Good for you. How do you know when you have an alcohol problem vs. enjoying a drink.
I dont't know an answer that works for everyone. Each person needs to consider for themselves whether they have a problem.
If you can just "enjoy a drink" you are probably fine. But once you start suspecting that you have a problem and making efforts to control it, and you can't, then you can be pretty sure that you have a "problem"
That's a good Q. For me it is not getting drunk. There is never any reason to get drunk. As soon as I feel I'm getting kinda buzzy I stop. Usually 4 beers and I'm a 240lb man.
If you can take it or leave it, you are probably okay. I drink occcasionally, but if someone told me I could never have another drink, it would not really bother me that much.
RobFromGa - thanks for your story. I look forward to reading the next part. Alcohol destroys so many lives. I'm glad to see that you are stopping the cycle for yourself.
I was in the same situation. Although I started drinking beer at a very early age (16) I rarely drank enough to get really drunk, and never had hangovers. When I was in college, I did start drinking heavily, and my roommate would joke that they could find me by following a trail of beer bottles. I also discovered that I loved both tequilla and rye whiskey. It wasn't unusual for me to stay off the beer, but drink an entire fifth in an evening. I did pretty well in school, and once on summer break, I spent nearly the entire summer drunk.
So, one day, I started wondering if I might be an alcoholic. Then I read the saying, "If you think you might be an alcoholic, you probably are one."
At that point I thought, "well, lets see if I really am one." I stopped drinking that day, and didn't have any alcohol at all (except for a very rare dose of "Nyquil" when I had a bad cold) for the next 7 years. Then, one day, I decided that I'd like a beer. And I had one. That's the key... I had ONE beer. And didn't have another one, or really feel like having another beer for a few months.
So, I discovered that I don't have a drinking problem. That I can stop anytime I want. So, I do have a beer every now and then. I would guess that I have fewer than 3 a month. Some months, I'll have none, in fact, it's been two months since I've had a beer, but I've had a Samual Smiths Taddy Porter and a Young's Double Chocolate stout sitting in my fridge all that time... Maybe tonight I'll have that stout for desert.
I guess I'm lucky that I don't have a drinking problem.
Mark
I get railed at for this stance . . . but in my experiences over 25 years working with alcoholics and around a lot of other people with problems . . .
IF someone drinks more than 3 drinks an evening--imho--they either have a drinking problem of serious growing proportions or will have in RELATIVELY short order.
I actually would probably say 3--or more drinks an evening. 3-4 or more within 24 hours.
People who don't have an alcohol problem do NOT NEED nor CRAVE nor WANT more than that.
Another perspective is that if one can't go cold turkey teetotaling for 6 months without craving it at all--then they have a problem.
People who crave chocolate a lot seem to also have a predispostion toward alcoholism.
Has anyone in one's social circle commented even supposedly 'jokingly' about one's alcohol use/abuse? Especially, has anyone in one's nuclear family; workmates; close friends commented? Trouble is, alcoholics tend to have friends who are in the same boat and no one's going to point the finger.
I'll stick by my no more than 2 an evening and no more than 3-4 in 24 hours.
I'd say one good indicator is to ask a family member what they think. My dad (may he rest in peace) insisted that he didn't have an alcohol problem and that he just enjoyed drinking. My mother and I could see with our own eyes that he was fooling himself.