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Difference between alcoholism and drinking problem?

Old 02-11-2013, 07:37 PM
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Difference between alcoholism and drinking problem?

I'm really not quite sure what to do and where I fall. I definitely have a drinking problem. When I go out on a Friday or Saturday night I binge pretty heavily. It's not about socializing 90% of the time it's just about getting wasted. However; during the week/on the weekends when I'm not out with friends I don't get drunk. I can have one or two beers, glasses of wine, and not need to get drunk or drink more. Lately my personality has been changing when I'm really drunk. Not angry or sad; just different.

I guess my question is if I need to get completely sober before my binge drinking on the weekends becomes full fledged alcoholism. As of now I don't feel as if I "need" to drink and can and have gone weeks without it. (Besides wine here and there.)

I told my parents that I might have a drinking problem and they told me I was being dramatic. My mom's brother is an extreme alcoholic-hasn't held a job in 20 years and has no desire to quit drinking. I come from a fairly long line of high functioning alcoholics.

Cheers for all the help! Look forward to getting to know some of you.
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Old 02-11-2013, 07:41 PM
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A lot of young people drink like alcoholics in college and some leave that behavior behind them and some don't. I think the difference between someone whose and alcoholic and someone who just drinks too much is the mental obsession. Does the idea of never drinking again bother you? Is alcohol a big deal to you and your enjoyment in life? I hope your not an alcoholic but if you realize you might be, there is a solution, and there is hope. SR is definitly the right place to get your questions answered, welcome and good luck.
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Old 02-11-2013, 07:45 PM
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There are guidelines e.g.

What is the difference between alcoholism and alcohol abuse?

Alcohol abuse is a pattern of drinking that results in harm to one’s health, interpersonal relationships, or ability to work. Manifestations of alcohol abuse include the following:

  • Failure to fulfill major responsibilities at work, school, or home.
  • Drinking in dangerous situations, such as drinking while driving or operating machinery.
  • Legal problems related to alcohol, such as being arrested for drinking while driving or for physically hurting someone while drunk.
  • Continued drinking despite ongoing relationship problems that are caused or worsened by drinking.
Long-term alcohol abuse can turn into alcohol dependence.

Dependency on alcohol, also known as alcohol addiction and alcoholism, is a chronic disease. The signs and symptoms of alcohol dependence include—

  • A strong craving for alcohol.
  • Continued use despite repeated physical, psychological, or interpersonal problems.
  • The inability to limit drinking.

CDC - Frequently Asked Questions - Alcohol
The trouble with guidelines is we're all individual and there'll always be some of us who don't quite fit, but who nevertheless do have a real problem.

I think if you have a drinking problem, whatever the dimensions, then it's best to look at that and try and find solutions

Welcome to SR
D
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Old 02-11-2013, 07:49 PM
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Originally Posted by YoungAndClean View Post
A lot of young people drink like alcoholics in college and some leave that behavior behind them and some don't. I think the difference between someone whose and alcoholic and someone who just drinks too much is the mental obsession. Does the idea of never drinking again bother you? Is alcohol a big deal to you and your enjoyment in life? I hope your not an alcoholic but if you realize you might be, there is a solution, and there is hope. SR is definitly the right place to get your questions answered, welcome and good luck.
I guess that's why my parents sort of blew me off. I'm 22, in college, and actually drink less than most of my friends. I only go out on the weekends and it isn't uncommon for a lot of my friends to go out every other night.

If I'm being completely honest, I can't imagine my life without drinking. It's an activity where I see all my friends, and I have tons of fun. What scares me is when I graduate college and I'll have developed a problem that will affect everything in my life.

Thanks for the response!
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Old 02-11-2013, 07:49 PM
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If you can stop and stay stopped for a few weekends in a row and it doesn't fester in your mind all week about not drinking, then you might just be a heavy drinker. A heavy drinker looks like an alcoholic at times, except that a heavy drinker can quit for good and all if given sufficient reason to (possible jail, loss of job, loss of significant other, etc). Alcoholics can't quit, regardless of the consequences.

You mentioned getting wasted for the sake of getting wasted on weekend, but fine on the week days. Perhaps changing it up on weekends - where you go, who you hang out with, might make a difference. If that's the case and you can keep going weeks without boozing hard, have the occasional wine or so, then you might not be one of us. Time will tell either way.
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Old 02-11-2013, 08:10 PM
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Why not stop drinking for a while and see how you feel?
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Old 02-11-2013, 08:10 PM
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You're very wise to be aware of this at a young age. I wish I woke up in college instead of decades later. I knew back then I had a problem with booze but just ignored it until it affected my entire life. We had a ton of fun back then, but if I'm really honest with myself I can list many many times where alcohol created problems even at that age.

Spend some time reading here on SR and see what posts you relate to. I'm not a big believer in labels so I don't think it makes much of a difference if you call yourself a heavy drinker, or alcoholic. It's what the stuff does to you, and how you handle it that answers your question.
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Old 02-11-2013, 08:43 PM
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I think that the only thing definitons do is give us a picture of what a persons drinking is like at a particular point in time. Just because you can tone it down or stop for periods of time does not mean it won't resurface. I don't think remission from active alcoholism is all that unusual as I have seen many hard core alcoholics who have had periods of sobriety along the way.

Changing our way of thinking about mind and mood altering substances is where the rubber meets the road. I had to accept the simple truth that the short term release and relief these things were providing was in no way worth the long term misery they were causing. The only difference I see is that it takes some of us much longer than others to figure that out.
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Old 02-11-2013, 09:04 PM
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Why risk it?

I sure wish I had decided to stop drinking when I was 22..... it took me another 33 years! If you are binging every weekend then I'd say it could easily become a problem for you.

There is no reason that you cant have fun and friends w/o alcohol. Take a good look at your friends, are they 'TRUE FRIENDS' or just drinking buddies? They could be both but would you trust them to take care of your house and pets or car if you had to get away for a while?

You are at a crossroads in your life and you have posed a very important question that could effect the rest of your life. Keep posting here and reading the accounts of some of us who have had decades of experience dealing with alcoholism. It's up to you but I can GUARANTEE that a life w/o alcohol will be INFINITELY better than the life of a drunk or binger.
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Old 02-11-2013, 09:15 PM
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I drank through half of high school, 3 yrs of college & 15 years of bartending after dropping out. Functioned pretty well the whole time (other than the dropout thing), every bar I worked at ended up giving me keys & making me a manager. But after 2 solid decades of drinking at least 3 days a week, with lots of binges in there.....I started to realize that I didn't know how to NOT drink.

I've now been sober almost 10 yrs (hope I don't drop outta this one), and I can tell you that there IS a satisfying and fun life without alcohol. I don't know if I woulda believed them, but I wish someone would've told me that 20 yrs ago.

Keep comin back here, good luck!!
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Old 02-12-2013, 03:02 AM
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Hi I have a very similar story to you I don't crave drink and can go for months without drink but when I do go out I end up smashed no matter how hard I try to stay in control. I can go out with my wife and have a few drinks and leaved it at that but when I end up at the bar with the lads it's a whole different story. What I am going to try and do us take myself out of these situations. If I'm out with the boys I drive or in some cases I just won't go and put myself in that situation. I am 31 now and have been doing this from uni once I lost my memory once it just has kept happening. My wife finds it hard to understand as she takes a few drinks but knows when to stop unfortunately we don't have this mentality. I hope we can keep in touch and let me know how you are doing
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Old 02-12-2013, 03:47 AM
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I think that maybe the question for you to ask yourself is not so much whether you are now, or will become an alcoholic, as to ask yourself just why you feel the need to go out, not to socialize, as you say, but just to get wasted. There are quite a few more engaging and less harmful ways to lead one's life than periodic self annihation of self. Perhaps something is troubling you, and perhaps some form of therapy might help find out first what that may be, and then just how to address it. This is just my opinion, based on self-experience, so may not apply to you at all; at any rate, all the best to you, and good luck--rick
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Old 02-12-2013, 04:32 AM
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If you can stop and stay stopped for a few weekends in a row and it doesn't fester in your mind all week about not drinking, then you might just be a heavy drinker. A heavy drinker looks like an alcoholic at times, except that a heavy drinker can quit for good and all if given sufficient reason to (possible jail, loss of job, loss of significant other, etc). Alcoholics can't quit, regardless of the consequences.


Alcoholics cant quit, regardless of the consequences!!! Totally not true, alcoholics can and have been quitting on their own for thousands of years me included and iam sure many others on here also.

A heavy drinker, alcohol abuser, alcohol dependant, alcoholic, chronic alcoholism, it’s all the same thing just at different stages of progression. None of us became alcohol dependant from our first drink it’s physiologically impossible. We all progressed from heavy drinker to alcohol dependant etc.

Addiction is addiction if a heavy drinker dies as a direct result of heavy drinking ie cirrhosis of the liver or alcohol poisoning etc then alcohol has killed him regardless of what his label was, if heroin killed somebody you would not say oh he was just a heavy heroin user, you would say he was an addict simple.
Too much miss information and opinions are literally killing people, if you drink and you can’t control how much you consume once you have had a certain amount you have a serious problem with alcohol. Does not matter what you call it. It will kill you!!

Its very sad that so many people will die from alcohol use and never get the help or education to do something because of this label ( alcoholic) they think because they are a heavy drinker it means they are safe from consequences of drinking too much!
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Old 02-12-2013, 12:54 PM
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Thank you everyone for the responses. It's been very helpful and has given me a lot to think about. I'm using this weekend as a test-it's one of my good friends birthday parties and I am going to see if I can keep myself to a few drinks and no shots. If I can't then I am going to decide to quit drinking all together. Is this an ok plan?

Also I told one of my friends I might have a drinking problem and she blew me off. Guess this is a good way of seeing which of your friends actually has some type of empathy or compassion!
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Old 02-12-2013, 01:02 PM
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It doesn't matter what category you plunk it under, as with everything in life if you find it's a problem you should take steps to correct it, regardless what others say or think! It's your life, conscious & reputation, not theirs so do what's right for YOU.
If you find your binge drinking is the problem, perhaps try putting a cap on how much, or even offer to do more designated driving so you have to limit yourself. Perhaps for a few weeks, have sober weekends (not alcohol from Friday evenings through to Sunday evenings)
Worst comes to worst, just drop the stuff for a while & see how it makes you feel
Hope that helps?
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Old 02-12-2013, 01:07 PM
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Originally Posted by limeskittles View Post
Also I told one of my friends I might have a drinking problem and she blew me off. Guess this is a good way of seeing which of your friends actually has some type of empathy or compassion!
Just saw this & wanted to add - Be weary of so called 'friends' advice I've found a few people make comments like that because they don't want you to quit for their own selfish reasons, whether to be to justify their own drinking patterns & issues, or for reasons like "but you're an entertaining drunk and I don't want to lose that".
It's amazing how easily humans will try to sabotage you bettering yourself!
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