My Attitude to Alcohol

Porklife

zoobizoo wrote: »

I understand.

There are some really good NA beers out there... Even the craft brewers are doing them.

You might find that getting the taste of beer, plus the feel of a cold bottle / pint glass, and getting the smell and the sensation of drinking it could trick your brain?

Alcoholism is complicated and I'm not trying to be facetious.

Thanks for the tip, it's worth a shot I guess. I didn't think you were being in any way facetious

Do you think it's genetic? I'm not sure although all evidence would suggest it is, given that both my parents were alcoholics. I'm not convinced it's a disease either, an illness sure but not a disease in the general sense of the word. It's a pain in the ass is what it is!!! It dominates everything!!

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zoobizoo

....... wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

When I'd take a couple of months off yes, people were offended that I wasn't drinking.

Can you imagine going to a restaurant and friends getting annoyed that you weren't eating what they were eating, or as much as they were eating at the speed that they were eating?

What I did notice was that when I was out and not drinking, I had such control over my night... I could drive in, chat to people, when people started getting a bit lairy and loud and boring, I could leave and drive home. I could also steer the conversations in a way that I wanted them to go - and found myself being in control of my wit more. (I'm not a control freak btw, it was just interesting to me).

Porklife

Fair play to ya, it aint easy, that's for sure.

Anybody who calls you dry for not drinking is a muppet. You're right too, it's because it highlights how much they're drinking and they don't like that.

I had a friend who got very sick recently, he died as it happens but that's a different story, he used to drink with the best of us but when he got sick he couldn't drink anymore. It really highlighted how much we all drink and it actually started to upset him. He could see it so clearly all of a sudden. He said it to me before he died.. please stop drinking so much. It's scary to watch all of you. That makes me so sad. Didn't stop me though.

skallywag

If you continue to drink in the same manner despite there being clear signs that the drinking is directly causing very real issues, then you are walking down the road to having a very serious problem. E.g. to take just one example from the OP's post, it's mentioned that work deadlines were missed due to conscious decisions to go out. OK, it could happen once, you end up feeling bad about it, and you don't go out again when you have a deadline. But if you find yourself letting it happen again and again, then you have a serious issue. You are consciously aware that it is continuously causing a problem but you are still powerless to stop it.

Porklife

Powerless being the operative word there.
I've done way worse then miss deadlines and still not been able to stop.
I had one very scary experience last summer in Chicago that I honestly can't even type or say out loud it's so bad. The only person I ever told was my councellor. Ugh. Stupid bloody alcohol.

Chancer3001

Jaysus. Reading porklife is like reading my own posts.

We're both the same people!

Also addicted to things. Open the ice cream it's all gone.

Doing double sessions in the gym midweek. Then drinking and drugs for 3 days straight at the weekend.

Vicious cycle .

I'm very tempted to go cold turkey from August.

Even that annoys me. Not cold turkey now cos sure I have 2 big weekends and I can't let the lads down.

I'm such good Craic on nights out. Everyone wants me out and wants me having the Craic.

But it's not what I a really want.

skallywag

Agreed Porklife. Irish people tend to label a person an Alcoholic based purely on the amount of drink consumed. There are lots of folk who drink way too much but who do not show alcoholic tendency, mind you the health risks are still there of course. Some can do this and still stay in control, but for others the drink just takes over completely. It can be hard for someone who has never experienced this first hand to fully appreciate how controlling alcohol can be for some people.

Porklife

Chancer3001 wrote: »

Jaysus. Reading porklife is like reading my own posts.

We're both the same people!

Also addicted to things. Open the ice cream it's all gone.

Doing double sessions in the gym midweek. Then drinking and drugs for 3 days straight at the weekend.

Vicious cycle .

I'm very tempted to go cold turkey from August.

Even that annoys me. Not cold turkey now cos sure I have 2 big weekends and I can't let the lads down.

I'm such good Craic on nights out. Everyone wants me out and wants me having the Craic.

But it's not what I a really want.

I'm the same... great fun, party girl etc but it's not what or who I want. I don't even know how this happened to me. I used to be quite reserved and knew my limits but now it's like... well, life is short and I could die at any given moment so I might aswell make the most of it. It's fatalistic thinking. Also, this isn't making the most of it. Being hungover, drunk or about to get drunk is no way to live.

Frankie Boyle said something once that really stuck with me. He gave up the hooch and said he realised how time consuming alcohol is. He realised he spent all of his time either getting drunk, thinking about getting drunk or recovering from being drunk. So true!! Bet he was great craic though :rolleyes:

Chancer3001

That's my biggest crutch too.

Life is too short. Life is ****ing amazing and you have to always be up for every experience ever. Night out? I'm the first one there. Can't miss a second. Fomo

But yeah if you take a step back. For every minute of a great experience there's 500 wasted either blackout drunk or hungover to pieces.

There's also another 5000 of regret from stupid actions from drinking.

So yeah. When you look at it objectively it's obviously no contest

But it really isn't as simple as that.

Porklife

Chancer3001 wrote: »

That's my biggest crutch too.

Life is too short. Life is ****ing amazing and you have to always be up for every experience ever. Night out? I'm the first one there. Can't miss a second. Fomo

But yeah if you take a step back. For every minute of a great experience there's 500 wasted either blackout drunk or hungover to pieces.

There's also another 5000 of regret from stupid actions from drinking.

So yeah. When you look at it objectively it's obviously no contest

But it really isn't as simple as that.

People talk about rock bottom and I'm curious what mine is. I've wound up in some ridiculous situations that to any normal person would be considered absolute rock bottom but to me it's like.. meh, could be worse.
This isn't a game though, it's a battle and alcohol is kicking my ass. It's winning, in fact it's already won. I have no power over it and the worst part is I succumb to it even when I don't want to. The rare time I don't actually feel like drinking, I still do for some bizarre reason. It's like I literally can't stop myself.
I wonder if the fall will be when it starts to affect my appearance or health cos as of yet it hasn't really. Hangovers can be hell but I just have a few beers to take the edge of them, tricks of the trade. It's just sad really. If drinking was a profession, I'd be CEO.

Foweva Awone

Porklife wrote: »

People talk about rock bottom and I'm curious what mine is. I've wound up in some ridiculous situations that to any normal person would be considered absolute rock bottom but to me it's like.. meh, could be worse.

You've reached rock bottom when you decide to stop digging.

Porklife

Foweva Awone wrote: »

You've reached rock bottom when you decide to stop digging.

Someone should take my spade away! :mad:

Bambi985

OP I admire your open-minded attitude towards your issue and wish you the best with getting sober. I'd strongly recommend seeking the support of an addiction counsellor as I think a large part of it is how you've been conditioned to socialise and to think about alcohol and even yourself and those are very tall mountains to climb on your own.

Have you spoken to your partner about it at all? I'd say her/his view on the matter could be very telling. An ex of mine was just like you, no cravings and believed 100% he could not touch the stuff for weeks on end, but once he'd cracked the lid on something that was it, game over. No control, non-stop drinking all night long, disappearing off the radar and then day-long hangovers where he'd be full of remorse and come up with every excuse under the sun.

He'd vow to give it up for a month and a few days in would come home from work with booze on his breath, some lad's leaving party, the boss took us out I couldn't say no, the opening of an envelope and he was there knocking back pints and buying shots for everyone in town despite not having the funds for it. Same thing if we went to his folks' house and the wine is out, all resolve out the window and it would ruin the day for me watching him guzzling back glasses at break-neck speed and then going into full-blown denial about it later. "I had 2 glasses the same as you!" "Sure you're one to talk, what about your prosecco night at A's last Christmas where you passed out on the couch" etc. I get tipsy after about a half bottle of wine once or twice a year, there really never was a comparison.

I was dating an alcoholic and in the end it was his denial about the entire situation and refusal to do anything about it that ended the relationship. I was a nervous wreck worrying about where he was going to find an opportunity to start boozing on any given day, any night out or work drinks he had would end in an argument when he'd rock up in a sorry state at 5am and flat-out lie about what he'd drank and where he'd been, checking his breath when he came home from work, rummaging through bins to prove myself right because I could never trust what he told me etc etc. All the while I was busy saving every penny I had so we could buy a house and some day get married (lol).

Just a view from the other side of the fence. Your behaviour isn't just destroying your own life, it has very big and very serious repercussions for the people you're closest to as well. It broke my heart to watch my OH and stop trusting a single word out of his mouth, to think about any kind of future with a man who was a slave to alcohol and prioritised that over any future with me.

NinetyTwoTeam

People have a certain image in their head of what an alcoholic is, and if they aren't as bad as it, you think you're not one.

But the thing is, you just haven't got that bad YET.

I had very similar symptoms to you OP. And so many, many others in the AA group I started attending once I threw in the towel. If you read the big book of AA, you will see that what you have described is a textbook case of alcoholism. But having others diagnose you is no use, you have to look at these options:

You can keep getting in the ring with alcohol and getting beat worse every time, until some calamity or disaster occurs, or you can admit you're powerless over it NOW and start making better choices before the disaster.

If drinking has cost you to lose friends, go broke, etc, you probably already feel guilty about your drinking, and probably don't even enjoy it as much as you think any more. It's not easy but waking up without the hell of a hangover, the fear, the empty pockets, is so worth it.

Big Bag of Chips

That's a brilliant post by Bambi, and you really should heed it, OP. It is how every partner of every alcoholic/heavy drinker feels all the time. You've stated you've already lost a lot of friends. It's unclear whether you've lost relationships because of it too. But even if your partner is with you and standing by you, life is not good for them. I don't know will that make any difference to you. I don't know if the problems your drinking is causing to others will be enough to make you stop/cut down.

I know it wasn't enough to stop my husband. It wasn't enough to stop his brother. My husband almost lost his family, and around that time he drank even heavier because he was losing his family. His brother has lost his family and is just as bad now as he was before they left. His excuse now is he has nobody. I'm not sure what his excuse was before that. (By the way, my husband didn't stop in order to save his family, he stopped because of the inevitable "disaster" that happened as mentioned by NinetyTwo. Although his brother has had a number of disasters, or what "normal" people would consider disasters and it's not stopping him).

It's not something I understand, although I 100% understand the partners perspective! I'm not a big drinker, so I could easily go out and have 1 drink or 2 or maybe 3 at a push and that would be my limit. I could easily have one and then switch to minerals. Drink doesn't bother me. Like Bambi I could fall asleep after a glass of wine! So if you want to call that "passed out after drink" I suppose it is! But if you find that it's all or nothing, then you need to see if drink suits you. If you can't go out and have 3, maybe 4 drinks and be happy to leave it at that then you have a problem. It mightn't be a problem if your nights out were a rarity. If you only went out and drank like that every few months. Doing it every weekend, or even every second weekend is too much. Especially when you are losing friends, affecting your work and getting in to debt because of it.

But again, you will only cut back if you want to. You haven't done it for others yet, and you're not really likely to at this stage.

LegacyUser

Thanks for all the responses. I've come back to this thread frequently over the past week, mulling over the posts and reflecting on my own situation.

The question of relationships, and how one's alcoholism impacts friends and family, is a recent theme. In terms of my relationship, yes, she has - on numerous occasions - told me, often in very stern and robust language, that I drink to excess. That being said, she has stayed with me throughout this period, frequently drinking with me even knowing how bad I can become. I do feel bad for her, though, I must be honest.

I said I'd honestly report my progress and that is what I'll do.

Over the past week, I've drank on Sunday and Monday (of last week), but that much you knew from my OP. I stayed abstinent for Tuesday and Wednesday but when out on Thursday and Friday and had 6 cans of beer at home last night. Though that sounds like a lot, and I guess it is, it's considerably less than last week. Today I've had nothing. I hope that, during this week, I can limit my alcohol consumption further, perhaps to just one day (and not to excess). I'll let you know if I've achieved this; I certainly hope I can.

Thanks again for your comments. I appreciate them and find them encouraging.

fizzypish

drinking_away wrote: »

I'll let you know if I've achieved this; I certainly hope I can.

Writing **** down can be hugely helpful (no idea why). If after a couple of weeks your finding your progress limited maybe look for a bit of help. Good luck!

Big Bag of Chips

You see you're already justifying your drinking by stating your gf sometimes drinks with you. Does she drink as much? Does her drinking cause as many problems as yours has? As Bambi said the problem drinker will often deflect from their own drinking by pointing out that others are doing it too. If your gf didn't drink with you (occasionally) what would be her option? Sit at home while you go out? Just because you have a problem controlling yours doesn't mean she's wrong if she drinks. My husband tried to use that argument with me when I told him that I finally admitted to my brother how bad things had gotten. I rarely go out. I rarely drink. But one night, my brother, noticing that something was wrong asked me to go out with him and his partner. We met in a pub and I had 2 glasses of wine. His partner didn't drink at all as she was pregnant and my brother, I'd say maybe had 3 pints.

I admitted to them how bad things were after getting with my husband. They'd never suspected. They knew he liked a few drinks, but never realised it was as bad as it was. When I told my husband that I had told my brother, the only thing he said about it was - So I was at home that night (no mention that he had been in the pub earlier that day, and was at home drinking - I had to drop the children to my mother because I wouldn't leave them with him) But anyway, his argument was "So I was at home that night, and the 3 of you were sitting in a pub talking about ME being an alcoholic".

It was a complete deflection of the real issue. And to be honest, I knew there was no point in continuing the discussion with him. I was trying to get him to see that I wasn't going to keep lying to people, and minimising his drinking. That my life was being seriously affected and I was finished with putting on a brave face and pretending that everything was always ok. But he didn't want to see that. He didn't want to hear that. Because listening to that and taking my point would have had to mean that he had a problem.. and in his eyes, he didn't have a problem with his drinking. I did. And that was my problem, not his! (and I was the one in the pub that night, not him)

Just because your partner has stuck with you through it all doesn't mean she's happy. Honestly, I think a huge part of why I stuck it for so long was partly a sense of duty to him, and partly because I didn't want the embarrassment of admitting it to everyone else. I certainly wan't happy! My brother is still the only person I have ever confided in from my immediate family.

My husband went from drinking most days to drinking everyday. He went from drinking a few days in the pub and the other days at home to drinking every day in the pub and continuing it when he got home. As mentioned, it's a progressive thing. And the longer it goes on the more it progresses. Some people aren't that bothered and can take it or leave it. These people might get pissed and fall over on rare occasions. It doesn't mean they have a problem! Some people love it but know their limits and can control it. They might get pissed more often, but their drinking isn't a problem. Some people can't, or have no interest in controlling it and don't care about the consequences of their drinking, relationships, friendships, work, money - their drinking is a problem. Even if it's not every day. Even if it's not every week. If drinking is having a substantial negative affect on your life, yet you continue to do it, you have a problem.

Edit: I'd like to point out, my husband's drinking never caused problems for those around him (other than me!) He never got mouthy or aggressive. He was never abusive. He never came home falling all over the place and fighting. He never got sick or pissed himself. He never missed a day in work. He was great criac with all his drinking buddies. But that doesn't mean that his drinking didn't cause problems for those closest to him. You don't have to be asleep on the street hugging a cheap bottle of wine before you have a drink problem.

Bambi985

Big Bag of Chips wrote: »

You don't have to be asleep on the street hugging a cheap bottle of wine before you have a drink problem.

I completely agree, and I'll add that we have a skewed attitude towards booze in Ireland that allows people with real problems with alcohol to hide in plain sight behind the hoards of people who are also abusing it in the name of "having the craic" "sure yer man was blotto last night it was gas" etc etc.

My ex used to do that all the time, came from a family of big drinkers, it was just the way of things for him and he'd use anyone as ammunition when I brought up the fact that he had a problem. "Sure we were all hammered...sure Dad had twice what I had" etc etc

Be stronger than that and look your addiction in the eye, don't minimise it because YOU are the one that stands to lose the most in it all. You wouldn't be in this forum coming back to this thread again and again if it wasn't a problem. Your friends might think you're great craic and your girlfriend might seem fine and "sure she has a few as well" etc but at the end of the day your loss of control over the booze has already had some awful real-life consequences for you, you've already lost more than a handful of friends, you're spending money you don't have, you're not able to do your job properly, you're blanking out regularly for gods sake.

And by the way I highly doubt your girlfriend is fine and dandy about it all. You've described her just as my ex would've described me - "sure she has a few herself, she had half that bottle of wine in my parent's house, she drank as much if not more of that gin..." - I'm one of those people that has a general disinterest in alcohol, I'll have one or two but never much more than that as the physical effects aren't worth it to me, yet my ex would hide behind the fact that I was there too, I had a gin and tonic, and he'd exaggerate my intake to minimise his own problems. That was the final straw for me and it was the beginning of the end.

Chancer3001

Based entirely on this thread, in going to limit myself to 1 night drinking in August. Or im going to try anyways.

There will be about 4 occasions I'll have to avoid alcohol and will be very very difficult but feck it . I'm going to try

Chancer3001

Based entirely on this thread, in going to limit myself to 1 night drinking in August. Or im going to try anyways.

There will be about 4 occasions I'll have to avoid alcohol and will be very very difficult but feck it . I'm going to try

Tigger99

drinking_away wrote: »

I stayed abstinent for Tuesday and Wednesday

Somebody who doesn't have a drink problem wouldn't even see this as an achievement. I've gone a few weeks without drinking and never even noticed until I went to taste some wine I had opened that was well gone off.

You brush her concerns away almost as if they are nothing, "stern and robust words". I'm guessing you've no idea of the real stress and worry she's going through. Maybe you should sit down and really talk to her before you loose her. Especially considering all the friends you've lost.

There are many functioning alcoholics in Ireland.
Just because you mightnt appear to be some awful wino (well to yourself anyways, maybe you do to others) doesn't mean that alcohol doesn't control your life. I hope this thread helps but I think you are still in denial.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

Five days ago you were planning not to drink for the rest of the month, that being a little over a week at the time.

In those five days you've ended up drinking three times, at least one night heavily.

You're clearly intelligent, and your posts are eloquent. But eloquence doesn't equal insight, intelligence doesn't equal truth. The minimising and deflection and denial are very clearly visible behind your words to pretty much any independent observer; you have a drink problem.

Try going cold turkey for a month. Thirty days, not a drop. If you are not an alcoholic, that shouldn't be more than an inconvenience. Surely it's worth missing a few nights of the craic to find out definitively if you have a problem? The pub isn't going anywhere.

If you can't stop drinking for a month, you need to stop drinking forever.

LegacyUser

So you drink 5 nights of 7 and don't consider that dependent? You do this after posting on a forum asking if you had a problem with drink and after people have told you do? You've lost 24 friends? A friend before their death asked you to stop drinking so much!!!! Do you think he was the only one that noticed? Do you think you're the life and soul of the party and the craic? You're probably not! Your comments come across as flippant. You're not willing to stop just cut down? If you took this seriously you would stop completely. You girlfriend drinks? Look up enabling! You'll probably lose her by the way but at that point you won't care. You query whether it's genetic? Maybe look at yourself first before projecting blame on parents or partners, you are making your own choices. You've gotten yourself into dangerous situations, too bad to mention. You a lot to lose in drinking, what exactly are you gaining? Did you come on here looking for people to tell you it's grand, we all do it and that you don't have a problem? You have a problem, cutting it down to one problematic day in seven isn't a solution.

valoren

Denial is a powerful thing. Just some notes OP on how powerful it can be.

My father is an out and out alcoholic in denial.

Down through the years has;

Been arrested twice for drink driving....within the same month in the early 80's.

Has thrown a punch at my mother during a drunken argument when we were kids around the same time.

Left the home, when my brother was an infant, and moved to England after he got a government grant and spent it on drink. He effectively abandoned the family with 3 kids aged 6, 4 and 4 weeks old. He came home after 9 months, when the funds had run out.

He fell asleep while badly hungover, while supposed to be minding my brother, aged 2, in 1986 who managed to open the front door and managed to walk to our Aunt's house just over a mile away. It's a miracle nothing bad happened. We live in a suburb.

He has fallen out with his entire family over the years. He has 6 brothers and 1 sister who love him as a brother but simply have no time for him. He is regarded as a nuisance who has to be tolerated by my mother's family.

Has lost countless jobs through the years, through indifference, by falling out with people there, by being unreliable, by showing up late, hungover etc.

In 1993, he asked me for a 'loan' of £20 after I made my confirmation, aged 12, which I refused. He had no cash and was planning to go to the pub. I was 12 and knew exactly what he wanted it for.

In 1997, he was involved in coaching an underage soccer team and on a trip to England was drunk everyday and had to be sent home by the Committee. He was supervising children while pissed as a fart and they needed to do what needed to be done.

He still regularly drove through the years while pissed drunk and thankfully never hurt or killed anybody.

Has been arrested twice for drunk and disorderly behaviour and spent the night in jail in the early 00's

Whenever he had a sizeable amount of cash, he would go on two week benders that would involve staying until closing time and getting up early, driving the car to the early morning pubs and wash, rinse repeat until the money was gone.

He has gotten violent with me on numerous occasions when called out on his drinking, has thrown punches at me and I've thrown punches back purely because of his drinking and the trouble it has caused.

In 1999, after winning a settlement of £12,000 spent 7 months drunk every day until the money ran out.

In 2003, pissed on whiskey, after he tried to take a swing with a golf club at my younger brother, 19 at the time, who had angrily spoken out against his drinking. I literally had to throw him out of the front door and slam it shut on him.

In 2004, Christmas Day, he had been drinking daily for a month beforehand, we weren't talking, it was a toxic atmosphere and we went to visit relatives graves as we usually did, we came home to find a fire was lighting in the backyard. He drunkenly claimed it must have been arson, but we knew it was him. And it was his way of getting attention. The fire was next to the oil tank and if we hadn't spotted it who knows what might have happened.

Christmas Day 2006, pissed on Whiskey, I had to restrain him from driving around to look for an open garage or shop for more booze and had to hide his keys, he passed out asleep soon after thankfully.

He has a litany of empty naggins of whiskey and vodka badly hidden around the house.

He again moved out of home in 2009, complaining that our mother was driving him mental and stayed in a dingy bedsit for 6 months, but returned reluctantly because our mother was frightened living on her own. He has ever since effectively been a lodger in the home. He contributes nothing to the upkeep of the house, bills etc.

He has twice been drunkenly abusive towards my wife before and while she was pregnant at family events. We nearly came to blows......again.

He has most recently, last October, been in a scuffle with Iarnrod Eireann staff in Heuston Station and had to be restrained and escorted off the train after giving racist abuse towards a Polish security guard after he had drunkenly jumped the queue and jumped over a barrier to board the train. He spent the night in a cell to sleep off the drink.

And despite all that. It is my mother who has brainwashed us against him. She has the drinking problem. We have the problem, not him. In his deluded head, he isn't an alcoholic. He is just being social. It would make you laugh if it weren't so serious.

To meet him today, you'd think he was a lovely man. But that's how evil the alcohol actually is and how strong denial against how hopelessly addicted to it someone can be.

Stonedpilot

OP from what they describe is very clearly an alcoholic.

Talk of drink problems on this thread. No alcoholic has a drink problem. They have a Sobriety problem. Cant stand living sober as the head is wrecked with fears,resentments,lonliness,depession,horrors,regrets, feeling alienated and misunderstood etc etc brought on by the thinking disease of alcoholism so even more excessive drinking is inevitable.
Its not whats in the bottle makes you drink OP its whats in your head.
Ps-
Get help. It will cost you everything in the long run if you dont.

Stonedpilot

OP from what they describe is very clearly an alcoholic.

Talk of drink problems on this thread. No alcoholic has a drink problem. They have a Sobriety problem. Cant stand living sober as the head is wrecked with fears,resentments,lonliness,depession,horrors,regrets, feeling alienated and misunderstood etc etc brought on by the thinking disease of alcoholism so even more excessive drinking is inevitable.
Its not whats in the bottle makes you drink OP its whats in your head.
Ps-
Get help. It will cost you everything in the long run if you dont.

zoobizoo

I think talking with an addiction counsellor would help OP.

Mr. Incognito

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

If you were in any other country rather than Ireland you would be seen as a very serious alcoholic.

zoobizoo wrote: »

I wouldn't have labeled you an alcoholic

Chancer3001 wrote: »

It's an addiction to the Craic ... Not to the alcohol itself.

NinetyTwoTeam wrote: »

People have a certain image in their head of what an alcoholic is, and if they aren't as bad as it, you think you're not one.

Tigger99 wrote: »

There are many functioning alcoholics in Ireland.

And this is a huge problem here.

Bambi985 wrote: »

we have a skewed attitude towards booze in Ireland that allows people with real problems with alcohol to hide in plain sight behind the hoards of people who are also abusing it in the name of "having the craic"

The point of all of these "ask yourself if ... " lists to identify if you are an alcoholic is to break through this smokescreen of normality that we have around alcohol consumption.

ALCOHOLIC
noun. An addiction to the consumption of alcoholic liquor or the mental illness and compulsive behavior resulting from alcohol dependency.

ADDICTION
noun. The fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance or activity.

ADDICTED
adjective. Physically and mentally dependent on a particular substance.

The fact of the matter is, anything that the brain becomes used to it in order to function properly is addictive ... be it food, cigarettes, exercise, drugs or alcohol.

If you CANNOT stop drinking, you are addicted to alcohol. It is abnormal to be unable to be happy or enjoy "the craic" without alcohol.

If you CANNOT function without alcohol, you are addicted to it.

If you CANNOT socialise unless alcohol is involved, you are not functioning normally.