Ronin55

Hi everyone. I was wondering if there was a consensus of what makes a person an alcoholic. I think I might be but am not sure. Am very concerned though.

TIA

Mangoes

If you're concerned about your drinking, does the definition matter? Whose measuring stick are you looking to measure by? The medical field? Addiction workers? Society? A bunch of alcoholics? My family? The Diagnostic and Statistics Manual? Ask a group of any of people containing people of the above, and the consensus would be different depending on who that group contained. What is one person's problem drinker is another person's alcoholic.

If you're looking to be diagnosed with alcoholism, there are quizzes all over the interwebs.

Alcohol Abuse Self Test

All that being said, someone one told me "if you have to wonder if you're an alcoholic, you probably are".

If YOU think your relationship with alcohol needs amending, then the diagnosis doesn't really matter.. You need to change it. Given the fact that alcoholism is known to get progressively more severe in time, there is no harm in intervening in your own life early.

Talk to your doctor. Talk to a pastor. Go to an AA meeting or ten. Use the wide variety of resources on the home bage of this site. There is a wealth of help here. Don't tie yourself up in the semantics of a specific consensus, because believe me.. There isn't one, as tidy as that would be.

rabbit430

Personally I base alcoholism not on how much you drink, but the problems it causes in your life. If alcohol is causing problems in your life or to your health and your not stopping, your probably an alcoholic. If you have tried to quit drinking and failed you could be an alcoholic. Hope this helps.

wakko

The defination I like. Continuing to drink despite repeated negative consequences

Ronin55

Thank you all. You have given me a lot to think about. The very fact that I am worried about it means I am in trouble.

GroundhogDay

I would be concerned about exceeding the two drink a day maximum for a man to be considered a moderate drinker. Doesn't make you an alcoholic, but does put you at risk. These are the NIH guidelines. I recommend their website. It was the first place I looked when I started to ask myself the same question.

Ronin55

I usually have two glasses of wine at night. However, if I am upset due to work or relationship stress, then I might drink six or eight! This binge drinking does not happen too often. But it does happen. On a good month I may not binge a single time. But on a really stressful month I might binge half a dozen times. This unpredictability frightens me.

I have found that on days where I work out at the gym, I have expended my stress, and I don't binge on those days. I know it sounds simplistic, but my current plan to to work out as often as possible and limit my caffeine intake to just one cup of coffee a day in the morning. My trigger for binging is stress. Last month my ex wife nagged me often, because it was my summer month to spend with my 11 year old daughter. This cause me to binge a lost last month. I have to learn to not be so upset when others are antagonistic to me. Sorry for my rambling. I am trying to find a more sane way to live, and having people of similar circumstance listening and offering advice really helps.

Thank you all.
Quinn

thekl0wn

I go by two items: 1.) The obsession with alcohol, and 2.) The inability to control intake.

For years, I've known I had a major issue with alcohol, but I also had myself convinced that I fit into neither 1 nor 2. Taking a step back, I realized that this struggle with classifying myself as an "alcoholic" or "problem drinker" or just a "good ol' beer-drinkin' boy" was what qualified me for number 1. That was purely a complete obsession. I knew there was something "iffy" about my drinking, and it was plaguing my mind.

Number 2 was a bit more difficult for me to grasp. I could go for pretty long lengths of time without drinking, and refused to drink when I felt depressed, simply because I was scared of the outcome. At the time, I felt that meant I was in control... Looking back, I was being controlled by the alcohol. When I caved in, inevitably, I became the same old drunk.

For me, and most I know, it has nothing to do with quantity... It's the effect on my thought process. It's not a drinking problem; it's a thinking problem. However, the GREAT news is: There is a solution!

Michael66

The up-side is that you are recognizing something is amiss. That is the first step in recovery

GroundhogDay

You are in a similar situation to where I was when I quit. For me, binging was the whole wine bottle, which is 4-5 glasses. Unfortunately, I'm a 120 pound woman, so that is a lot.

I definitely think you are on the right track. Limiting caffeine and getting exercise. And yes, stop letting the ex push your buttons.

If you are not ready to commit to abstinence for life, try 90 days. Personally, it has been more than 90 days for me and my life is better without alcohol. So my plan is to never drink again. I've tried cutting back in the past, but without success. I don't consider myself an alcoholic, but I'm pretty sure I was headed in that direction.