Question by Alex F: does drinking alone frequently make an individual an alcoholic or problem drinker?
believe it or not, i am sort of drunk now. well, actually, very drunk. sometimes my friends worry. but i’m not even really 21 yet, i think i might just be a problem drinker. it isn’t completely disrupting my life though. should i be concerned? do i need to seek professional help? i don’t think i am but abusing alcohol seems fairly common so yeah…not sure. need to hear an objective opinion. thoughts, anyone?
yeah, i type brilliantly becuase i’ve done this so many times before. also, i am kind of bright. so yeah, this comes naturally.
also, the AA test says i am, but i need someone to check the reliability of this test. seems to me they overlook some very crucial aspects in their test.
also, what do withdrawl symptoms include?

one more thing, being that i am 21, should i be worried about my drinking patterns in the future? you know, when i can actually buy alcohol legally? it is really then that i am kind of worried about become really addicted.
sorry, that last most should be *not yet 21

Best answer:

Answer by I wanna be a Planet like Pluto
you type brilliantly for a drunk person

Answer by Betty
No. That drinking alone thing is a myth. Alcoholics are simply people addicted to alcohol, whether you drink alone or not.

AA is NOT the most reliable source on alcohol addiction. While the program has helped many people, AA still believes that alcoholism is a disease (which isn’t true). And, they still use terminology about alcoholism that was used almost a 100 years ago, which has since been proven not to be very accurate.

Other common myths about alcoholism:

-Alcoholics beat their spouses and children.
-Alcoholics can’t function. They can’t hold jobs or be productive members of society.
-Alcoholics drink constantly, every day.
-If you can give up all alcohol for a week or two without any symptoms of withdrawal, then you are not yet a problem drinker. (Thanks “TitoBob”, I knew I was missing one).

You also mentioned two myths yourself. There aren’t different distinctions of drinkers. You said you might just be a “problem drinker”. There is no such thing. Like I said, you’re either addicted to alcohol or not. There aren’t different types of alcoholics. An alcoholic and a problem drinker are not two different things. Again, you are either addicted or you’re not. You can’t become MORE addicted.

You also mentioned that drinking isn’t completely disrupting your life. Again, thats another common myth. People addicted to alcohol very often are very much in control of their lives and they can be very successful. They can be young. You don’t have to be over 21 to be an alcoholic.

If you’re concerned that you may be addicted, here are some questions you can ask yourself:

1) Have you ever had a blackout?
2) Do you ever think about or talk about alcohol/drinking when sober?
3) Could you stop drinking right now, for the rest of your life, and be 100% OK with that?

If you answered yes to the first two questions and no to the last question, then there is a good chance that you are addicted. Only you can know for sure if you are addicted. No one can make that judgment for you. And only you can choose to seek help, if you think you need it.

Edit: Sometimes there can be withdraw symptoms. These symptoms usually occur in people who never sober up. Some people remain constantly drunk. They start drinking when the wake up in the morning and keep drinking throughout the day. They can go on drinking like this for days, weeks, months or years. People like this need to be hospitalized, because the withdraw can kill them. Its called the DT’s (delirium tremors), which are essentially seizures caused from alcohol withdraw. There bodies have become so physically dependent on the drug, that when they don’t have it, their bodies become physically ill.

But once again, these people aren’t more addicted than anyone else. You don’t have to drink like this to become an alcoholic. This is just an extreme case of alcohol addiction thats caused by how much is consumed and how often it is consumed.

Hangovers are also common withdraw symptoms. Even people who are not addicted will get hangovers. Other common withdraw symptom can be paranoia, depression, fear/panic attacks and anxiety when sober. But like I said, you don’t have to have these withdraw symptoms in order to be addicted.

I’m an alcoholic and I drank for years. I never had any withdraw symptoms when I quit. But then again, I wasn’t constantly drunk everyday, all day long.

Dr Margaret Abbott: Does my son have a drinking problem?
Q: I'M concerned that my 19-year-old son may have a drinking problem. He has gone from having a few alcoholic drinks two or three evenings a week after work, to consuming alcohol almost every night. At weekends he drinks quite heavily and I'm getting …
Read more on Nottingham Post (blog)

The Third World's drinking problem
During its recent gathering in Davos, the World Economic Forum released the ninth edition of the Global Risks 2014 report, which relies on a survey of more than 700 business leaders, government officials, and non-profit actors to identify the world's …
Read more on Livemint

Measures introduced to stop problem patients drinking alcoholic hand gels at …
Issues regarding the theft of hand alcohol sanitisers from hospitals can be costly for the trust and the NHS; it can also be potentially very dangerous for patients. The trust confirmed it had one repeated case of a patient consuming hand sanitizing …
Read more on Ilford Recorder 24

Find More Drinking Problem Information…