What is an alcoholic?

[Effington]

My friend and I started talking the other day about alcoholics, since I tease her about her apartment being right above an AA meeting place. Anyway, we had a few different definitions of an alcoholic, you tell me if you think these people are or not.

1. Person One drinks often but not in excess. He'll come home from work everyday and play Warcraft with his friends, while having 5-8 beers. His entire group is on teamspeak and drinking with him. On the weekend he'll play softball / watch football with friends (same guys he plays Warcraft with), and have about the same amount of drinks, but rarely is drunk.

2. Same as Person One, but with a wife and two small children. Wife has expressed that she is not a fan of him drinking.

3. Person Three drinks infrequently, but often will lose control. Although only drinking once a week (or less), at a certain point they become obnoxious and uncooperative. The last night out, they "jokingly" grabbed someone's drink at the bar and dropped it, shattering glass all over, and was uncooperative to bouncers trying to get him/her out. Massive fight with boyfriend/girlfriend ensued as they tried to calm the situation down.

4. Person Four drinks roughly 3 times per week, and usually gets at least a little drunk. They are single and out at bars to meet people.

5. Person Five drinks roughly 3 times per week, and usually gets at least a little drunk. They drink and play video games at home after work.

6. Person Six drinks roughly 5 times per week, and usually gets at least a little drunk. They are single and out at bars to meet people.

7. Person Seven drinks roughly 5 times per week, and usually gets at least a little drunk. They drink and play video games at home after work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Which, if any, are alcoholics?

 

[mpimpin]

I wouldn't really say any of them were alcoholics.

Though all the video games and world of warcraft mess might be an addiction

 

[oakraiderz2]

Interference with ones life.

 

[user43770]

all the video games and world of warcraft mess might be an addiction

haha.

I once knew an alcoholic who would wake up to swigs of straight vodka. He was drunk 24/7.

 

[Bible_Belt]

Alcoholics go to meetings.

 

[romangod]

Which, if any, are alcoholics?

Every one of them is an alcoholic.



Cheers!

 

[user43770]

When drinking becomes your main priority in life, you're an alcoholic.

 

[insidious]

I think TyTe has come closest.
I have plenty of "experience" with this
problem, 1st and 3rd hand. Alcoholism is
difficult to pin down...there is way too much
gray to give a clinical definition like you
would diabetes or yeast infection.

There are those who would say anyone who drinks
every day is an alcoholic...these are usually the
hard core AA or MADD types who over react to
everything.
Then there are those others who see nothing wrong
with having 6 drinks a day. This is usually the younger
guys who still are in party mode and hate to see
their own habits questioned.

I think if you are an alcoholic, you'll know it;
if alcohol plays such an important role in your life
that you adjust your life in order to accomodate
drinking on an ongoing basis, you ARE an alcoholic.

 

[LoneRanger]

I get sloshed about 2 times a week. A lot of people in this small town are like this. Not much else to do.

However, in the warmer months I drink maybe once a week.

If I have one drink, be it in the morn or late at night, I can't stop until I am passed out.

In the past month it has become a problem. 2 to 3 times a week binge drinking. However, this is probably been because of being stuck at home but I'm still keeping a journal to keep it in check.

 

[cullinan]

In that case Lone Ranger you should make some ways for yourself to know where you should stop. Basically the need which has necessitated me to make rounds of various health and fitness communities is for the sole purpose to know a way that can help a member of our family to stop being an alcoholic.
Yeah I guess all the points described above would be true in his case and people who need to stay someone who is an alcoholic would know how difficult it is to cope with a person like that. Being an addiction I believe there are no medications that can help rectify the behavior and we are compelled to leave things on the hand of fate. Sorry for making a comment that was not related to the basic discussion but cant stand that word anymore.

 

[LoneRanger]

In that case Lone Ranger you should make some ways for yourself to know where you should stop. Basically the need which has necessitated me to make rounds of various health and fitness communities is for the sole purpose to know a way that can help a member of our family to stop being an alcoholic.

Until this weekend I didn't start drinking until 12:30 - 1:00 in the morning. The bars and store alcohol sales stop at 2. If I want more, SOL, I am cut off when the clock hits 2.

 

[LoneRanger]

I'm surprised no one else thinks drinking alone makes you an alcoholic.

yea, it does make you drink more, IMHO.

On some bad nights I can go through three 40 oz and several 24 oz bottles.

There is a new gym that just opened near here. Its open 24 hours a day on week days. My membership at another gym expires on Jan 1st and I am switching over to this new one. That should take care of my late night boredom and cut into my drinking significantly.

The biggest problem I have is I am self employed, make a lot of money but have nothing to fill all the time I have. It is almost like being a retired autoworker. Not fun at all.

 

[Effington]

I'm surprised no one else thinks drinking alone makes you an alcoholic.

It's a classic line they teach kids in school, but I never understood it. What if you drink by yourself once a year? Once a month? Are you an alcoholic then? Because I don't think so.

 

[STR8UP]

I'm surprised no one else thinks drinking alone makes you an alcoholic.

This is one of those things that society likes to promote for some reason.

What about drinking alone makes you an alcoholic? This would imply that it is "acceptable" to use the drug only in a social setting. Why is it only acceptable to drink when other people are around?

I think you are an alcoholic when drinking interferes with your life or the lives of those around you. There is no set criteria for how many drinks you have per day or per week or how drunk you get or if you drink alone or whatnot.

That said....I need to cut back on my drinking. The empty calories are preventing me from losing the kind of weight I want to lose.

 

[bigjohnson]

I drink almost every day, but most days it's literally one beer or one glass of wine with dinner. If I skipped the beer or wine then a splash of Bourbon for dessert is not uncommon.

I have never been so drunk I got sick.


I was thinking I should cut back but now reading this I am reconsidering.

 

[user43770]

I'm surprised no one else thinks drinking alone makes you an alcoholic.

I used to believe this when I was in high school.

 

[Krankshaft]

In my lifetime I have met several true alcholics. The two that stick out in my mind is my friends uncle. He would drink a fifth and a half of vodka a day he did this for about 30 years and just recently died. One of my coworkers was an alchy in my opinion. He would drink every single night and be hung over well into the next work day. He would then go to lunch and down as many shots of whiskey he could.

 

[Krankshaft]

In my lifetime I have met several true alcholics. The two that stick out in my mind is my friends uncle. He would drink a fifth and a half of vodka a day he did this for about 30 years and just recently died. One of my coworkers was an alchy in my opinion. He would drink every single night and be hung over well into the next work day. He would then go to lunch and down as many shots of whiskey he could.

 

[alphamailman]

I don't think drinking by yourself is a solid indicator of being an alcoholic. Personally I'm responsible for myself. I don't drink often and I rarely will be seen drunk. I'll drink alone if I'm gonna experiment in mixing something up, why not. It interferes with my lifting and cardio, not to mention it could bring back my migraine troubles if I were to drink frequently.