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I think the medical definition of an alcoholic is way too narrow. I went to the doctor today and when I told her that I consumed, as an estimate, 10 beers per week, she alleged that I was an alcoholic. Seriously? Come on. I told her that what I am is a binge drinker. She told me that in that case I was half way to being an alcoholic.

Now, the real amount is probably more like 20 beers a week, but I'm 25, my body can still process that, a fact she offered up.

I feel like to be an alcoholic alcohol has to negatively affect your life, your work, your friendships, your marriage, etc.

I never drink alone, rarely go to bars alone, don't drink much hard liquor. I don't crave beer when I don't have it. I will often turn down invitations to go out and drink because I don't feel like drinking or I want to take it easy or I was already planning to do something healthier like go for a run.

This medical opinion that anything more than like 5 beers a week is bad for you is ridiculous.

Well, there's really no doubt that that much beer is bad for you, but the CAGE questionnaire is what you should look at to see if you're an "alcoholic." I can tell you right now that the second question is a "yes," but the others don't seem like they are.

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That's ridiculous, 10 drinks a week are probably good for you. That's 1 glass of wine or beer with your meal daily and maybe 3 nightcaps. This overreaction to alcohol use really bugs me. Literally the entire continent of Europe would be alcoholics based on some of these definitions.

docellis wrote:I am not an alcoholic but I do abuse alcohol from time to time. I don't think they have to go hand in hand.

I agree with the abuse comment doc, but all this quack had to go off was a number: 10. From that number without context, she is absolutely out of line suggesting anything negative.

edit - now if she knew that all 10 were consumed at once, different story. That is definitely not healthy for you, but again I doubt very seriously if that makes you an alcoholic.

Supposedly drinking until there's no alcohol left or I pass out makes me an alcoholic, at least according to some people. Not always, but there's a decent chance that if I have more than a couple I'll be getting hammered that night. I hardly ever have the urge to drink though if I haven't had one. So I just sort of drink sporadically. It used to be more frequent, but that was just exhausting.

I have a buddy at work who claims he hasn't gone to bed sober in 3 years. I don't know if I really buy that, but I've never seen him sober at night (and conversely, I've never seen him drink during the day), so who knows. He knocks off a couple bottles of wine or a half a fifth of vodka on a normal evening. It takes more for someone to tell if he's been drinking. I don't know how he does it.

20 beers a week is probably not good for me, no. I don't know what the actual number is. I'll keep a count starting today.

haltz wrote:Supposedly drinking until there's no alcohol left or I pass out makes me an alcoholic, at least according to some people. Not always, but there's a decent chance that if I have more than a couple I'll be getting hammered that night. I hardly ever have the urge to drink though if I haven't had one. So I just sort of drink sporadically. It used to be more frequent, but that was just exhausting.

I have a buddy at work who claims he hasn't gone to bed sober in 3 years. I don't know if I really buy that, but I've never seen him sober at night (and conversely, I've never seen him drink during the day), so who knows. He knocks off a couple bottles of wine or a half a fifth of vodka on a normal evening. It takes more for someone to tell if he's been drinking. I don't know how he does it.

He drinks so much that his body has increased its metabolism of alcohol, so that he requires much more to get drunk.

The American medical definition of an alcoholic is ridiculous. As Jim said, all of Europe are alcoholics under that definition. I guess it goes back to our Puritan heritage.

sighyoung wrote:He drinks so much that his body has increased its metabolism of alcohol, so that he requires much more to get drunk.

Oh I know. He's got a ridiculous tolerance at this point. I just mean that I don't know how he gets drunk night after night after night. He drinks enough to still be hungover in the morning, I know that. It just seems like at some point he'd for one reason or another go to bed sober for once. I mean, I guess that's what addiction is, but it still boggles my mind.