KKE

I agree, the label doesn't matter as such if the effects are so devastating but they are called different things for a reason so was just interested in what makes them so different yet so the same. If that makes sense?

Mmmm am I young......? 31? I think so but not that young! :-)

sicknote

I binge. I'd call myself micky mouse if it means I don't drink anymore. I'm just trying to stay sober. I think that makes me an alkie.

sicknote

I with with Jsober. I've been trying to control it for years - hasn't worked. I wouldn't know what moderation was even if it slapped me on the face.

KKE

Do you usually binge drink "socially"? So on nights out etc?

I do drink to get drunk, so I guess that means I binge drink but only ever on nights out with friends. I don't think it's a problem but I do question why I feel the need to get so wasted when a drink hits my lips......

Wavy

ABF is binge drinking alcoholic. I'm a very occasional binge drinker, but not an alcoholic. Most of the time I don't want to drink enough to get drunk, but sometimes I think f*ck it, I'm getting sloshed, mostly in the mindset I'm not going to care about anything tonight I'm just going to have fun and forget about everything. Sometimes I get drunk just because I've been enjoying drinking and that's where I end up. Even then I don't get VERY drunk, I don't like the feeling of being totally out of control, whereas ABF's aim is to drink until he loses ALL control. A few drinks is rarely enough for him, he's after oblivion rather than enjoyment. Maybe that's the difference?

wiscsober

I would have the binge drinker take an alcoholic assessment preferably with an AODA counselor.

Or from a reputable medical site like: Alcohol Abuse Self Test

LexieCat

Ya know, KKE, based on what you are saying here, and the fight you had with your b/f when you got drunk and he got mad a couple of weeks ago, it might be smart for you to keep a close eye on your own drinking. It really can sneak up on you, and your liking to drink for the sake of getting drunk, still, is a little bit of a warning sign. Not saying you are an alcoholic, or even destined to become one, but just something to be aware of.

I resisted the truth for several years after I acknowledged having a "problem" with alcohol. I kept thinking if I kept trying I could get a handle on it, but once you pass a certain point, well, you can't turn a pickle back into a cucumber.

Just something to keep in mind.

pinkdog

Hi KKE, I also started as binging on the weekends. I didn't know I had a problem because I would go 4 or 5 days without drink at all. When I skipped that weekend binge, I went into a panic attack. That was my notice that I had a drinking problem. Some may drink and not be an alcoholic, but I was. It was my escape. I didn't just drink socially. I drank to pass out and escape. Skip your next drinking binge and see how you feel. The word "binge" makes me think it is drinking to excess. That's what alcoholics do. Some who drink only a drink or so with no compulsion to continue, may not be alcoholics.

choublak

I see it as an early stage of alcoholism.

Serenity1972

I am a binge drinker that considers myself an alcoholic. I binge drink on the weekends and weekends only. Once I pick up that first drink Friday after work it isn't over until Sunday morning. I drink non stop. I too don't want to live this way anymore. I have been doing this for a little over 8 years with some abstinence in between. I have to agree that for myself as well it is not how often I drink, it is how much I drink.

DreamsofSerenity

My ex was a binge drinker but he had all the symtoms of pretty advanced alcoholism--yellow eyes, the lying, the denial, the black outs, etc..

His binges lasted a while, maybe a week or so. Then he'd swear he was going to get sober but it never lasted longer than a month or so.

When I went to the AA meeting with him he prefaced his share by "I don't drink every day." He really hung onto that and believed it made him different than other alcoholics. (He wasn't).

sicknote

Some really great feedback from peep here! As a binge drinker myself I've often questioned whether I'm an alkie, so its really great to hear peoples feedback.

I often think that I don't drink like the other alcoholics (on a daily basis and quite as excessively) but I can't deny the mental obsession with it, and the unstoppably thirst for more, and the destruction it causes to my life

Also, I don't like the thought of labelling myself an alcoholic. Possibly because the moment I do call myself an alcoholic I have to accept it and deal with it, which is scary. So I'm going to stick with what I said up there... I'm an alcoholic, and heck, I'd call myself a micky mouse if that means I don't drink.

sicknote

bloss

I was a binge drinker, though not necessarily on weekends. I would go X number of days and then go out buy a bunch of alcohol and drink all I had or until I passed out. Then, I'd pour out the leftover, do the same cycle a certain number of days later. (Usually about 7 - 10 days later.) As the years moved on it became harder to recover from the binges, I classify myself as an alcoholic.

sicknote

I'm similar bloss! Its not necessarily at weekends. I go maybe about to go a few days between binges, although usually it was 2 or 3 days between for me. Hangovers where the killers.

NYCDoglvr

Alcoholism is a progressive disease. You start with binges and it progresses to daily drinking. The point is: an alcoholic is powerless over alcohol because he/she has no control over what happens/how much they drink ONCE THEY TAKE THE DRINK. A non alcoholic can say they'll have one or two drinks and have no problem keeping to that limit. But alcoholics can't.

bloss

I do agree alcoholism is a progressive disease and the alcoholic cannot take the first drink. As for drinking daily, some do and some don't. Just like the amount consumed, it is variable. The feelings of helplessness, hopelessness about the drinking. The feeling of knowing down deep, it's a bad scene and still drinking. These are feelings most all alcoholics know and can relate to. So whether you are a daily drinker, binge drinker or a periodic drinker you know what the feelings of despair are, this is alcoholism in my opinion. Of course I am sure there are many different opinions out there and that is fine by me.

lillyknitting

I just want to give my opinion on this again to set the record straight. For years I wrestled with this argument of am I/am I not an alcoholic? In the end of all the debating, in my head, I came to this conclusion: I don't care what they call it, it doesn't matter what label they put on it, call it what you like, drink has a detrimental affect on me; it causes pain, excruciating hangovers like near death; it caused terrible problems between me and my family, endless rows & heartache, in a nutshell it made my life he'll. It absolutely and categorically negated any positives from my life, the bad definitely outweighed the good. So I decided to eliminate the stuff from my life and all the histrionics and negatives have gone. It's like I lead a totally and utterly different life now.
Someone said to me "try stopping for 3 weeks, an see how you get on". I would suggest to anyone and everyone to do likewise, take care and good luck. X

PippiLngstockng

My stbx has referred to himself as an alcoholic and as a binge drinker. But the binge aspect muddles things for him. He claims he quit drinking for 2 years so that proves he isn't an A. Another time he claims he quit for 6 months. So then he says he can drink because alcoholics can't quit.

I have seen him in blackouts, having morning shakes and a face all swollen up, presumably from drinking. Now he looks better. He claims he is just drinking some beer each day.

His drinking just seems to be all over the place, with long stretches during the summer or holidays where his drinking is way out of control. Then he gets it together and seems normal.

No one ever believes that he's an A. How can he be so successful at work and as an athlete if he's an A? But one of my best friends is also an A. She's also beautiful, brilliant, successful, rich and an incredible athlete. But she would drink until she was completely obliterated until now, when she's white knuckling it, just like stbx.

These binge drinkers are the most charming, gifted people. And knowing someone who gets so completely, unpredictably out of control is too hard.

I wonder if certain traits make a person more likely to be a binge drinker than the day-to-day drinker?

TKS

I would drink until I had no more to drink, and all the stores were closed. One bottle becomes 25+ standard drinks. I would do this in the cycle of:

drink, suffer extreme hangover, recover and repeat. Every second day. Lost jobs due to absenteeism, facing bankruptcy, friends all gone, relationship destroyed, all because of these drinking patterns.

Not drinking everyday, but my every day, month, year, decades are still affected by extreme alcohol excess. What do you wish to classify me as, if not an alcoholic, albeit a binge drinking one?

sicknote

TKS - this is what I do. It's not much of a life to live. Yeah, not sure but I guess that makes me an alkie.

PippiLngstockng - an outsider would probably assume that i'm doing ok. It's the stuff they don't see that seems to destroy me.

sicknote