Definition of alcoholism

[Aubrey]

A friend recently said that the def of alcoholism was having any kind of pattern to your drinking--wine w/ dinner, champagne on NY, beer on the weekends.

 

I don't know where she got her information, but frankly, that sounds crazy to me. By those standards, I'd expect that almost anyone who drinks *at all* would qualify as an alcoholic.

 

What do y'all think? Have you heard this? Another definition? Just curious.

[Snickerdoodle]

A friend recently said that the def of alcoholism was having any kind of pattern to your drinking--wine w/ dinner, champagne on NY, beer on the weekends.

 

:rolleyes:

[Parrothead]

I suppose that makes me an alcoholic because I have my once a year drink at the company Christmas party.

 

Seriously, if your friend's definition isn't the silliest thing.

 

According to the MayoClinic.com:

Alcoholism is a chronic disease that makes your body dependent on alcohol.

[Mekanamom]

LOL, so the trick to avoiding alcoholism is random drinking? :tongue_smilie:

 

Anyway... your friend is incorrect. It's been a few years since I studied the DSM IV, but this site seems to do a fairly good job of explaining it:

 

http://www.tcnj.edu/~sa/adep/factsheets/dsm2.htm

[Murphy101]

oh geez. guess half this board are sloshers then.:001_huh:

 

would they say the same about drinking anything else? pop, coffee, tea, milk, water???

 

does this rule only apply to liquids? maybe I'm addicted to salt and pepper or butter! it's there at every. single. meal. :ohmy:

 

that's just so illogical it makes me wanna make another double shot of ouza.:lol:

 

but I'm not gonna. because I don't wanna.:)

Edited February 4, 2010 by Martha
dern itty iphone buttons!!

[LauraGB]

I always thought that if I didn't wake up and slug down a tasty beverage I was good? :confused: How about those "special" ice cubes for the ol' coffee?

 

;)

 

Just kidding.

 

I guess, since I know so many drunks (family full of them and all that), my definition differs between " a drunk" and "alcoholic". I feel that to expect and enjoy a glass or two of wine with dinner may possibly count as alcoholism (ie depend upon the beverage with your dinner), but it doesn't necessarily carry the same connotations as alcoholism. Would you not eat your dinner if all you had was water? Doubt it. But you may not enjoy it as much. So what. An alcoholic would forfeit dinner and go buy his beverage, then have dinner.

 

I think people toss around the word and all of its connotations far too much (like a few other psychological labels I can think of) - a real alcoholic will choose alcohol any time, day or night, over any person or anything in his/her life, including job, family, obligations and are full of unjustifiable excuses to carry that behavior on. That's my definition.

Edited February 4, 2010 by LauraGB

[lionfamily1999]

As I recall, if you plan to get trashed it's a sign of alcoholism. I think she had it a little mixed up. IOW, if you look forward to New Year's Eve, because you are going to get falling down drunk, then you have a problem.

[Mrs Mungo]

A friend recently said that the def of alcoholism was having any kind of pattern to your drinking--wine w/ dinner, champagne on NY, beer on the weekends.

 

 

Maybe she has her information a little backwards. Has she been talking to someone in AA? AA is big on breaking habits and replacing them with new habits. If your pattern is wine with dinner then you change your pattern. That doesn't mean everyone who has a glass of wine with dinner is an alcoholic.

[Catherine]

I think it's continuing to drink after the alcohol has caused a problem-family disapproval, DUI, or withdrawal symptoms. That shows a loss of control of one's drinking.

[babysparkler]

I haven't read the other responses yet, but I consider myself an alcoholic and I've never had a drink in my life... my parents and grandparents are alcoholics, so I just KNOW that I have a predisposition to it (I can feel it inside, you know?) so I just refuse to let any alcohol in my home and won't touch it. Dh is on the same page with me, so he won't drink either. That may sound crazy, but I guess I just don't want to take any chances. I don't know where the line is drawn in defining what is/isn't an alcoholic, but I do know that someone can be a sober alcoholic... so it must have something to do with more than just the action of drinking.

[Rosie_0801]

The OP's definition is what I was taught in school. But we don't believe everything we learn at school ;) , and I don't drink anyway so realise I'm rather sensitive about others doing it. I think alcoholics might be people who, uh, this is going to be clumsy, can not longer see the point of doing whatever activity it is if there isn't any alcohol.

 

Rosie

[Joanne]

As a long time sober alcoholic, I disagree with your friend.

 

I think a need to keep or protect a pattern CAN be a sign, though.

[Lawana]

But maybe it should be just if alcohol is more important than relationships, then you are alcoholic.

[Aubrey]

Maybe she has her information a little backwards. Has she been talking to someone in AA? AA is big on breaking habits and replacing them with new habits. If your pattern is wine with dinner then you change your pattern. That doesn't mean everyone who has a glass of wine with dinner is an alcoholic.

 

I do think that's where she got her info. I see from what others have said how she might have gotten that mixed up--unfortunately, I wonder if the misinformation has given her a greater sense of hopelessness w/ regard to alcoholism in her own family. She was drinking when she gave me the definition, fwiw.

 

(Hmmm...that implies that I brought it up. She did. It was a theoretical discussion about family, etc.)

[Aubrey]

I haven't read the other responses yet, but I consider myself an alcoholic and I've never had a drink in my life... my parents and grandparents are alcoholics, so I just KNOW that I have a predisposition to it (I can feel it inside, you know?) so I just refuse to let any alcohol in my home and won't touch it. Dh is on the same page with me, so he won't drink either. That may sound crazy, but I guess I just don't want to take any chances. I don't know where the line is drawn in defining what is/isn't an alcoholic, but I do know that someone can be a sober alcoholic... so it must have something to do with more than just the action of drinking.

 

I know exactly what you mean. That's basically what the conversation was about.

[TravelingChris]

My dh has an alcoholic brother. He takes a drink, he ends up drinking to excess. He has had a lot of problems as a result of his drinking- medical legal, jobwise, relationship wise. I don't know that he had any pattern of drinking- he just drank. Then there is my husband. He sometimes has a glass of wine or a beer with dinner. He sometimes has a glass when cooking. He sometimes has a drink in the evening while reading or watching a movie. He has been doing this our entire married life. As I said, he sometimes does these things. He doesn't get drunk, he doesn't drink and drive, and he doesn't drink every day. He has no compulsion about it at all. He likes to have a drink just like I like to have my chocolate. But I would say my chocolate seeking behavior is more akin to an addiction than his sometime having a beer or a glass of wine. With him, there is no downside at all. He has lately taken to drinking less frequently but only because he is trying to lose weight and wants less calories.

[BearWallowSchool]

That is not my definition.

 

I did hear on the radio once that if you can't go more than 24 hours w/o a drink, then you have a problem. :001_huh: I would think if you can't go a few days w/o a drink you have a problem. :tongue_smilie:

[MommyRyan]

I consider any addiction to be continuing in a behavior despite its negative affects on your social life, family life, physical, emotional, spiritual, or financial well-being.

[Mom-ninja.]

As I recall, if you plan to get trashed it's a sign of alcoholism. I think she had it a little mixed up. IOW, if you look forward to New Year's Eve, because you are going to get falling down drunk, then you have a problem.

 

I see the above as looking forward to a good time. And then swearing you will never drink again as you lie next to the toilet. ;)

[Pamela H in Texas]

I hate that broad definition but I've heard it before.

 

One person who had a beer or two a night may be an alcoholic while another person who has the same may not be. One person who NEVER drinks another drop may be an alcoholic while another may not be.

 

I would guess that one definition or another would qualify just about anyone and everyone an alcoholic. Ridiculous.

[RoughCollie]

A friend recently said that the def of alcoholism was having any kind of pattern to your drinking--wine w/ dinner, champagne on NY, beer on the weekends.

 

That is ridiculous. My doctor told me to have 1-2 glasses of wine or 1 mixed drink every night because I have heart problems. He told DH to have 1-2 mixed drinks a night because he has high cholesterol.

 

The only problem is that DH and I usually have, on average, about 1 drink every 2 or 3 years.

 

I have 2 bottles of wine sitting in the fridge now, waiting for me to get off my duff and start drinking them. I keep forgetting about them until I try to shove leftovers in the fridge and they are in the way.

 

A week ago, I started giving DH one mixed drink at night, not just for his cholesterol, but also to relax him so he can sleep.

 

I don't think either of us are in danger of becoming alcoholics, although the kids become alarmed when they see either of us having a drink. They watch DH so closely that it makes him nervous -- I think they're making sure he doesn't get drunk. I keep explaining that DH is 6'2" and weighs over 200 lbs -- he is not going to get inebriated from one drink.

Edited February 4, 2010 by RoughCollie

[eternalknot]

A friend recently said that the def of alcoholism was having any kind of pattern to your drinking--wine w/ dinner, champagne on NY, beer on the weekends.

 

I don't know where she got her information, but frankly, that sounds crazy to me. By those standards, I'd expect that almost anyone who drinks *at all* would qualify as an alcoholic.

 

What do y'all think? Have you heard this? Another definition? Just curious.

 

I think what's missing from your friend's equation are the WHAT and the WHY behind the pattern.

 

Certainly, an alcoholic isn't always someone who is getting "trashed" ... every night ... there are varying degrees of the disease, but it boils down to WHAT need the alcohol filling and WHY is the drinker choosing alcohol over x-alternative.

 

The WHATs and WHYs form patterns that can be pretty dependable in defining an alcoholic -- whether it's Suzy Homemaker who drinks a glass of wine nightly for that buzz "to decompress after a(nother) long day" or G.I. Joe who saves his lunch money all week so he can get crazy with the guys because he craves the feeling of that particular shared experience for whatever reason. A pattern in and of itself isn't enough to define an alcoholic, but it's definitely a place to start.

 

Certainly someone who simply enjoys a nightly taste of quality wine with dinner will fill in part of the equation (the PATTERN) ... but if he isn't relying on the alcohol to fill any emotional or physical void (the WHATs and WHYs) then it's seemingly reasonably understood he isn't in the same class of drinker as an alcoholic.

[Rosie_0801]

That is ridiculous. My doctor told me to have 1-2 glasses of wine or 1 mixed drink every night because I have heart problems.

 

You get the same benefits from prunes, and without the alcohol, you know. Prunes don't sound so nice though, do they? Would it help if you called them sugar plums? :D I had no idea until recently that sugar plums were just prunes, but I did think it made them taste better!

 

:)

Rosie- not trying to steal away your glass of wine or criticise or anything, just sharing my newish found knowledge because it was vaguely on topic, and as you can imagine, such info is rarely on topic...

[RoughCollie]

Rosie, I like prunes, so thanks for the info.

[IsabelC]

Would it help if you called them sugar plums? :D I had no idea until recently that sugar plums were just prunes, but I did think it made them taste better!

So the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker ballet is really just the Prune Fairy? Nooooooooooooooooo!

[lionfamily1999]

I see the above as looking forward to a good time. And then swearing you will never drink again as you lie next to the toilet. ;)

It runs in the family and my sibs and I all fit this definition. Except that I never want to get that drunk. Yeigermeister is evil and no longer allowed near me. That was the only drink that really dismantled me and made me swear to never touch another drop (my stomach clenches just thinking about the TWO DAYS of misery I lived because of that disgusting stuff).

[Joanne]

Just FYI, "AA" would not have given that info, but some people attending might. (Though hopefully there would have been some oldtimers around to correct it.;))

 

I'd like to give some info on *alcoholism* (and this is distinct from other addictions, drugs and behavioral such as sex or shopping).

 

The *body* of an alcoholic is different. In the body of an alcoholic, alcohol creates the need for more. This reaction does not happen in the body of a normal drinkers. Sometimes an alcoholic bodied person can "deny" that function and not drink to excess in certain settings (I did, up until the end) but the reaction/craving is still present.

 

Patterns of drinking vary widely among alcoholics. Effects on family life, legal issues, career, and health vary widely. There are some common, known behavioral and thinking patterns that develop but are not completely shared within alcoholics as a group.

 

While drinking 2 drinks a day does not, in my (somewhat knowledgeable and experienced mind) equal alcoholic, the NEED to do so might be a clue. So, it's not the presence of 2 drinks but what's behind it.

[lionfamily1999]

I agree Joanne. It's not so much looking forward to going out and partying as seeing that party as a time when you can finally give into the craving you've had all day.

 

If you're jonesing for a drink and put it off till New Year's, but all you plan for New Year's is finally getting to drink...... you have a problem, imo.

[IsabelC]

Seriously, I was wondering whether I had a problem. Even though I hardly ever drink, and never have much, I was unsure whether I could do without alcohol. So I became a temporary teetotaler for two years. I hardly noticed the difference, so I figured I probably didn't have an issue with it. Chocolate is another issue though.

 

 

ETA I also know somebody who does not drink, ever, because a parent was an alcoholic so she is sure that she would be as well. I'm not sure about that, but hey nobody *needs* to drink alcohol, so probably better not to if you feel like that.

Edited February 5, 2010 by Hotdrink