livingnow

Found this brief bullet point analysis - on this site-to help determine the answer to the question many of us ask..."Am I an alcoholic?"
I certainly am according to this.

-Drinking to cope with troubles
- Drinking to avoid feeling bad
-Lying about drinking behavior
- Feeling guilty about drinking
-Experience blackouts while drinking
- Regularly drink more than intended
- Neglecting responsibilities at home, work or school
- Drinking alcohol in situations like driving, operating machinery or while taking prescription drugs
-Legal issues surrounding drinking
-Drinking despite the negative effect on relationships
-Giving up usual activities due to drinking
-Loss of control over drinking
- Desire to quit drinking but unable to stop
-Alcohol becomes the focus of thoughts and actions

MelindaFlowers

If you know all that and continue to drink then you are an alcoholic.

Only you can decide but I'll go ahead and say yes. Are you ready to stop the madness?

PurpleKnight

The majority of posts on this question merely focus on volume, but the reality is it is the behaviours that matter, how we drank rather than what we drank and how much.

This is a solid comprehensive list of behaviours!! Great post!!

livingnow

Yes! 21 days sober today!!

Soberwolf

I think a lot of ppl dont get alcoholism (not that their meant to) and a lot of stigma is attached to that term because of that

I am a alcoholic but only i know that others could think it say it even but the buck stops with me and what it means to me

in a nutshell it means ive realised that i cant drink alcohol safely or responsibly no more

headcase1

I have a half dozen of those descriptions that fit me.I can't drink alcohol,my life depends on me staying sober.

Lance40

Thanks for posting - I needed to read that today. All but one of them describes my drinking behaviours at one time or another. The only reason that I don't have legal issues after crashing my car while drunk as a younger lad is that I think the officer had pity on me and drove me around for a while chatting and stopping another car to write out a traffic violation before taking me to jail where I blew under the legal limit.

brynn

I could check off most of that list.

I think for me, I knew I had a problem when I started lying about my drinking. The sneaking around, pre-drinking before events...secret drinking...because I knew the amount I 'needed' to drink wouldn't be socially acceptable. But I was too far gone and obsessed with getting my booze. Wish I would have quit then, before I could check off more of that list. I'm just Grateful I'm sober today.

Thanks for this post!

Mikie9

Am I an "alcoholic" because I only answered yes to very few of those questions. According to those questions, I guess I am not. I still don't want to drink lol

I know drinking has caused me to not live how I want to live, so I choose not to drink.

Not really sure what label that makes me, because I don't see the need for a label. I stopped drinking and will figure out a different way to live and spend my time. That is what drinking took away form me, my options on how I can spend my time.

But I am an alcoholic regardless. I can't drink and be content.

ubntubnt

I think at its core is the question "does alcohol cause problems in your life?" And it's close cousin "do you want to drink less or stop completely but can't?" For me, these two questions can define whether I have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol or not. For years these questions would have told me that I had a clear problem even though I was not hiding bottles or drinking alone (in the early days). Deep down though I think many of us know when alcohol is getting a grip and even the act of coming to an addiction website and asking the question is your body giving you a pretty strong hint.

Randola

So I assume that if I answer "yes" to every question, then I qualify?



Okay. I'm an alcoholic!!!

But I'm not drinking today!! A quite abnormal state, but I think that I can get used to it.

Pipping

If I drink again I will lose everything. That's all I need to know.

Spacegoat

For some reason I'm ashamed and reluctant to admit that every single one of these applied to me for a run of several years. Day in, day out.

I didn't realize it at the time and I don't really understand now why either.

I'm definitely grateful not to be caught up in that cycle anymore :/

proclub

Stratman1 I know what you mean man, I have had several years of mess up after mess up blaming it on everything besides myself having a problem. Like you man pretty much every one of those applied to me for quite a while. I've only just started a sober journey Though looking at those points makes me even more determined

JadedGirl

That's quite scary but certainly sobering (excuse the pun). Only one I don't have there is the legal issues and that's more luck than judgement. I think there's a lot of misunderstanding that you have to wake up and start swigging a bottle of vodka the minute you wake up to be dependent...that's certainly what I used to think and one of the reasons I thought for so long I couldn't be.
Thanks for the post xx

JanieJ

Giving up usual activities due to drinking?

Drinking was my usual activity !

nigey1

Me too. The legal one is the only one I am in the negative for. And only because I was so careful due to working in the legal field and throw in a heap of luck.

Lucky we don't have to worry any more.

IOAA2

Hi and thanks for the post.

It’s good to know what the characteristics are another thing to combat them.

The best way I’ve found is total abstinence and changing our drinking characteristics for sustained sobriety.

BE WELL

FreeOwl

I don't think you have to answer them all 'yes'.

Every one of us who can answer 'yes' to every question - started out with a smaller 'yes' list....

chickippo

oh, this. so very much this.

i answer yes to every question on the list. i'm 9 months sober on Tuesday. but i'm still, and always will be, an alcoholic.

my boyfriend (who has never known me drinking - i was 17 days sober when we met!) sometimes says that i'm not alcoholic any more because i don't drink. i remind him (and me!) that i absolutely am, and i can't afford to forget it.

ten, or maybe even five years ago i wouldn't have said yes to every question. a textbook case of the 'yets'...