does frequent binge drinking constitute alcoholism?
learning to walk
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Lexington, KY
Posts: 39
does frequent binge drinking constitute alcoholism?
just wondering.
i no longer do either, but i've both drank constantly and drank to the max several times a week in the past..... and i have friends that get drunk more nights than not, to the point of getting sick and passing out, yet they don't sneak drinks or anything like that. one of them identifies himself as an alcoholic and says he needs alcohol to survive, but he's never lost his job because of it .... and doesn't seem to want to stop. he thinks it's funny, actually.
i just can't seem to find a whole lot of definitive info on the web about it... maybe somebody knows where some info is on it???
anyway, thanks in advance!!
i no longer do either, but i've both drank constantly and drank to the max several times a week in the past..... and i have friends that get drunk more nights than not, to the point of getting sick and passing out, yet they don't sneak drinks or anything like that. one of them identifies himself as an alcoholic and says he needs alcohol to survive, but he's never lost his job because of it .... and doesn't seem to want to stop. he thinks it's funny, actually.
i just can't seem to find a whole lot of definitive info on the web about it... maybe somebody knows where some info is on it???
anyway, thanks in advance!!
Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: The Field of Dreams
Posts: 7,249
I believe very simply an alcoholic is someone who cannot control their drinking.I also believe drinking to the point of passing out and getting sick is loss of control.As for your friend,if and when he has had enough maybe he will seek recovery,
Grateful recovering alcoholic
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Blissfield, MI
Posts: 814
According to what I have learned in AA and the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous; it doesn't matter how much you drink, doesn't matter what you drink, doesn't matter how frequently you drink. It's what happens to you after you take the FIRST drink. By taking the first drink you set off the phenomena of craving. After taking the first drink I can not guarantee what I will do, how much I will drink, or how I will behave. Everyone is different and no one is privelaged enough to call someone else an alcoholic. It is that person's responsibility to DECIDE whether they are alcoholic or not. The other component of alcohol is the obsession of the mind. This does and can occur whether alcohol is in the body. Alcoholism is a disease and can be fatal, just like cancer and diabetes. The difference is alcoholics tend to want to deny that they are alcoholic, that they need help, and that they need to stop drinking.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Jasper, GA
Posts: 239
Not only CAN be fatal...
...but IS.
Medically, alcoholism is defined as a chronic, progressive, fatal disease that can be arrested but not cured.
Chronic- permanant, incurable, always and forever.
Progressive- it can only get worse, never better.
Fatal- it WILL kill you
But, it can be arrested, though not reversed.
BubbaBob
Medically, alcoholism is defined as a chronic, progressive, fatal disease that can be arrested but not cured.
Chronic- permanant, incurable, always and forever.
Progressive- it can only get worse, never better.
Fatal- it WILL kill you
But, it can be arrested, though not reversed.
BubbaBob
Choosing Life
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: London
Posts: 889
ditto to all the above.
My experience (I was/would be a binge drinker) was that as I could stop drinking for a few days, I wasn't alcoholic. That kept me drinking for years and in solid denial for years while everything else was falling down around me. There was always something else to blame, never the drink. On numerous occasions I would drink until I vomited, then immediately go back to the bar/bottle ....... now that is NOT normal
My experience (I was/would be a binge drinker) was that as I could stop drinking for a few days, I wasn't alcoholic. That kept me drinking for years and in solid denial for years while everything else was falling down around me. There was always something else to blame, never the drink. On numerous occasions I would drink until I vomited, then immediately go back to the bar/bottle ....... now that is NOT normal
Last edited by JaySee; 12-25-2004 at 06:53 AM.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: my own little world
Posts: 254
all i have on this is my own personal experience.
based on that, yeah, binge drinkers are alchy's too.
i had a very beautiful and intelligentgirlfriend when i was in college.
i was in recovey at the time.
she could stay sober for months, then, wham.
she would drink half gallons of vodka and eat klonopin like MnM's. when the money was gone she'd hit the mouthwash and whatever.
many times i got calls from some detox or emergency room in a place i had never heard of.
i would always go get her, of course. .
then, she started to get disoriented, couldn't go outside without getting lost, stuff like that.
the last time i saw her she didn't even know who i was. that was when the state took her. she had completely lost the ability to make choices for herself anymore. was she an alchy?
hell yeah.
based on that, yeah, binge drinkers are alchy's too.
i had a very beautiful and intelligentgirlfriend when i was in college.
i was in recovey at the time.
she could stay sober for months, then, wham.
she would drink half gallons of vodka and eat klonopin like MnM's. when the money was gone she'd hit the mouthwash and whatever.
many times i got calls from some detox or emergency room in a place i had never heard of.
i would always go get her, of course. .
then, she started to get disoriented, couldn't go outside without getting lost, stuff like that.
the last time i saw her she didn't even know who i was. that was when the state took her. she had completely lost the ability to make choices for herself anymore. was she an alchy?
hell yeah.
learning to walk
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Lexington, KY
Posts: 39
thanks to everyone who responded. i guess i was just confused because binge drinking is socially acceptable while hiding bottles and staying slightly buzzed all day is not, and i think i confused what is socially acceptable with what is healthy.
but the end result IS definitely the same-- my grandparents lost their two best friends to the effects of "social drinking."
i guess there is not much you can do for people who don't want to quit. this makes me really sad, because i have friends who are so talented just throwing their lives away and wasting time getting drunk all the time, and everybody laughs about it and thinks it's cute. but i guess that's just the way it is.
well, anyway ... thanks to all.
and merry christmas!!
but the end result IS definitely the same-- my grandparents lost their two best friends to the effects of "social drinking."
i guess there is not much you can do for people who don't want to quit. this makes me really sad, because i have friends who are so talented just throwing their lives away and wasting time getting drunk all the time, and everybody laughs about it and thinks it's cute. but i guess that's just the way it is.
well, anyway ... thanks to all.
and merry christmas!!
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
