makes sense to address that issue. If you can.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: New England
Posts: 3,805
Yeah, I pretty much qualify for almost every type listed. Don't we all? Lol.
If it helps you to identify the type then by all means do it, but for me it was simply identifying with alcoholism then going to whatever means to stop it (i.e. commitment).
If it helps you to identify the type then by all means do it, but for me it was simply identifying with alcoholism then going to whatever means to stop it (i.e. commitment).
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