What constitutes alcoholism?

Hi

When we can't face life on life's terms

We drink to numb the pain

Then we become dependant on alcohol or drugs or anything else that stops the pain

The ism in alcohol is dependency

Go to AA

I realize this post is old, but hopefully I can still be helpful. Alcoholism according to those who admitted having it is an utter inability to leave it alone. Quitting for one year is recommended to see if your truly dependant. I had problems with drinking when I was a teenager. I spent my whole twenties not drinking at all. I returned to drinking in moderation when I turned 31. I had some questionable days when I drank a lot, but always responsibly. Planning drinking around work or other obligations. When I became pregnant I found quitting was easy for me. So, I believe since I took action early it prevented many problems. I always know support groups are available in a.a. Alcoholism is a tricky disease, it causes many many problems. A year or more without drinking may sound hard or impossible to some people who drink excessively. It's worth it!

What constitutes alcoholism is addiction to alcohol, that's it. It's pretty straight forward. 

Full Definition of addiction

1:  the quality or state of being addicted 

2:  compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal;broadly :  persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful

An addiction is a compulsion that is difficult to overcome. This is where many alcoholics try to justify or redefine alcoholism to suit their mental state. You often hear people say things like "well i don't drink in the morning so i'm not an alcoholic" or "i only drink in x y z situations, alcoholics drink all day." You don't have to have a physical withdrawal from alcohol to have a dependency, take for instance gambling, there is no physical withdrawls from it, yet it can be an addiction for some people, so real that they may gamble away their entire lives. It is less about specific habits than it is about the urge or need for whatever the thing is you're addicted to. 

A pretty easy test is just stop. If you can't, you are an alcoholic. This may sound mind numbingly simple but seriuosly, I can and often do, not have a drink for months. It's an organic process, I consume alcohol when I want to, which is not that often, i have no compulsion to do it. If you told me today to stop drinking for 6 months, I could do so, with no strain or impact on my mental state. If you simply cannot stop right now, and not drink for a month, you are addicted. Remember this isn't about wants, it is about strong compulsion and urges, you say you don't want things to change but I think you are re-classifying a compulsion as a want. Wants can be ignored. I want an xbox, but I can just as easily live without it. I want steak, but I can get chicken instead. You don't just want alcohol from the sounds of it. 

Another point is within the definition of addiction. "persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful" As i already mentioned with gambling, people have been known to lose their whole lives, literally selling off their family, to feed a gambling habit. People lose jobs, harm their health, lose relationships and contact with family, over addictions to substances. That is a hallmark of addiction, you are aware of the drawbacks, yet you continue to do whatever it is. 

Within the first sentence of your first real paragraph you already pretty much provided all the information one would need to tell you that you are an alcoholic but I will explain. You immediately list that you are on 2 drugs with strong alcohol interactions, yet you continue to drink. This is self destructive behavior, and it is by no means uncommon. I have a friend right now that is on multiple meds that say no alcohol, including ones that present the very real possibility that you could DIE if you drink alcohol with them, yet she continues to drink, sometimes quite heavily. It's entirely possible one night she may go to sleep and not wake back up. 

The manufacturer of the drug itself has placed the warning label there, not just for fun, but because there are real consequences to the interaction of those substances. Usually these fall into two categories, 1 it nullifies the effects of the medication, or 2, it has seriously health risks. Either is bad. Best case scenario, you are completely invalidating your prescription medication by drinking, or worst case, you could have seriously health problems or die. 

The fact that you are here asking even after your doctor no doubt told you no alcohol with these meds, and the label says it, means you are trying to do some hefty justifying. 

Whether you know about them or not, alcohol has many other negative effects, and people often drink heavily even in the face of these, thus signalling addiction. In no particular order there is:

Liver damage and eventual failure, including; Steatosis, or fatty liver, Alcoholic hepatitis, Fibrosis, Cirrhosis

Type 2 diabetes from severely damaging your pancrease which can cause pancreatitis as well.

Weight gain and all the health complications that go with that

Drinking heavily over time OR just on certain occasions comes with significant increased risk of heart diseases including; Cardiomyopathy – Stretching and drooping of heart muscle, Arrhythmias – Irregular heart beat, Stroke, High blood pressure

Increased risk of cancers including Mouth, Esophagus, Throat, Liver, Breast

Weakened immune system

And the real kicker, depression. You are taking an anti-depressant, that most likely you are canceling out the effects of with alcohol use, and also counter acting in that alcohol makes you more depressed. It inhibits the ability of neuro transmitters to fire properly, and though it does trigger the release of dopamine that makes you feel good temporarily, the ultimate effect on brain chemistry is increased depression. Have you ever met a person who used to be depressed and got better because they began drinking heavily? Never going to happen. It may also contribute to your anxiety, it has a lot of effects on brain chemistry, a lot of which are not yet known.

In the face of all the knowledge we have about the effects of alcohol consumption, many people continue to over indulge, or indulge when they shouldn't(such as when on prescription meds that call for no alcohol, or when pregnant) just the same as we have known for a long time how hazardous smoking is, yet even now in 2015 about 30% of the population smokes. They are addicted, and they rationlize that the health effects are over stated, it won't happen to them, or my personal favorite "everybody's gotta die some day." 

Another note about weight gain related to alcohol, there are 2 reasons for this. 1 the liver is a big part of our body's system for management of fat. There is a reason athletes and trainers generally stay away from alcohol except on special occasions, it makes it harder for your liver to metabolize fats. Resulting in low energy and difficulty losing fat. Then there are the calories....there is this persistent myth that beer is bad, and hard liquor is fine. Wrong. 1 oz of whiskey is about 70 calories. A 750ml bottle of liquor is about 25.42oz If you drank half a bottle that is pretty close to 12.75oz. Also wine is about 125 calories per 5oz, which of course is about 5 such glasses in a 750ml bottle. So 2 750ml bottles of wine is about 1250 calories. the 12.75oz of whiskey is about 892 calories. 2142 total calories. A big mac is 568 calories, and a large fries at mcdonalds is 498. You are effectively consuming the equiavelent in calories of 2 meals at mcdonalds in alcohol alone. Then there is the insulin resistance to consider..... 1 glass of wine is within the acceptable limits of 15 on the glycemic index. I think you know what that means if you have 2 bottles and half a bottle of whiskey, plus the inflammatory effects on the pancreas, you're just asking for diabetes. 

A final note, you say you don't want things to change, and don't think that they can because your family and friends are all drinkers. Unfortunately sometimes it requires removing yourself from certain people to kick addiction. You said it yourself when you were talking about the social acceptance of drugs. If you hang around people who consider drug use socially acceptable and do it themselves, you are more likely to do it also. Recovering meth or crack addicts don't generally hang out with other junkies that are not also in recovery, or if they do, they fall right back into it. If you tell friends and family that you have a problem and you need their help to stop, they should listen. If they don't, they either have a problem themselves or they don't love you. It is very hard to change when you are surrounded by it, but you need to consider the reality of your situation without realtionlizing and justifying. Your work performance admittedly suffers, and you are doing serious damage to your health that will eventually catch up to you. 

People can anybody help because at the moment I do not seem to be getting any help with my alcohol problem at all and hate it. Been to gp numerous times then they want me to go to groups which I have to drive to???? not safe as you can imagine, i just want to get better and get away from my condition which I never had until being with a guy bullied by but I now have a fab hubby of 10 years but he has had enough and i could lose him because of this addiction. Tried AA no good and groups no good, asked for rehab didnt get it what do I do???

People can anybody help because at the moment I do not seem to be getting any help with my alcohol problem at all and hate it. Been to gp numerous times then they want me to go to groups which I have to drive to???? not safe as you can imagine, i just want to get better and get away from my condition which I never had until being with a guy bullied by but I now have a fab hubby of 10 years but he has had enough and i could lose him because of this addiction. Tried AA no good and groups no good, asked for rehab didnt get it what do I do??? SORRY NOT SURE MY INITIAL POST HAS BEEN POSTED?? DOESNT SAY???

Ok. I feel you and your concern. I believe its important to be aware of all habits that could be,are,or become unhealthy in all aspects of life not just the stero

typical elements like drinking ...

but I won't list them but like food,exercise,etc relationships blah.

Now here's where it gets fuzzy, every indivdual is different and to what level of drinking they can say they are an acholic depends on a lot of circumstances

and the charts/bar ara/ is

different for all and the decade and generation one lives in....cause ....what was acceptable

in one decade is now not etc..

get my drift and doctors go with what is current even so all ppl are different.

I only drink twice a week and most the time only get drunk on or Friday or Saturday so I can sleep it off the next day.

If I drink more than 3 jiggers that's a shot n half in a class for a glass of Scott,whiskey, or rum thats enough to give me a small headache when

the alarm goes off at 6am....very tiny...lol.

Even still an acohol is not necessary defined by consumption along,although,that is the record definition we use to label one an acholic.

I mean obviously if you live to drink morning to note till you pass out of have no booze your hard core %ypical defo alk.

But I believe ppl like that know what it is.

And we'll your shrink could or could not be right bout the future you and your present drinking habits.

I had the same thing said to me at 36 and I even then only drank 2 or ex a week and maybe drunk once a week or not at all or sometimes drunk twice a week if off work and then again went

weeks never drunk but was told it will progress and then compared to my dad's drinking so not right or fair.

But point is I'm 52 and I've actually slowed down on my drinking experiences not on purpose just did base on desire to not drink but I still love drinking but not crazy bout it like I was at 30, or 36.

So it depends on a lot of factors and varibles.

My best advice if you start feeling ill even your not drinking and I don't mean flu or cold but like depress, tried, or some other strange stuff cut back on drinking for a few months.

See what happens,your body will tell you ...

Whoa, I read this and it's like a mirror. I'm on sertraline and drink the same way. Tolerance, reactions and everything. Wow. I had to sign up on this site as I just wanted to say you are not alone. I call it a functioning alcoholic. I hate that word alcoholic but I use alcohol to relax. I basically rely on it. I've been searching for a way to change but I have sunk into this routine. The only down side is that I have no energy and / or motivation to do anything. I don't like being drunk socially and I'm in sales lol. I like my evening drinks and dinner daily. I know it's unhealthy but it helps me sleep and if I don't drink I will be up for hours even with sleep pills. Anyways I haven't read any replies yet as they made me sign in and such so after I post this I will see what others have wrote.

Look, reality is:

1. If you drink and feeling sober than you are in your limits. Do not drink if every day and hour you feel drunk(that means happy or animated too) with only one glass.

2. If you are sel controllable during working time, you are sober.

3. I have patients who think they are patients, because they heard drinking too much is bad for one's health. Too much alcohol is relative to BMI, blood structure, gene factors and many more factors. Is 5 liter bottle made of paper going to resist water or 5 litter plastic bottle?

4. Those scared patients confront with the fact that they are healthy and still living good lives, four if them are now in late 80's of their age and still full of energy and happy, drinking more than you mentioned for yourself.

5. Start sweating, have regular sex, do gardening, clean your house or whatever will make you sweating, it's crucial for your general health.

6. Finaly, don't care too much.

Good luck