Do I have a drinking problem?

LegacyUser

Hi I'm quite worried
I am 24 and I could drink 3 maybe more cans every nite! I am quite worried and looking for some support to this as I dunno what others do? Do other lad at this age drink the same on average or am I just a total alcoholic?
I am worried. Please, I'm looking for some answers and support! I need to do something if its a problem. Will I be a rough looking person when I get to my 30's because of this?

petes

Do you feel the need to drink the three cans or more every night? To me it's not excessive (29) but to others it might be. Do you then go out and binge at the weekend? If so that it may be an issue.

biko

There are some free tests out there if you google.
3 cans sounds like ok to me but it matters once you start combining all the drink during a month.
Also, if drink keeps you from doing other stuff then it's def an issue (too hungover to work and similar)

merlie

Hello there,

I do not see it as you being an alcoholic more like you MAY have a drinking problem if is every night. You want to control it before it becomes a bigger problem. You can talk anonymously with someone over the phone and ask for guidance or you can look at some self help websites which may clarify for you where you are at with alcohol.

I have listed below some sites you may like to have a look at and which may be of help to you.

http://www2.vhi.ie/topic/alcabuse

http://www.healthpromotion.ie/alcohol/about-alcohol/

I wish you the very best of luck and hope you will start feeling better in yourself soon.

Merlie

beth-lou

I would advise you to try to keep drinking to to the weekend and to social occasions. Don't drink on your own and don't drink to drown your sorrows.

Are you craving your three cans every night?
The simplest solution would be to knock the drinking every night thing on the head, just in case, because it will become a habit and habits are hard to break. And it could lead to alcoholism, which kind of creeps up, even on people as young as you.

The good thing is that you are aware of the potential risk, so be proactive and nip it in the bud and enjoy drinking socially.
Hope this helps.

dlambirl

I wouldnt say it is excessive but i think you could call it a problem if you stop doing other stuff in the evening just so you can have your 3 cans, if you start relying on the 3 cans every night.

Try to not have any drink for a week and if its too much then you could say that you would have a problem.

seamus

Alcoholism is not about how much you drink or how often you drink, but about *why* you drink.

You have 3 cans every night. OK, so from a health POV it's not ideal, but not dangerous either.

Just a few questions:

Would you make a point of having these cans every night - i.e. would you make sure you're at home/in a pub/in a mate's house to have these, or would you be more than happy to forget about your three cans and go to the cinema?

If you don't have beer in, will you go to the off-licence/shop to get cans just so you can have your three? That is, if there was no beer in the house, would you be happy to forgoe your cans cos you couldn't be bothered going out to get them?

Do you make a point of being alone when you drink them?

Alcoholism is effectively a dependency on alcohol. This doesn't necessarily manifest itself as a state of constant inebriation or shaking and shivering when you haven't been drinking, but instead it can be more like a smoker - you have a drink to "get you through the day" or because it feels good or purely out of habit. The key being that you would "miss" having a drink in your hand at any particular point in the day/week/month.

We all look at a nice cold can/bottle and go "Oh yeah, I fancy one of them". The difference between dependency and desire is that the person who simply desires it could leave it there and not come back to it.

monellia

I guess you know you have an addiction when it starts having a destructive effect on other aspects of your life or when you get depressed/irritable when you don't get to drink.

drusk

If you can go for a week without drinking, and it doesn't bother you - ie., you don't become restless, crave it - then you don't have a problem.

If not, then you have a drinking habit. This may lead to alcohol dependency.

LegacyUser

I don't think there are any hard and fast 'rules' about what actually makes you an alcoholic. Funny enough, I've recently had a similar issue to you OP and when I tried very hard, to find what makes you an alco, I couldn't for the life of me, find a definition. Everywhere I looked, it is ultimately up to YOU - so you decide if you are, or aren't an alcoholic.

What I will say though is that if you THINK that alcohol is a problem in your life, then it usually IS.

Heads up to the previous poster who said that it's not the alcohol that's the problem. It's the REASON you drink the alcohol, that's the problem. If you can figure that one out, and 'fix' it, you're half way there.

LegacyUser

http://alcoholism.about.com/od/tests/l/blquiz_alcohol.htm

calahans

If you drink under 30 pints/cans a week in your twenties you are ok.

I would suggest you take monday to wed as drink free and drink the shortfall on the weekend

Dravokivich

Personnally for me, I don't have a problem with chilling at home and having a couple of cans / bottles of beer. I drink to relax not to get hammered out of it.

From your post... the main problem seems to be with "worrying", not the drinking. If you think its a problem... try to stop drinking so regularly and see how you feel after that for 2 weeks.

Dustaz

calahans wrote: »

If you drink under 30 pints/cans a week in your twenties you are ok.

I would suggest you take monday to wed as drink free and drink the shortfall on the weekend

its mindblowing how wrong some people can be.

RossFixxxed

calahans wrote: »

If you drink under 30 pints/cans a week in your twenties you are ok.

I would suggest you take monday to wed as drink free and drink the shortfall on the weekend

Um... No. I would have to agree that it's not the quantity entirely but the regular, habitual nature of it. Since it is so regular you have to question (as people have) do you NEED to have it every day, do you use it to some desired end e.g. dampening feelings, getting confidence, to level out etc. Then it becomes an issue.

I wouldn't be bothered with the semantics but a habbit with alcohol is dangerously close to alcoholism... The difference for me at THAT stage would then be quantity and escalation.

Good luck!
R

kelle

OP, you obviously feel you have a drinking problem when you posted here looking for advice and you are worried about it. That is a positive thing as you can do something about it.

Up to three years ago I was in your situation. It was always bothering me but I was always getting reassurances from others that what I was drinking was miniscule in comparison to what others drank.

But I knew the fact I was craving wine in the afternoons, and that I was finding it harder and harder to stop at a certain amount was NOT normal. And I worried about smelling of drink at work, and what if one of my children had an accident and I had to rush to hospital.

So i stopped listening to others and listened to myself instead. I made a decision in February 2006 never to let one drop of alcohol pass my lips again. I started finding things to do to take my mind off my cravings. It got easier and easier with time. I won't say I never desire wine or Budweiser any more, but I can distract my mind more easily away from it.

I did that test you sent the link to. I cast my mind back to the time I was drinking and answered the questions accordingly. My result was 45% dependency and I was advised to see a physician. It feels good knowing I have overcome this!

I feel so much better for my decision. Do what you feel is right.