If someone is with friends, but that person is the only one drinking alcohol, does that count as drinking alone?
(No, I don’t need an answer fast. 
)
I would say no. I think the implication in “drinking alone” is that alcohol serves to replace the companionship of other humans.
Of course, you may or may not be an alcoholic, regardless of whether or not there are other people drinking in your vicinity.
No, but it is hard to shake that feeling of “Stop judging me dammit!”
Which is why it’s much more fun to actually drink alone.
Y’know, I never understood the “drinking alone” thing. I tend to drink way more while socializing than I do when alone, because I start talking to people, start having fun, and forget to keep track of what I’m drinking. Then someone buys me another cocktail or refills my wine glass, and if I don’t catch myself, I’m in trouble.
Alone? I’ll have a beer or glass of wine, maybe two, then I’m typically done. Way easier to drink less in that context IMO.
Depends on the situation.
Being the only one with a glass of wine at dinner? No biggie.
Being the only one downing multiple mimosas at breakfast? A little iffy.
Cracking open a six pack at at your kid’s back to school night? Yeah, bad sign.
It’s a bad sign if you expect alcohol at every social gathering, and cannot imagine a social gathering without drinking, and consistently drinking when others are not may be a sign of this.
I’m gonna say no as well.
I don’t know, but just hand me a glass and then the question will be moot
(serious answer – if it holds you back from actually interacting with the rest of the group or you end up snookered, yeah, it’s drinking alone. Otherwise no – it’s just you drinking while the others aren’t)
I think the issue is the persistence of it, not the quantity: it’s the difference between people that like to “hang out and have a few beers” and people who “have a few beers and hang out”. When you get to the point that drinking is your non-negotiable, where you go to social events if and because they are a place to drink, and you stay home and drink alone if your only options are social events where you can’t drink, then that’s a problem.
That said, when I drink it’s almost inevitably alone just because I am the driver in my household. However, it’s not all that often, so I don’t worry about it.
Well, I guess we know what your username means now. 
When I drink alone, I prefer to be by myself.