Is drinking alone really a sign of alcoholism?
 

Or does it just mean you don't know anybody you like to drink with?

My social life is so pathetic that if I only drank socially, I'd drink about only once every 3 months.

I have a glass or two of wine with dinner quite frequently, and sometimes I relax on afternoons off with a couple of pints.

What's your opinion?

My opinion, seeing as you asked for it, is that there are a lot of people with unecessarily negative opinions on alcohol. You haven't got a problem. In moderation, it's a good laugh and potentially 'healthy'. I tend to find that British consumption is more than Americans - this isn't a dig per se, more an observation on piss-ups I've been on with Americans where they seem to stop around the 5-6 pint mark, whereas the traditional British piss-up starts hitting the shorts around pint 8.

Anyway. No. You haven't got a problem. You've a problem when you can't function socially without it, or you can't start the day without it. There's a lot of people out there who seem to think that anyone who drinks more than a couple of glasses of wine with a meal is a wife-beating tramp-potentiate. Cunts, the lot of them.

Are you still home-brewing by the way?

No, no more homebrewing. I wish I could. I miss the results--some of the best beer I've ever had was the stuff I made. But it is a hell of a lot of work. Too much work. I got burned out on it.

I also attribute the 30 pounds I gained over 2 years to all that homebrew. Took me a good year to get the 30 pounds back off.

Thanks, Glice.

I guess it's only a sign of alcoholism if you're drinking alone in order to get drunk, and yeah, if you can't live without it. Having one or two glasses is hardly alcoholism.

My grandmother's neighbors are alcoholic, and they're always two or three.

That said, I don't think I can say much about alcohol as I don't drink alcohol at all myself.

Do you feel as though you can't go without alcohol?

Do you get sick when you don't drink?

Do you drink every single night?

Why do you drink?

Does your life revolve around drinking?


The only thing that worries me in your post is the frequency of your drinking. However, there is no way for me to tell. Drinking a glass or two of wine might not do anything to you whereas it would get others shitfaced.

Yes, probably.

No.

Yes.

I like the taste of good wine and good beer, especially how they go with food.

No.

I doubt that what you described makes you an alcoholic. I think when drinking alone is mentioned as a sign of alcoholism, it's meant to refer to either the person who shuts himself off from the world completely and sits at home and drinks himself into oblivion or the person who wakes up in the morning after a night of partying and needs to do a couple of shots just to face the day.

A person who has a couple of drinks with dinner or a beer or 2 or 3 while watching the game ... and just happens to be alone while doing so is fine.

This is coming from someone who was a raging alcoholic for 12 years and now has 16 years sober .. not that that makes me an expert but I do have some experience to base my opinion on. I never did the whole "drinking alone" thing or the "hair of the dog" thing but that didn't mean I didn't have a problem any more than your enjoying a few drinks on occasion means that you do.

I also agree with Glice that "there are a lot of people with unecessarily negative opinions on alcohol" ... fuck them.

This might sound stupid, but I see it as part of the dining experience. It enhances my enjoyment of food or dinner or whatever. It's like another component of the meal. Yeah, I do drink sometimes without food, but I don't enjoy that as much. And when I do that, I also savor it like I do good food, noticing the flavors and so on.

Feeling as though you can't go without alcohol is a problem. If you are really worried, I'm suggest that you make an effort to go 3 nights without drinking anything alcoholic. If you experience these symptoms than yes, you probably have a chemical addiction. These symptoms usually occur about 2 days after the last drink is consumed.

• Sweating (especially on the face or the palms of the hands)
• Rapid emotional changes
• Insomnia, sleeping difficulties
• Clammy skin
• Easily excited, irritability
• Vomiting
• Feeling nervous or jumpy
• Depression
• Tremor of the hands
• Headaches (especially those that pulsate)
• Difficulty thinking clearly
• Fatigue
• Looking pale, without color
• Involuntary, abnormal movements of the eyelids
• Nightmares
• Anxiety
• Abnormal movements
• Eyes or pupils different size (enlarged, dilated pupils)
• Rapid heart rate
• Nausea
• Loss of appetite

I only feel like I can't do without it the way I feel I can't do without enjoyment of other things--sex, music, food, tv. If that's an addiction, I guess I'm Ok with it.

Yeah, well then, it probably is not too much of a problem. You might want to be careful though because often alcoholics don't want to entertain the possibility of really having a problem.

I don't have a problem, and I won't even entertain the thought that I do, so leave me alone.

The problem as I see it is - if you have or are going to have a serious problem with drink or any drugs you won't know about it until it's too late and you've already fucked up your life.

You can never be rationally or reasonably aware of what you are doing to yourself and to your life with drugs/booze because they act on the the very part of the mind that deals with rationality/reason/self awareness.

I think the question to ask yourself Glice is - if i wasn't drinking, what would I be doing instead? Would it not be a lot more enjoyable? I mean I know you don't think that now but surely the sobreity would only sharpen your senses? And also - if I keep on drinking like this, where am I gonna be in a few years time? Is your life gonna be any different/better or are you gonna be in the same position you're in now. If the answer is the latter then it's quite likely by then not only will you be drinking more but you'll find it harder to stop and have less insight into what it's doing to your life.

Of course if you were British none of this would matter because here alcoholism is expected with some forward thinking youth starting around the ages of 8 and a fresh puddle of puke to greet you at least once on every street you walk through.

Is jacking off by yourself a sign of sex addiction?

...well, it could be... but the REAL answer is: jacking off with a person is always more fun.

Same for drinking. You're not necessarily an addict. But you should know that drinking with others is always better!

If you're British, there's a hell of a lot more you can get away with in all aspects.

Of course. But it doesn't mean I enjoy it less alone. I just don't enjoy it as much.

i drink alone more often than not but i barely drink, i don't see any problem with killing a couple beers while watching football

It's a sign of not having anyone to drink with.

I don't like to watch football, though!

Your realistic outlook is refreshing.