How do you know you're an alcoholic?

it has little to do with the amount you drink. your liver might disagree, but from a 'functioning' point of view, you want to watch out for those symptoms:

you realize that stuff has to be covered up:

• the things you do, and say, and type while drunk.
• the inability to cope with even small problems properly the next day.

you rely on others to do the dirty work (i.e. covering) for you.

i think it has a lot to do with the amount you drink, the frequency, whether you're craving it all the time or can leave it alone without missing it. not sure what you mean by covering up. how do you take back things said, done or typed?

remember too that most drunks have at least one enabler.

Well if you ask yourself that question you must know something is going wrong.
My sister works as a nurse in A&E, there they class anyone who drinks two beers (not spirits) a day as an alcoholic and keep that in mind while treating them.

Refusing to admit you have a problem with booze is one of the first signs...

Been there, got that tee shirt!

If it interfers with your everyday life, duties and responsibilities then one does indeed have a problem.

The DSM-IV diagnoses Alcoholism using the following criteria:


The one that has always differentiated the alcoholics in my life from the people who just like to drink is whether they were capable of just having one. While they tend to be able to abstain for long periods of time, an alcoholic has a really hard time having a liesurely glass of wine (or beer) with dinner without turning it into an alcohol binge.

Have you ever noticed that when you call someone a kiddie fiddler the first thing he does is deny it? Strangely enough, every kiddie fiddler out there denies being one when asked. So what do the non-kiddie fiddlers say that's different?

If alcohol and the effects of consuming it are interfering in other aspects of your life and you continue to drink anyway, you may have a problem with it. If you wake up every morning saying you have to stop but not going to bed sober, you may have a problem. If you need a belt to get you going, you may have a problem. DO NOT LISTEN TO THE FUCKING PEOPLE SPOUTING CATCH-22 PHRASES LIKE THE ONE I QUOTED ABOVE.

If you do agree you have a problem, avoid AA like the plague. They have the worst record for recidivism out there. People quitting cold turkey have a much higher success rate; AA gives people the excuse they need to drink again with their blame-shifting thanks to the "higher power". You are NOT "powerless against drink" or you wouldn't be fucking looking for help.

woof.

I never understand why the people who say AA doesn't work are the people who seem to know the LEAST about it. Want to find out if you're alcoholic?? Stop drinking for 6 months. If you ARE you won't be able to. If you AREN'T it's no big deal. If Cold Turkey doesn;t work, then try AA. It can't hurt! You may just find out WHY you drink, and knowledge is power in my book.- just an opinion

I never understand why the people who say AA doesn't work are the people who seem to know the LEAST about it. Want to find out if you're alcoholic?? Stop drinking for 6 months. If you ARE you won't be able to. If you AREN'T it's no big deal. If Cold Turkey doesn't work, then try AA. It can't hurt! You may just find out WHY you drink, and knowledge is power in my book.- just an opinion

my personal problem with AA is that it is more or less state sponsered religion. I mean you get a DUI in the states and you have to go to one of these treatments to get your license back. So then you sit down with 10 or 20 other people and talk about why you are there almost everyone is there cause a judge said they had to. Ofcourse you could say f*ck you judge but then you will get your cold turkey method in a jail cell. So to be fair i think the 12 step programs should have to post stats like 85 5 off people here will be off the wagen in 6 months. then maybe the court could stop forceing people to pay this rediculos fees for treatment that does not work

How do I know I'm not an alcoholic?

watisse quession?!

I would think, waking up in a sea of puke, beer cans, wine bottles and other alk-based beverages, smelling like a trash-can, looking like a good meal would kill you, never speaking coherent and having no friends other than the other Penners on the Platz may well be a small clue to the alcoholic life-style.

On first hand experience its when you are asked if you want something to drink and you always ask for a bottle.Be it a beer or summat else.Thats why i have knocked it on the head for the last 22 years

BadDoggie has given his opinion regarding his intolerance for AA in other threads as well. Search his posts for more information. In other points of view, AA is not harmful, could help, and likely won't hurt, regardless of it's origins, methods nor results in whole or in part. It may be of benefit.

Well fuck me Pink, Mik Dickinson has been on the wagon since the age of 23. Unfortunately, after realising this fact I am no longer able to listen to anything this "man" has to say in regard to drinking.

And yes I did associate manliness with imbibing ability, as anyone who actually had a proper, cirrhosis inducing problem with the wets at the age of 23, would be either be dead by now or dead by now, i.e not some pathetic ex pat nancy bastard trying to pretend he was hard back in the day.

Admit it Dickinson, you were the Wendy who couldn't hold their drink when you were a young lad. The abuse and slagging you received for being a nonce who couldn't hold their beer, made you "knock it on your head" rather than a concern for your health.

um to that I would say fuck off and fuck you! That is the kind of attitude adds to peoples problems. I knew a kid and at the age of 16 most of his friend group basically came out and said 'you should stop drinking.' Was he a twat when he drank? Very much so! Did he lose control after having a couple of drinks? No he lost control after one beer. Did he do a lot of stupid shit and hurt a lot of people including himself? YES! I'm sorry their are people that are by nature alcoholics and should not drink, if they realize this and do something about it more power to them. Why should they have to drink so you can feel better about yourself?

Sorry but agree with Mr. KingBilly here.

"um to that I would say fuck off and fuck you! "

Ummm is that the best you can come up with? U GO GIRL.

Thank you for the personal insight you have brought to this discussion, BUT I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOUR FRIEND WHO WAS A CUNT WHEN HE WAS DRUNK.

Once again, twats who get silly after drinking alcohol are being confused with people who are addicted to alcohol.

um no we are talking about people that can't stop drinking once they start and end up being brought home by the cops in their underwear. If you haven't lived it you don't know about it. If someone makes a decision to stop drinking respect it. What the hell does it have to do with you anyway?

personally i dont like to stop drinking if im on a night out and a mission to get plastered, sleeping on ubahn for hours, a talking to by the bizzies, slap in the face, tshirt-less having posted my top and not realised you cant grab stuff out postboxes - everyone has done stupid.

i dont think im an alcy though, just a wee obnoxious shite!!

(and im sure ill grow out of it)

Please re read my last post "Once again, twats who get silly after drinking alcohol are being confused with people who are addicted to alcohol." So thanks, but I am well aware of what I am talking about.


I am not going to go down the route you have chosen and sprinkle my posts with personal anecdotes.


Well manure for brains, look at the topic title, therein lies the hint. It is a QUESTION, therefore open to interpretation and different answers.

If you have ever met someone that cannot stop after having one drink, as in literally cannot stop and ruins his life over it and those of the people in his family/friend circle then you would realize. What I am saying is if someone comes out and says I realized drinking was a problem for me why the hell do/would you come down on them?

Going out for a good session is another thing getting wankered can be a good laugh and a healthy part of growing up, but not for some people.

I'm not sure mate - just look at me and Don Riina. He's still going in his mid-30's.

Personally I get very grumpy if I don't have a beer on Friday night. Does that make me an alcoholic? Probably but I think I've got my addiction under control. I don't think my drinking affects others around me. I'm aware heavy drinking is bad for my health so I limit the number of units I drink per week. When I was younger I did some dumb stuff which was alcohol fuelled. But that's what you're supposed to do when you're a spotty student, isn't it?

In my opinion there are different kinds of alcoholics. Ask yourself is it doing you or anyone you care about any harm?

Who the fuck are you to claim I know the least about AA, you fucking muppet? I wrote all about that bullshit organisation and linked to citations of every fucking statement I made. Go read the fucking thread.


Exactly. You spout your unfounded opinion, I state facts, backed up with the research and court cases my statements are based on. Full stop.


Not anymore. Griffin v. Coughlin, 88 N.Y.2d 674 (The New York Court of Appeals, 1996): ruling held that AA is a religious organisation since 75% of the tenets invoke a "higher power".


It may be of benefit? I have already shown that it most certainly IS NOT. It is the "solution" most likely to fail with the worst rate of long-term recovery out there. That means an alcoholic is more likely to drink if he goes to AA, and then do it again. Since the treatment for alcoholism is, in fact, to prevent this, then going to AA can indeed be considered more harmful than not going there.

woof.

This is a bad topic for Munich at this time, considering that we have probably consumed more beer in the last few weeks than the rest of the planet put together. (and more chickens than the rest of the planet)

I dunno, it's pretty diluted alcohol. Now if it were vodka with suds on top...

A few signs
- directly drinking from bottle (and declaring beer as non alcoholic drink)
- getting drunk before 8AM
- not adding ice or water to alcohol thinking it is a waste of time
- drinking alone
- stuttering while talking
- squinting after getting drunk
- 54% and 80% only
- using Weinbrands as quick fixes from time to time.

Complete abstinence is the only way out. One drink and you are off the wagon mate...

etc...

- directly drinking from bottle (and declaring beer as non alcoholic drink)
Drinking beer from the bottle is perfectly normal here and even in bars in the US.

- getting drunk before 8AM
Some of us work during the night; 8:00a.m. is "after work".

- not adding ice or water to alcohol thinking it is a waste of time
Good whiskeys taste like utter shit when you add water or ice. Go to a tasting when Keith does the next one and see for yourself. This is true for most high- and middle-end spirits.

- drinking alone
How is this indicative? This is a town full of fucking singles. I'm not going on a date just to have a few glasses of fucking wine. Or beer. Or G&Ts.

- stuttering while talking
- squinting after getting drunk
No, those are only indications that you've had too much to drink at that time.

- 54% and 80% only
I'm guessing you're referring to spirits again. Once again, since you think this is somehow indicative of alcoholism, it therefore must be true. BZZT!

- using Weinbrands as quick fixes from time to time.
Ah, so brandy = alcoholic. Be sure to tell the good people at Hennesy that their €4000/bottle "Ellipse" is only drunk by... drunks.

The only thing you come close to being correct on is "quick fix". If you need a "fix", yeah, there's a good chance you're an alcoholic. For a better characterisation of signs that one might be alcoholic, go back a page and see my comment just after ER's.

woof.

I will now refrain from commenting on the last ten post on this thread .

A few signs


bad news mate beer in Bayern is classed as food


not done that unless you class me still being pissed as a fart at 6am on the way home


add Ice or water to some of my 20 year old Scotch or my good Brandy in my house and I will kill you


try working away from home and living in a hotel


try working in London and having a seriously crap boss who you just want to loose it in front of and punch his lights out


I squint when sober, but its due to me being a twat and not going to Krass and getting my eyes checked and new glasses


Yuck

Just to clarify: I opened this topic the other night not to start a general discussion about alcoholism, though I've enjoyed reading the answers here.

I posted the comment after reading a new topic, ending with 'mods, please delete this'. written by the topic starter. and yes, the topic has since been deleted. Hence my reference to relying on others to clear up resulting mess. I do think that's what it's all about. You are free to ruin your own life, health, future, whatever. But you shouldn't rely on others to clean up after you.

A bit melodramatic, I know, it's just a topic on the net, but it reminded me of real life stuff. That's all.

When drunk, I often take out and put my right contact in the wrong side of the case . Sometimes it's the wrong contact in the right side of the case. It gets so confusing. The next day, I wake up and put my contacts in and I'm cross eyed.

I hate when that happens.

PS - AA is for quitters

(so original, I know...)

The sad thing is, it's really not. There are lots of ways to stop; AA isn't one of them.

woof.

Hmmmm..the angry responses I read here make me wonder if the topic has struck a nerve...

..and the 20 & 30 years sober AAers that I know would probably disagree that it doesn't work- myself included.

One more OPINION...People should try to keep an open mind..It's rare that the brain falls out.

OK, elucidate. But without links please.
Much obliged.
Garibaldi

I think it's pretty simple. It does and can work for some people but perhaps not for others. One of my best mates had a horrible problem with alcohol. Going to AA meetings just made him want to go get drunk. He ended up joining a private group with like interests and he's now been sober for 2 years.

I also know some people who have done wonderfully under AA. Congrats to them!

I've never come close to rock bottom myself, but know I need to cut back. AA isn't the answer. Thanks to some US policies, I had to attend a few meetings when I was caught walking across the street with an open beer (no lie). It just didn't seem to fit for me personally. I congratulate those who it works for, however.

The worst thing is to be judgmental in my mind. AA takes many different personas and rounds them up in to a collection of 'group thinkers'. It just never flew with me and doesn't with others. Don't chastise other because it's not for them. On the other hand, don't chastise AA members because maybe they need the structure.

I went to October fest last weekend and couldn’t help thinking it was kind of the opposite of an AA meeting. A lot more fun tho and also much more popular. I think they would only consider you an alcoholic there if you couldn’t lay on the ground without holding on. I think I drunk too much as I couldn’t feel myself having sex afterwards.

Why is there still such a stigma associated with alcoholism when it's a disease? As with most diseases the symptoms, if left untreated, may become progressively worse over time.

Shut the hell up 'Voice of Reason'. Jeeezz

Where can I score some weed?

It's not a disease.

I would like to refer you to these links: http://www.medicinenet.com/alcohol_abuse_a...ism/article.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disease_Theory_of_Alcoholism

Is alcoholism a disease?

Yes, alcoholism is a disease. The craving that an alcoholic feels for alcohol can be as strong as the need for food or water. An alcoholic will continue to drink despite serious family, health, or legal problems.

Like many other diseases, alcoholism is chronic, meaning that it lasts a person's lifetime; it usually follows a predictable course; and it has symptoms. The risk for developing alcoholism is influenced both by a person's genes and by his or her lifestyle. (See also "Publications," Alcohol Alert No. 30: Diagnostic Criteria for Alcohol Abuse and Dependence.)

Bullshit. Absolute, utter, complete bullshit.

Say it with me, Addiction is not the same thing as Disease.

A disease is caused by the actions of genetic defects, environmental factors or involuntary acquisition of a foreign body (virus, bacteria, parasite). In most cases there is a course of treatment.
An addiction is caused by the voluntary introduction of a substance into the body. The treatment is... not introducing that substance anymore.

Malaria is a disease. Heroin addiction is not a disease.
Diabetes is a disease. Cocaine addiction is not a disease.
Black lung is a disease. Nicotine addiction is not a disease.
AIDS is a disease. Alcohol addiction is not a disease.

ALL of these are ADDICTIONS. The cure is to STOP USING THEM. Yes, someone who's addicted really really REALLY wants it badly. So badly, in fact, that he'll destroy his life to get it. I know from whence I speak on the subject. That doesn't make it a disease.

Stopping is a matter of willpower although there are some drugs which can help in some cases.

To call addiction a disease is to call repeatedly hitting my hand with a hammer a disease. It makes my hand bloody, breaks the bones, and it hurts an awful fucking lot. Except that all it takes to make the pain go away, stop the bleeding and let the bones heal is for me to stop fucking hitting my hand with the goddamned hammer.

woof.

I think BD pretty much nailed it there, no pun intended.

Thanks for the reply.

To hit on your hand incessantly can, as a type of self injury, can be considered as a disease (Lesch-Nyhan, Cornelia de Lange to mention two related syndromes). By your post, it seems that you would not class a lot of mental behaviours as disease, after all, just got to stop eating poo and what not, right? Drinking, IMHO, is not a disease but severe addiction is one.

The operational difference might seem the need to differentiate by what can be willed (can you will the production of Insulin?) and what cannot.

Disease, not disease? Not so black and white. Behavioural syndromes? But little matter the classification, if it does not help individuals.

Oh and Lavender - the disease definition you copy and pasted sucks - based on that, old age and life are diseases.

I'm surprised your arse went numb.

Where'd he go?

bark.