When Is Alcohol A Problem?

Most of us are adults here, and many of us are casual drinkers.The question that I wish to bring to our grand round table is this:1) Do you drink alcohol more than once a week?2) Have you ever had a problem with alcohol consumption? (As told to you by others, if not admitted by yourself)3) When Is Alcohol a problem? What lines have to be crossed before a drinking habit affects an individuals or a families lives?I personally no longer drink, although I used to consume a fair amount in my younger days! I now have some friends with alcohol related issues, however, and wanted to get some feedback from the Forum.

1) I guess I drink alcohol about once a week on average. Most weeks its a bottle of wine share with my wife (about 2/3rds for me an 1/3 for).Some week I don't drink and some weeks I perhaps get drunk on about 10-12 units of alcohol. (that amount of beer, about 2 bottles of wine, 1/3 bottle of spirits or a mix of that.2) I've had a couple of times when I had to much. I think I've had perhaps 3 periods of lost memory, and about 10-15 episodes where I got sick. Most of these episodes happened when I was in high school, or at University.I've never been intervened on account of alcohol, well once when we were a bunch of people drinking and talking, and I mockingly pretended to throw a plastic bottle at a guy, the bottle of course slipped and hit the wall 2 cm from his head. My girlfriend at the time yelled at me for being to drunk, and I still get embarrassed when I think about it.3) Everything in moderation, the saying goes, and I think this applies here.Alcohol consumption, like many other activities carry within the possibility for becoming problems.The answer I think is just that f you experience that the rest of your life suffers under one type of activity, then you have a problem.

Phat I clued into the possibility of addiction to alcohol the day I substituted cognac for milk on my shredded wheat. Up to that point, of course, I was in total control.

No - I used to drink a beer or two once every couple of weeks and then every six months or so get smashed. I haven't touched a drop since about 10pm on 20th December 2006. Well the Doctor tells me I might have developed a sensitivity to alcohol so that drinking could wind me in hospital like last time. But I've never had a drunkenness problem which is what you are asking. I did date a girl for nearly two years who was diagnosed with alcohol addiction. There are no black and white barriers, just a grey territory. Most people hang around in the grey area, the only problem they have to deal with is the physical damage they do during the occasional 'binge', and the social problems that go along with that. This is 'normal', and as a society it has become an accepted part of being human.However, as alcohol becomes a more important part of a life, then other elements of life can begin to suffer. My partner above didn't get drunk in the morning, but she'd probably binge once or twice a week and get quite drunk a few days a week on top of that. It wasn't massively impacting on her life immediately but it was having a definite impact of her physical and mental health. She was advised she was borderline alcoholic. She was standing at the point where most people would say is dark grey but only a few steps from black.You don't have to lose your job, or beat your kids to have a definite alcohol problem - but one has to be careful in judging someone else to have an alcohol problem. That decision should be left to a medical practitioner. You might want to suggest they speak to a professional about it, but most people would balk and ignore such a suggestion. In the end, they are the only ones that can seek help, you have to make a decision about how strongly you want to guide them towards help.I can tell you this for nothing: Since you don't drink at all, you are at a disadvantage in the 'helping friend' category. You may come across as holier than thou. The best strategy I'd say is to talk to a sensitive and compassionate friend who does drink and have them be the diplomat.In the news today: Five types of alcoholic

quote:

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The young adult subtype accounts for about 32 percent of U.S. alcoholics. They're young adults who rarely seek help for alcohol dependence. About 24 years old, they became alcoholics by age 20, on average. They drink less frequently than other alcoholics, but they tend to binge drink when they drink. This is the largest subtype.

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The young antisocial subtype comprises 21 percent of U.S. alcoholics. They are 26 years old, on average. More than half have antisocial personality disorder. They tended to start drinking at 15 and became alcoholics by 18 ” earlier than other subtypes. They are
more likely to smoke tobacco and pot. The young antisocial subtype and the young adult subtype don't overlap, Moss tells WebMD.

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The functional subtype accounts for about 19 percent of U.S. alcoholics. They're generally middle-aged, working adults who tend to have stable relationships, more education, and higher incomes than other alcoholics. They tend to drink every other day, often consuming five or more drinks on drinking days.

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The intermediate familial subtype makes up nearly 19 percent of U.S. alcoholics. Nearly half have close relatives who are alcoholics. Alcoholics in this subtype typically began drinking by 17 and became alcoholics in their early 30s.

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The chronic severe subtype is the rarest subtype, accounting for about 9 percent of U.S. alcoholics. This subtype mainly includes men, has the highest divorce rate, and frequently includes users of illicit drugs.

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Funny how little things change, eh? I'm not of legal drinking age, but if I were, I would probably not drink more than once a week. I can't drink, which seems to be the only problem I'm having with consumption at the moment. Your English is impeccable... for a drunk. If you mean:·life of an individual, then enough to be 'buzzed' would bring about an affect.
·lives of individuals, then enough to get sick to the point that your friends all have to take care of you.
·life of the family as a unit, then enough so that a member of the unit lacks presence in the unit causing it to cease existing as a unit.
·lives of individual family members, then enough to get sick to the point that your brothers and sister all have to take care of you.It's like a famous singer once said, "lay off the whiskey..."Jon

Sundays, in most states.

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(1) I drink once every half a year. And even then, I only drink if I have at least 2 people I can trust. I'm a light weight.(2) I've never had a problem with alcohol consumption.(3) Alcohol is definitely a problem when you are called by the police at 3 in the morning to come bail out someone you know who had been drunk while driving. He was so drunk, I had to help him out to the car... and this was several hours after his car ran into a poll and the police arrived.

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Disclaimer:

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Occasionally, owing to the deficiency of the English language, I have used he/him/his meaning he or she/him or her/his or her in order to avoid awkwardness of style.

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He, him, and his are not intended as exclusively masculine pronouns. They may refer to either sex or to both sexes!

Sometimes. It really depends on whether or not I have some available. If my wife buys a bottle of wine or a six pack of beer, I usually have a glass a night. But if its never purchased, I don't think about it. I've never seemed to have any dependence upon it, though, when I was living with roommates, we used to drink a thirty-pack a night. But I got sick of it, so I stopped drinking. When you start to feel like you "need" it to "unwind." If you ever start to feel that grip, its time to stop before it snowballs into a full-fledged addiction.

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"The problem of Christianity is not that it has been tried and found wanting, but that it is difficult and left untried" -G.K. Chesterton

I like to have a beer or a glass of wine when I am eating a meal in a restaurant with friends, if they are also having a beer. When I'm eating dinner alone I like to have a beer with it.But it's not a mandatory thing. If others are not having a drink, then I prefer not to be the only one drinking. Lately I've been eating dinner in my office, so I've only drank a single six pack in the last two or three weeks.- I was a drunk in college. It wasn't a problem because I was a fun drunk -- people actually made sure I was invited to their parties. But when I moved to a new location, alcohol wasn't as big a part of the social atmosphere, and I could tell my drunken antics wouldn't have been as well-recieved so I didn't drink as much.Now I don't like the feeling of being enebriated -- even having two beers at a time doesn't feel so good to me, so I don't drink so much these days.- (1) Are you unhappy a lot, and does this unhappiness stem someway with your drinking?(2) Are people around you often unhappy for reasons that have to do in some way with your drinking?If either of these questions can be answered "yes", then you might have a drinking problem.Edited by Chiroptera, : clarification

i prefer a drink with or after dinner, but i'm trying to become less fat. but i never end up with it anyways. i generally just get drunk once a month or less. but god help me if we buy a bottle of wine. i almost never leave wine unfinished. no. arach picks on me and calls me an alcoholic, but he swears he's joking. also, i'm too lazy to drink enough to have problems... and too poor. however, i've decided not to drink at any more social events like parties and gallery openings and stuff. free alcohol seems to affect my judgement. last time i went to an opening, i met a girl i'd met once before... at a party when i was also drunk. i decided if the only times anyone might see me i'm drunk, then maybe i should prevent that. when it gets in the way of work or play or driving. alcohol isn't generally a problem. but drunkenness can be.

Maybe three times a week. Rarely more than 2 beers in a single night, and that's always social situations. None. Well, I was under the age of 21 for about, oh, 21 years, so at that point I did have a problem getting alcohol, but nothing other than that. Why can't that be the line? When alcohol begins to get in the way of your daily functioning and affects your life and others' lives?

Aolchold is vener a bropbelsm!

One could just as easliy ask, when is gambling a problem?

One could also drink some coffee and ponder the positive things about alcohol!

Poner, there is nthing to ponder. Alcohol destryous yourl iveer. Anyone willing o drink and consume sothimg that is a positive poision needs to have their head examined, no? Jon