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How do you define an alcoholic? (1 Viewer)

J

JuniorGong

Footballguy
I have a brother who is an alcoholic and my family overall fall into the category of heavy drinkers. Yeah, we are Irish! I’ve always defined an alcoholic as someone who is pretty severe, think Nick Cage I’m Leaving Las Vegas. Certainly don’t define it  to just that extreme but to me an alcoholic probably never skips a day of drinking and certainly can’t go multiple days without drinking.

I suspect others have different definitions of one though. I’m always concerned because I’m in sales and travel a lot which leads to a lot of drinking with clients and co-workers or frankly to kill the boredom of being on the road. I work my ### off though and have gone weeks without drinking without missing it but always find my way back. 

Would love to hear how others define it.

 
One who had a dependecy on the substance to the point they cannot, and will not, function without alcohol. 

 
Hilts said:
One who had a dependecy on the substance to the point they cannot, and will not, function without alcohol. 
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Yep, so I basically describe to pretty close to the same. However, not to deviate too far but at one point in my younger days I was doing cocaine 3 -4 times a week. I could function without it for a few days but always found myself in the same cycle of Thur-Sat/Sun doing some bumps. I considered myself a heavy user and not an addict. Is that fair? Is that consistent relative to alcohol intake? 

 
serious answer - the fact that you wonder is something you should think about. 

Who cares about the official definition / designation, or whether you are technically an addict or not? People use stuff like that to find loopholes anyway. "Oh, i can go days without / I don't "need" it to function - I'm ok".

Bottom line: if it's starting to have an adverse effect on you (having lousy work mornings because you are hung over / bad meeting with client / etc), then yea, it's becoming a problem, official designations and drink charts/etc notwithstanding. If it's not an issue in any way, then have at it. But be honest with yourself. 

 
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Someone whose life is noticeably affected by the negative consequences of his or her drinking, but he or she refuses to stop drinking rather than stop having the consequences. 

 
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depends - my wife's grandmother used to drink everyday. She wasn't driving anywhere and she was roughly 80 so she wasn't a danger to anyone, but i thought she was an alcoholic as she needed her 3 drinks a night, every night. 

 
Drinking because you’re bored sounds like a problem. Or drinking because it’s a habit, if that happens to be your situation. Do you wake up often wishing you drank less the night before? Maybe you’re not an alcoholic, but could develop into one. Good luck.

 
Christo said:
Definitely. My wife has repeatedly said she fully expects us to drink every day once we retire.
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agree - did not say there was a problem with it - just that yes, I thought she was an alcoholic.

If I live that long, I plan on enjoying a few beverages every evening as well..... why not?

 
I think the other element that most have overlooked is the impact it has on temperament. I’ve known people that drank daily but their demeanor never changed much. I’ve know people that only drank once or twice a month but when they did, they turned into monsters. The latter is an alcoholic every bit as much as the former.

 
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RokNRole said:
EG is the gold standard.
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:lmao:

I'm just lucky that alcoholism doesn't run in my family. It's just fun to me. I don't ever need to drink and I never think about it when I'm not doing it. I've seen real alcoholism up close and it is ugly. Really ugly. 

 
TheWalkmen said:
Drinking because you’re bored sounds like a problem. Or drinking because it’s a habit, if that happens to be your situation. Do you wake up often wishing you drank less the night before? Maybe you’re not an alcoholic, but could develop into one. Good luck.
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Never heard that before but it’s a smart way to look at it 

 
jwb said:
serious answer - the fact that you wonder is something you should think about. 

Who cares about the official definition / designation, or whether you are technically an addict or not? People use stuff like that to find loopholes anyway. "Oh, i can go days without / I don't "need" it to function - I'm ok".

Bottom line: if it's starting to have an adverse effect on you (having lousy work mornings because you are hung over / bad meeting with client / etc), then yea, it's becoming a problem, official designations and drink charts/etc notwithstanding. If it's not an issue in any way, then have at it. But be honest with yourself. 
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This is how I'd define it.  If it's negatively impacting your health, livelihood, or family life and you're not stopping because of it, you're an alcoholic. 

 
Evilgrin 72 said:
:lmao:

I'm just lucky that alcoholism doesn't run in my family. It's just fun to me. I don't ever need to drink and I never think about it when I'm not doing it. I've seen real alcoholism up close and it is ugly. Really ugly. 
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What if your compulsion is to relax?

 
Ilov80s said:
I think the other element that most have overlooked is the impact it has on temperament. I’ve known people that drank daily but their demeanor never changed much. I’ve know people that only drank once or twice a month but when they did, they turned into monsters. The latter is an alcoholic every bit as much as the former.
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Yea, this too. Alcohol problems are not so much "how much" (etc), but more what it does to you / how it affects your life.

 
Zow said:
This is how I'd define it.  If it's negatively impacting your health, livelihood, or family life and you're not stopping because of it, you're an alcoholic. 
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:yes:

Anything you keep doing despite the negative impact, because you feel compelled, is probably an addiction. 

Could be alcohol, food, sex, tv, FBG...

 
Zow said:
jwb said:
Bottom line: if it's starting to have an adverse effect on you (having lousy work mornings because you are hung over / bad meeting with client / etc), then yea, it's becoming a problem, official designations and drink charts/etc notwithstanding. If it's not an issue in any way, then have at it. But be honest with yourself. 
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This is how I'd define it.  If it's negatively impacting your health, livelihood, or family life and you're not stopping because of it, you're an alcoholic. 
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I agree, but here's the catch: you don't get to decide if your drinking is having a negative impact. It's the people around you who get to make that decision.

If your spouse or your doctor or your boss thinks that your drinking has become a problem, guess what? They're right.

 
People define it differently.

I'd say if you are repeatedly drinking to a point where you can't function, blacking out, making bad decisions or your personality is changing {for the worse} then you are likely an alcoholic.

If you have a few drinks every night and there are not any outward effects than it seems fine to me, although some would even categorize this as an alcoholic.

 
I’m a functioning one ... not proud of it, and it’s had some affects lately (showing up late to work, making excuses to not do anything because of the hangover - on a Tuesday)

i know I’ll eventually have to figure it out - probably just quit ... but at the moment, I just don’t wanna.

i think Wikkid said it best earlier ... 

i spend way too much time having a drink, just to feel normal - then after that? its just fun, and then regret the next day.

i do however manage to hydrate like crazy - hit the gym and eat very clean. I think because of those facts, I’m still am able to be a “functioning  alcoholic”

once I give up the good habits? I’m toast 

 
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Ray Barboni said:
I’m a functioning one ... not proud of it, and it’s had some affects lately (showing up late to work, making excuses to not do anything because of the hangover - on a Tuesday)

i know I’ll eventually have to figure it out - probably just quit ... but at the moment, I just don’t wanna.

i think Wikkid said it best earlier ... 

i spend way too much time having a drink, just to feel normal - then after that? its just fun, and then regret the next day.

i do however manage to hydrate like crazy - hit the gym and eat very clean. I think because of those facts, I’m still am able to be a “functioning  alcoholic”

once I give up the good habits? I’m toast 
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It's easier to fix sooner than later.  And if you drive even once while impaired, we all have a problem.

 
There seems to be a confusion in here between binge drinking and being an alcoholic. My siblings are alcoholics. One drinks a beer in the shower when he wakes up, and drinks all day. One keeps vodka and water on the nightstand and sips it through the night 

 
seahawk 17 said:
There seems to be a confusion in here between binge drinking and being an alcoholic. My siblings are alcoholics. One drinks a beer in the shower when he wakes up, and drinks all day. One keeps vodka and water on the nightstand and sips it through the night 
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Not sure which is which here. I’m going to take a stab in the dark and say the latter is the binge drinker?

 
seahawk 17 said:
There seems to be a confusion in here between binge drinking and being an alcoholic. My siblings are alcoholics. One drinks a beer in the shower when he wakes up, and drinks all day. One keeps vodka and water on the nightstand and sips it through the night 
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Not a big fan of labels and designations like that, though.

Stories like this become counter-productive when people look to self assess. People cherry pick what they want to hear, so the end result here is something like "Ok, I drink on weekends and maybe one or two weeknights, and it's mayyybe starting to have a small negative effect on my life, but who doesn't get a hangover or an annoyed spouse from time to time? And goodness, I don't drink in the shower. So I'm normal. Hey, I just like to have a few drinks once in a while, just like everyone else - what's the problem?" 

 
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When you pick up a drink, do you have any control over what happens next? Is there always a second one, then a third etc.

It doesn't matter if it is every day, every month or every year. If you drink and then the compulsion to drink more takes over, you probably have a problem.

Maybe not a real alcoholic yet, but well on your way. Also, normal drinkers usually don't have to ask or even think about whether they have a problem. The fact that you think you might, is a warning sign.

 
I read an article a couple weeks ago about identifying "functional alcoholics."  Several of the things were already mentioned in here. 

  • Little or no effects the next morning after a night of heavy drinking. 
  • Get bent out of shape if alcohol runs out
  • Jokes about having a problem
  • Late/absent for work or other engagements
  • Using alcohol as a coping mechanism...for everything
  • Frequent drinking-related memory loss
  • Gets mad/upset over friends trying to discuss it being a potential problem

 
Brownsfan said:
 If you drink and then the compulsion to drink more takes over, you probably have a problem.

Maybe not a real alcoholic yet, but well on your way.
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When am I going to get there then?  I've been doing this for over 30 years.  I guess it's a slow road.

 
Nathan R. Jessep said:
I read an article a couple weeks ago about identifying "functional alcoholics."  Several of the things were already mentioned in here. 

  • Little or no effects the next morning after a night of heavy drinking. 
  • Get bent out of shape mildly annoyed if alcohol runs out
  • Jokes about having a problem
  • Late/absent for work or other engagements
  • Using alcohol as a coping mechanism...for everything
  • Frequent Occasional drinking-related memory loss
  • Gets mad/upset over friends trying to discuss it being a potential problem
Click to expand...

 
Evilgrin 72 said:
When am I going to get there then?  I've been doing this for over 30 years.  I guess it's a slow road.
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Nobody but you can decide if you are an alcoholic. Some people hit bottom faster than others. For some people the bottom is a lot lower than others.

Some people never quit and manage just fine. Is their quality of life as good as it could be? Not for me to decide. In full disclosure, I haven't picked up a drink in over 23 years.

I do miss it occasionally, but all i have to do is remember all the problems that first drink will bring. Easy decision then.

 
RokNRole said:
Not sure which is which here. I’m going to take a stab in the dark and say the latter is the binge drinker?
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I think he was saying they're both alcoholics and that some others in the thread were confusing binge drinking with alcoholism.  I completely agree.  I'm 100% a binge-drinker and the stories in my thread are evidence of that.  I am not an alcoholic, though - not even close.

 
Brownsfan said:
Nobody but you can decide if you are an alcoholic. Some people hit bottom faster than others. For some people the bottom is a lot lower than others.

Some people never quit and manage just fine. Is their quality of life as good as it could be? Not for me to decide. In full disclosure, I haven't picked up a drink in over 23 years.

I do miss it occasionally, but all i have to do is remember all the problems that first drink will bring. Easy decision then.
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I've decided I'm not.  For me, one drink the first step to anywhere from 5-20 drinks on average, a fun day or night, and feeling like crap the next day.  For others, it's the first step to complete and utter ruin.

 
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