FaithfulAndFree

I have no ulterior motives with this question, but my curiosity is leading me to ask. I see on this board we have 2 types of drinkers... The binge drinkers and the drinkers who have a hard time going without a drink. While I understand that both are dangerous, equally detrimental but when talking to people who struggle with not drinking daily I wonder if they understand the struggles of a binge drinker(myself)... And vice versa. I personally have no issue with drinking urges daily but once I do have a drink, I pretty much drink myself pass blackout (absolutely horrible)... So I am wondering, is it a progressive thing or are there two (or more) forms of the illness.

ScottFromWI

In my opinion alcoholism is alcoholism, regardless of how much or how often you drink.

In both instances you suggest, the common theme is loss of control over the consumption of alcohol. And in both cases, the solution is the same - abstinance and eventually sobriety.

Soberpotamus

I identify mostly as a binge drinker, and I also agree with Scott. We are all wired slightly differently, and so it makes sense that we have different drinking tendencies. I also identify as an alcoholic.

IOAA2

Hi.
I think we have to consider that alcoholism is a progressive disease and will defiantly get worse if we continue to drink it. The old timers would often say that there are a lot of YETs out there if we continue drinking.

BE WELL

FaithfulAndFree

Thank you, I also identify as an Alcoholic and I am a binge drinker. When I was drinking I averaged about 2-3 absolutely horrific drunken nights a year.... My dad is an alcoholic as well (30 years sober now) but he was not a binge drinker, he was a constant daily drinker.. And in the past I feel like we don't get one another in our journeys.

Soberpotamus

Yeah, that's understandable. I dated a daily drinking alcoholic for six years, so I know what you mean. He would tell me to just slow down, not drink so much, etc.

Mirage74

In my 20's I was more of a binge drinker, not drinking daily but almost always getting drunk when I did drink. In my late 20's I progressed to a daily drinker. Furthermore, in my 30's I progressed from someone who thought drinking in the morning was outlandish to someone who started drinking in the morning more than a few times.

Who's to say a binge drinker will always turn into a daily drinker, and so on and so forth. We're all different. Like has been mentioned, I think the important thing is what happens when you do drink, and whether it's worth going through, as opposed to the frequency.

aussieblue

I started as a binge drinker when I was young. Ended up daily.

Dee74

Hi EJM

I don't think it's as different as you might think right now...I started as a binge drinker and ended up an all day everyday drinker, so I know both sides of the street and I'm not unique in that...

to me looking back it's the same addiction just different manifestations.

D

Nuudawn

Whether you are a daily drinker or a binger... what you have is a "stopping" problem. And THAT's the problem no matter how you slice it.

I have had the "never enough" problem with a lot of things.

ccam1973

I agree with Scott, alcoholism is alcoholism and when it becomes a problem then it is a problem.

For me after 21 years, my daily drinking turned into drinking around the clock. My tolerance got so high that I was literally drinking one after another after another, as fast as they went down for hours, every day.

Once we loose control and our drinking adversely affects our daily lives then it's a problem no matter the classification.

Tall Dawg

Like many others on this thread, I started as a binge drinker in my 20s and progressed to a daily drinker in my 30s. Alcoholism truly is a progressive disease. Someone once tried to tell me that when I attended my first ever AA meeting when I was 24 years old. Unfortunately, I did not listen and continued to drink for about 15 more years...