Christoph75

Hello. Sometimes I question whether or not I am an alcoholic. I usually drink 6 beers after work during the week and then go out with friends and drink on the weekends. I have drank to a blackout a few times but not very often. I never get into fights and always go to work but having a few after work is a daily occurrence and I overdo it some weekends. Sometimes I think I might be an alcoholic and other times I just think I like drinking.

Garen

Six beers a day is a lot.

For me when I was drinking 6 beers a day it progressed to 6 during the week and then 12 on the weekend. Then I started with 12 daily 7 days a week.

FreeOwl

sounds like me a couple of decades ago.

It became a lot more. And brought on a lot of trouble in my life.

I can't say if you're an alcoholic or not, but you certainly have described yourself pretty clearly as a heavy drinker.

Which could certainly be synonymous with "becoming an alcoholic".

doggonecarl

Welcome to SR.

I didn't think I was an alcoholic when I quit. Now, with the 20-20 hindsight of sobriety, it's pretty clear I was.

If you aren't an alcoholic, you should have no problem quitting for a year. If you struggle, reconsider the extent of your problem.

2bhappier

I was not sure I was an alcoholic either but after a few days of pure anguish about not drinking I decided I must be because normal drinkers don't freak that much.

Sorensen

Only you can decide if you have a problem.

ScottFromWI

Lots of good suggestions here already. I was drinking around your level for quite a long time and it never caused me major problems either, but even if it doesn't cause problems on a daily basis you are already consuming enough to cause you long term health problems down the road - even if you aren't an alcoholic.

You are also consuming enough and drinking daily that just quitting cold turkey probably isn't a good idea without consulting a doctor first. Otherwise I'd say just quit for a couple weeks and see how you feel about it then.

The scary thing about alcoholism is that it's progressive, and it never gets better. Some go decades until things get really bad, for me it literally took about a year from the level you are drinking now to heavy, daily drinking and physical dependance. And the longer you wait to address it, the harder it gets.

My recommendation would be to make an appointment with your doctor or an alcohol/drug counselor and go from there.

Andante

Here's an easy test that might help clarify things for you:

Try to stop drinking for a set period of time -- say, a month.

If you can do so easily, without fighting any obsessive thoughts about drinking or any overwhelming urges to return to it, then you're probably not an alcoholic.

If you can't, you probably are.

FreeOwl

another 'test' that was offered up to me one time by a therapist / psychologist who deals in addiction was "try to have 2 standard glasses of wine a night for a month".... if you can't keep it at 2, or find yourself strongly wanting more, you're probably an alcoholic.

I'm not sure I agree with that one.... but AA does offer the 'test'; Go try some controlled drinking for a while. If you're an alchohlic, eventually that experiment will reveal it to you.

least

to SR! If alcohol is causing you any problems it's best to give it up. See how you do without it for a period of a few months. If it's no trouble to quit drinking you probably don't have a problem.

Imabuleva

How do you feel after one standard drink?

For me, one is way worse than none.

Sulu1

It's a difficult one and only you know if you have a problem or not. I started with a beer a night which slowly but surely escalated to 4 and then 8.

Maybe try not drinking for a month and see how it goes?

All the best whatever you decide to do

Ruby2

Ditto on what everyone else has said. Six beers a night is a lot of beer. Even if you aren't an alcoholic this is still very heavy drinking and not healthy. I drank about that much every night for years. I started as a heavy drinker and progressed into physical dependence and found it hard to function either with or without alcohol.

If you are posting on here to ask if you are an alcoholic then you must have some concerns about the impact the alcohol is having on your life - socially, work-wise, health-wise. If you have concerns about all this the answer is to stop drinking. If you cannot stop drinking you have answered your own question. No one here can really answer that for you. There are plenty of check lists online that you can take but the real answer will come from within you if you try to stop.

Sorensen

I think that it is easy to say if you can't go a month without drinking then your an alcoholic automatically.

My father, my grandmother, my uncle all drink daily but in complete moderation. (3-4) drinks a day tops.

But I guarantee none of them could go a month without drinking because it is part of their routine. I suppose if their life depended on it sure but they have no reason to.

I think a better test is if you go a few days without drinking do you get withdrawal symptoms eg. shaking, anxiety, head aches, fatigue, depression, excessive sweating etc.

I know for me I get these symptoms the following day after I quit drinking with a hangover but only 1 day so I'm lucky that way. But I still consider myself an alcoholic because I have hard time setting limits when I decide to drink.