# "I drink every day but I'm not an alcaholic" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 5, 2008, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880 "2008-12-05T17:11:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880/41 "2008-12-06T01:56:51Z")
I’m a heavy drinker, I drink nearly every day and I’m not going to say it’s one beer or one glass of wine and I’m not an alcoholic. I take and and leave it when it’s a good idea or not. If I don’t have a drink, which happens, I’m fine with it. I enjoy a life well lubricated with booze. I don’t miss out on anything or hide from anything, and this is my own personal rule: I do not drink when I’m feeling depressed. Drinking is fun and if it ever becomes something else then I’ll knock it off. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880/42 "2008-12-06T02:30:51Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > I hate these kind of long-winded symptom lists, in which each symptom is essentially just a variation on the others. Any alcoholic worthy of the name will easily meet all seven criteria. It’s like asking “what makes an equilateral triangle?” > > 1. All three sides are the same length > 2. Angle between the sides is the same > 3. Shape is symmetric through 120[sup]o[/sup] rotation > > Meet any two of these criteria and you’re probably an equilateral triangle. > … > THEY’RE THE SAME DAMN THING! Meet any of those criteria and you have an equilateral triangle. People and diseases tend to be a bit more complicated to define than equilateral triangles. I find such lists quite useful in dealing with patients. Each item is signficantly different from the others, tolerance and withdrawal are certainly _not_ the same thing. It also helps start breaking through the patient’s denial over the consequences of their drinking, when you can point to 4 or 5 or all 7 of the items as things that apply to them. ---
**Author:** ![Influential\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Influential\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Influential_Panda)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880/43 "2008-12-06T02:46:37Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Does his breath smell of alcohol _after_ he’s brushed his teeth? Uh, huh? IIRC, the smell of alcohol comes primarily from the stomach and esophagus, not the mouth. ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880/44 "2008-12-06T02:48:44Z")
> [@samarm](#): > > Oh pur-leez! OK, so you are holding down a full time job. OK, so you don’t need a drink in the morning before work. OK, you’re not a funky bum in the local park scaring the kids with your wild eyes and frowzy beard. However, if you feel you have to drink every day does that not constitute alcoholism? Or am I talking out of my didgeridoo? What does it matter to you? Frankly, you sound less like someone who cares about his well being and more like someone who just wants to look down your nose and say “I told you so”. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880/45 "2008-12-06T03:26:13Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > I hate these kind of long-winded symptom lists, in which each symptom is essentially just a variation on the others. Any alcoholic worthy of the name will easily meet all seven criteria. It’s like asking “what makes an equilateral triangle?” > > 1. All three sides are the same length > 2. Angle between the sides is the same > 3. Shape is symmetric through 120[sup]o[/sup] rotation > > Meet any two of these criteria and you’re probably an equilateral triangle. > … > THEY’RE THE SAME DAMN THING! Meet any of those criteria and you have an equilateral triangle. You may be right…but not everyone reports all their symptoms. “Doc, I’ve got a shape here with three sides the same length!” “You’ve got an equilateral triangle, son.” Doc, I’ve got a triangle with equal angles!" “You’ve got an equilateral triangle, too.” People are terrible reporters. All of 'em. They either report too much or too little or conflicting stories. I can’t tell you how many people I’d see in clinic who would fill out a questionnaire and answer the following: Have you ever been hospitalized? No. Any major illnesses? No. Any drug allergies? No. And then you ask them, verbally, about each one. “No, no, nope. Healthy as a horse all my life.” And then somewhere 10 minutes into the interview, they start telling you the story of when they were 12 and they had appendicitis and emergency surgery and they stopped breathing because of the anesthetic and they almost died. :dubious: So while these checklists sometimes say the same thing in different ways, it’s not because they’re trying to inflate the lists or use more paper. It’s because some dumbasses don’t consider appendicitis a “major illness” requiring “hospitalization” when they see it on a form. My teachers taught me how to find six ways to ask every question, and then still assume I only got half of the health history. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880/46 "2008-12-06T03:33:30Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > I’m a heavy drinker, I drink nearly every day and I’m not going to say it’s one beer or one glass of wine and I’m not an alcoholic. I take and and leave it when it’s a good idea or not. If I don’t have a drink, which happens, I’m fine with it. I enjoy a life well lubricated with booze. I don’t miss out on anything or hide from anything, and this is my own personal rule: I do not drink when I’m feeling depressed. Drinking is fun and if it ever becomes something else then I’ll knock it off. For most of my adult (as well as college and high school) life, excessive drinking was not only tolerated, but accepted and encouraged. My college was consistantly ranked as one of the top party schools in the country. It also had an excellent reputation for academics, especially business and enginering. In my professional life, excessive drinking was certainly acceptable. Company happy hours where some partner would whip out his card after the open bar had closed. Company functions that generally included drinks or bottles of wine. And living in cities like New York or Boston, there is a strong bar culture. People routinely stop off in hundreds of bars after work for a few drinks. Sometimes those drinks go until 3 am. Fact of the matter is there are a lot of people who like drinking heavily. A lot of us sometimes drink way too much. I don’t think it necessarily makes us alchoholics, however, it is a road that can easily lead to alchoholism. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880/47 "2008-12-06T04:13:28Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > For most of my adult (as well as college and high school) life, excessive drinking was not only tolerated, but accepted and encouraged. My college was consistantly ranked as one of the top party schools in the country. It also had an excellent reputation for academics, especially business and enginering. In my professional life, excessive drinking was certainly acceptable. Company happy hours where some partner would whip out his card after the open bar had closed. Company functions that generally included drinks or bottles of wine. And living in cities like New York or Boston, there is a strong bar culture. People routinely stop off in hundreds of bars after work for a few drinks. Sometimes those drinks go until 3 am. > > Fact of the matter is there are a lot of people who like drinking heavily. A lot of us sometimes drink way too much. I don’t think it necessarily makes us alchoholics, however, it is a road that can easily lead to alchoholism. That’s exactly right. All of it. I don’t drink anymore because the life you described was mine too. I’d routinely bought the office several rounds of drinks, there were varying reasons for it, but mainly it felt good to send everyone home a little tipsy on me. They work hard all day, no reason not to let go of a little edge. But your last sentence is the key - everything is fine until \*something \*happens. That something is different for everyone, and some people are lucky enough to go through life never having that \*something \*happen to them. I don’t know anyone who can maintain the kind of drinking of their twenties through to their fifties and be healthy. Doesn’t mean it can’t happen, just means it’s rare in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880/48 "2008-12-06T04:21:55Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Fact of the matter is there are a lot of people who like drinking heavily. A lot of us sometimes drink way too much. I don’t think it necessarily makes us alchoholics, however, it is a road that can easily lead to alchoholism. And even if it doesn’t lead to alcoholism, it can lead to a host of other issues. For women, one glass of red wine a day is considered healthy. Red wine is an antioxidant, considered heart healthy, lowers your cholestorol - good stuff in moderation - drink two a day and your risk of liver cancer, liver damage, breast cancer, and a host of other ills increases. Its a fine line between one glass might make you live longer and two might kill you faster. Now, two glasses a day probably aren’t enough to lead to physical dependancy. Probably won’t wake up with a hangover if you drink some water. Won’t mess up your life at all in the short term… For men, its a little higher before you start inviting long term health risks. ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880/49 "2008-12-06T05:34:44Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > For most of my adult (as well as college and high school) life, excessive drinking was not only tolerated, but accepted and encouraged. My college was consistantly ranked as one of the top party schools in the country. It also had an excellent reputation for academics, especially business and enginering. In my professional life, excessive drinking was certainly acceptable. Company happy hours where some partner would whip out his card after the open bar had closed. Company functions that generally included drinks or bottles of wine. And living in cities like New York or Boston, there is a strong bar culture. People routinely stop off in hundreds of bars after work for a few drinks. Sometimes those drinks go until 3 am. > > Fact of the matter is there are a lot of people who like drinking heavily. A lot of us sometimes drink way too much. I don’t think it necessarily makes us alchoholics, however, it is a road that can easily lead to alchoholism. My twenties and early thirties were like this. Then it sort of petered out in my mid thirties. Now I’ll have a glass of wine when I got out on the weekend and that’s it. Perhaps my social group settled down as people started getting married and having kids. Or perhaps we just got too old to get up and fulfill our responsibilities after a hard night. There was never a conscious decision to change, but my drinking habits are very different now from when I was 23! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880/50 "2008-12-06T05:57:32Z")
Diggery-Don’t! ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880/51 "2008-12-06T10:20:44Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Diggery-Don’t! > > * * * > > Last edited by Gatopescado; Today at 12:58 AM. Reason: Yeah, I’m drinkin’!~ And thus the circle is complete. I keed, I keed ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880/52 "2008-12-06T15:09:54Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > For women, one glass of red wine a day is considered healthy. Red wine is an antioxidant, considered heart healthy, lowers your cholestorol - good stuff in moderation - drink two a day and your risk of liver cancer, liver damage, breast cancer, and a host of other ills increases. Its a fine line between one glass might make you live longer and two might kill you faster. > > Now, two glasses a day probably aren’t enough to lead to physical dependancy. Probably won’t wake up with a hangover if you drink some water. Won’t mess up your life at all in the short term… > > For men, its a little higher before you start inviting long term health risks. Anyone seen that Simpson’s episode where Marge drinks a glass of wine and says something like “I know the doctors say you should have two, but I just can’t drink that much!” Depending on who you listen to, either one or two glasses of red wine a day is good for you. And not only for women, it can also have health benefits for men. On the other hand, pomegranite juice is equally, if not more, antioxidants rich, and is also alcahol free. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880/53 "2008-12-06T18:09:41Z")
It depends on the person. I knew my dad was an alcoholic for sure when my parents came to visit me last year. I moved several states away so they stayed with me for 4 days. My parents drink pretty much all day long but I really don’t drink (I had half a margarita and a smirnoff this year and that is the total of my alcohol intake for 2008) and on the second day they were here my mom, who is not an alcoholic, was absolutely fine despite my total lack of alcohol in the house. My dad, however, was having really intense headaches and had to find a liquor store and buy a bottle of rum to function. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880/54 "2008-12-06T19:26:16Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > I’m a heavy drinker, I drink nearly every day and I’m not going to say it’s one beer or one glass of wine and I’m not an alcoholic. I take and and leave it when it’s a good idea or not. If I don’t have a drink, which happens, I’m fine with it. I enjoy a life well lubricated with booze. I don’t miss out on anything or hide from anything, and this is my own personal rule: I do not drink when I’m feeling depressed. Drinking is fun and if it ever becomes something else then I’ll knock it off. You might be missing your liver in too short a while - even if your drinking isn’t affecting your life socially, alcohol is a poison, and it will probably harm you if ingested in large quantities for long periods of time. I suspect I’m coming off as a real Debbie Downer in this thread, but I think maybe we take drinking alcohol far too lightly in our society. It is a poison, it is harmful, it does cause altered behaviour, it is addictive, and it can be a very serious problem for a large part of the population. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880/55 "2008-12-06T19:54:25Z")
I’m reminded of a friend of mine who works with people who have serious substance abuse problems (I’m not actually sure of his title or degree, I know he is not a doctor and that he has some sort of graduate degree.) He told me that some years ago, there was a custody dispute and he was called on to testify as an expert witness (or something to that effect.) The wife claimed her husband was an alcoholic because he drank a six pack of beer every night. My friend interviewed the guy, interviewed the wife and interviewed I believe some of his friends. They all said the same thing: he drinks about a six pack of beer every single night. So when it’s time for my friend to appear in court, he testifies that the man is _not_ an alcoholic. The wife’s lawyer doesn’t like this, the wife doesn’t like this, even the judge doesn’t like this. The judge and my friend actually get into an argument, and the judge more or less calls my friend’s credibility into question. After awhile though, and after another person with similar qualifications says the same thing, and after the judge is presented with some of the diagnostic literature, he realizes that the man in question probably isn’t an alcoholic. Is he a problem drinker? There’s a very good chance. Is he abusing alcohol? Well, six beers over six hours or so, every single night would probably constitute abuse of alcohol. But my friend who has worked with thousands of alcoholics says he’s _never_ dealt with **one** that could drink six beers a night. According to him, all the alcoholics he’s dealt with in his professional career quite simply could not stop at six beers exactly every single night–they lack that sort of control over their consumption. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880/56 "2008-12-06T20:21:34Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > … my friend who has worked with thousands of alcoholics says he’s _never_ dealt with **one** that could drink six beers a night. According to him, all the alcoholics he’s dealt with in his professional career quite simply could not stop at six beers exactly every single night–they lack that sort of control over their consumption. Your friend’s experience is not universal. I’ve worked with thousands of addicts and alcoholics too, both professionally and in recovery. And many have prolonged stages of “controlled drinking” where they stick to given amounts. The problem is that they continue sticking to those given amounts (six beers/night) even when having negative consequences, like liver disease, etc. And I’ve posted it here before, but alcohol is _not_ particularly good for a person. The very slight cardioprotective effect one gets with very modest drinking does not compensate for the greater risk of liver and nervous system damage from the chronic ethanol exposure. And once the amount consumed starts going up, like to two drinks a day, the risks far exceed the benefits. So if one is going to drink daily, one should accept that they do it for the pleasure it gives them, and not rationalize into the picture a mostly absent health benefit. Here’s a quote from an article from the Lancet in 2005: The Lancet, Volume 366, Issue 9501, Pages 1911-1912 R. Jackson, J. Broad, J. Connor, S. Wells > [@](#): > > Any coronary protection from light to moderate drinking will be very small and unlikely to outweigh the harms. While moderate to heavy drinking is probably coronary-protective, any benefit will be overwhelmed by the known harms. If so, the public health message is clear. Do not assume there is a window in which the health benefits of alcohol are greater than the harms—there is probably no free lunch. … Previous threads on this topic: > **[What Are The Long-Term Effects Of Consuming Three Alcoholic Beverages Per Day?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=401392)** > > I recently calculated my rate of alcohol intake and confirmed that I average three drinks per day, mostly beer, and it has been quite consistent at this level both in the short term (day to day) and over the long term (year after year). I rarely... > **[The effects of alcohol](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=353855)** > > What are the long-term effects of drinking alcohol? The consensus here in Denmark is that it is unhealthy stuff. While I agree that alcoholism is definitely unhealthy, I cannot find anything about the effects of alcohol with more normal use. (Except... > **[Alcohol and damage to the body--the Qadgop vs. KarlGauss smackdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=345249)** > > Over here, KarlGauss states that “more than 50 units per week\* can lead to cirrhosis and other nasty complications” (less for women). \*A unit defined as 10gm alcohol In a different thread, that I can’t find right now, Qadgop says two drinks a day... > **[Alcohol: Good for You or Bad for You?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=418741)** > > I am a little confused as to alcohol’s status. Drink too much, it’s bad for your heart, etc. Drink in moderation, and it’s good for you! How can alcohol be good and bad for you? What is the cut off point for good/bad intake? And what happens if you... ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/57b2e6/32.png) [@Quasimodal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodal)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880/57 "2008-12-07T03:28:44Z")
I was told by my doctor that the clinical definition of an alcoholic is a person who drinks more than two glasses daily. Don’t know if thats true, but that’s what he said. I often drink a glass of wine in the evening and in no way consider myself an alchoholic. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880/58 "2008-12-07T03:53:09Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > I suspect I’m coming off as a real Debbie Downer in this thread, but I think maybe we take drinking alcohol far too lightly in our society. It is a poison, it is harmful, it does cause altered behaviour, it is addictive, and it can be a very serious problem for a large part of the population. It’s not just our society, it is every society on Earth since we first learned that if we leave honey outside we get drunk. Most of human history has been drenched in alcohol, and really I think we are some of the first generations where it’s not okay to basically be drunk all the time. Ever watch old movie from the 50s? The first thing anyone does when they get home is pour a strong drink. Anyway, I think drinking causes plenty of problems, but it’s also one of civilizations oldest companions. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/57b2e6/32.png) [@Quasimodal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodal)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880/59 "2008-12-07T03:59:29Z")
“Alcohol…the cause… and solution to all of life’s problems” Homer Simpson ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880/60 "2008-12-07T15:12:02Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Your friend’s experience is not universal. > > I’ve worked with thousands of addicts and alcoholics too, both professionally and in recovery. And many have prolonged stages of “controlled drinking” where they stick to given amounts. My sister is a case of this. She went through residency rehab once and was not labeled an alcoholic, outpatient rehab the same (twice) - despite having lost her job due to drinking - in part because she lied (gasp! alcoholics never lie) on her intake about how much she was drinking, in part because she had a lot of control over displaying withdrawl symptoms externally. And AA was the worst - a bunch of alcoholics telling her - based on her own bullshit - that she wasn’t an alcoholic. But one of the things about her was that she could almost always stop. She could go out to dinner and drink a glass of wine or two. Go out for friends and have a margarita. She was always a heavy drinker, but 98% of the time, her behavior was not that of an alcoholic - or perhaps - 98% of the time she was a functional alcoholic who strangers and even friends would not class as an alcoholic - but maybe a girl who could put a few away or knew how to party. 2% of the time something would happen which would send her life spiraling out of control and then she was shitfaced until she could pull herself out of it (or someone would help her.) At 38 her liver nearly failed. She’s been living with my sister and sober for about eight months now. Luckily for her her liver healed, but the poison did long term nerve sheath damage and she has trouble walking - she also has a host of other issues. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drink-every-day-but-im-not-an-alcaholic/475880.md?page=4)