So looking over this list, there’s not much that applies to me. But a few did catch my eye.
Are there predictable patterns of use which are well known to others? -> Yes, I tend to have a few beers after I hit the gym and some weekends I have a bit more, which is a pretty regular pattern IMO.
Has a family member or friend expressed concern about the person’s use? -> My SO has commented on it in the past, but this has largely stopped when I toned it down a bit after I left college.
Does the person obviously feel guilty about some aspect of their use of alcohol or other drugs? -> I wouldn’t be starting this thread if it didn’t worry me, but at the same time, I wonder if I’m not worrying about nothing.
I average out to about three liters of beer a week (a six-pack, in other words), occasionally having more when I go out to party with friends, and the idea of becoming an alcoholic does legitimately worry me. On the other hand, I’ve gone weeks without with no problems, and I’m not drinking excessively… Just enough to take the edge off after a long day of work and workout. Should I be worried about this? And if so, what, if anything, should I do about it?
You’re talking about a beer per day, and not feeling anxiety because and when you’re not having it. Unless you’ve ever gotten home with an enormous need to pee and found yourself reaching for that one beer before hitting the toilet, it sure doesn’t sound like any kind of problem to me. At one point your SO expressed concern, but you corrected the concerning behavior; your current pattern is not a problem there.
You know that recommendation about “a glass of red with meals”? People who follow it also have a pattern, and also not a problem.
A six pack of beer is closer to two liters, or 72 U.S. ounces. In my opinion (and I’ve reported this thread for a move to IMHO, since I think it would fit better there), that’s not an excessive amount of beer in a week. If you’re drinking a six pack a day, I’d be more concerned.
Everyone’s different, and what’s fine for one person might not be for another. But the usual guideline is about one drink per day. Now, there could still be problems, if, for instance, that one drink is always right before work, or if it comes in the form of the entire sixpack in one evening one day each week.
If you’re really worried about becoming an alcoholic, try going completely without for a couple of weeks. If that’s tough for you, then you might want to start worrying.
Me: just out of curiosity, would you consider how much I drink to be a problem? Do you ever worry about that?
Her: Yes
Me: howso?
Her: You just do it too often. It’s not good for your body. The amount isn’t even that bad
I did that fairly recently. It’s not really that it’s tough per se, as it is that I sorta feel like, “Man, this is nice, but I wouldn’t mind having a beer.” Not compulsion, but I definitely enjoy drinking, you know?
Identifying patterns is tricky. Let’s say all you ever drank was a glass of champagne on New Years Eve. That’s a pattern. If you wonder about a problem or not, ask yourself: What happens if it’s gone? What happens if I can’t have one when I want one?
Alcohol is a very dangerous dance precisely because the user can slip from just acceptable social drinking to, ‘have to have it’ without really increasing their consumption.
In some ways alcoholism isn’t about the amount consumed so much as the shift from wanting to needing. When you say ‘takes the edge off’ it makes one wonder if that isn’t indicative of need more than want, to be honest. Do you need to take the edge off of every day?
If you drink every day/nearly every day you are indeed at risk for suddenly finding yourself snared by alcoholism! You ARE dancing with the devil, never take that lightly.
The answer lies in whether you’re controlling your consumption? Or it’s controlling you? You ought to be able to easily tell by simply going without, for a week or ten days. If you can’t make it to your goal of a week or ten days, without deluding yourself with some lame excuse for caving in, then it’s time to step away from denial and equivocations of, ‘but it’s not that much really’, and face the hard reality that clearly you need it.
This may be a threshold moment for you, alcoholics begin down their road to hell first and foremost by moving into denial about their reality.
If you’re already pickling your brain with booze, and have been for ages, then throw denial into the mix, you’re severely jeopardizing your chances of ever finding the self awareness required to extricate yourself.
I’ve done this fairly recently (two weeks solid and then some) and while at times I wanted a drink, because it’s just more fun to play win Super Smash Bros tournaments while completely hammered, I never felt like I needed one, and had no problem restraining myself around people who were drinking. I did, however, tend to avoid social situations that involved drinking as “standard operating procedure”, such as clubbing.
It is a rare day that I do not consume alcohol. We usually have wine with dinner. I have one group of friends that meet at the bar Monday nights, another group that meets Wednesday nights, and everyone meets Fridays. I also smoke a lot of weed.
I can go without anytime, however. After my heart attack/stent I went about a week without booze (three days or so without weed). I periodically go weed-free just to experience the vivid dreams that accompany “withdrawal”.
I’m 58. I know I won’t (and wouldn’t want to) live forever. I enjoy drinking immensely. If it cuts my remaining years in half, I will gladly pay that price.
This is one consideration, if you’re otherwise healthy then one beer per day is not going to cause any long term health effects. The main issue as I see it is that you drink habitually, and that’s a clear sign of alcohol addiction. That in-and-of-itself doesn’t make you an slobbering alcoholic. You should be able to stop drinking for a couple weeks without any urges to “grab a beer”, and from what you’ve posted this is a kinda maybe or maybe not situation.
Another important thing to watch for is whether you experience a personality change when you drink your one beer. This is something you may well not realize yourself, only someone else close to you would see it … like your SO … and that I think is a BIG RED FLAG that you have a serious problem. The first step to solving a problem is admitting you have a problem …
6 beers per week * .05% alcohol (varies a great bit) would be 1.46 gallons of alcohol per year.
Per capita consumption of alcohol in the USA was 2.32 gallons per year in 2014, the most recent figures. Considering that is an average across all people (adults, children, people who don’t drink alcohol, etc), I don’t think you’re pushing any kind of ‘line’ on your consumption.
On the surface, and with the data presented + my encyclopedic knowledge of little, I don’t see there’s a problem. I think there’s always room for “concern” when dealing with addictive things. No need to worry, though.
A six-pack a week sounds like you enjoy the taste more than the buzz. That’s a tick in the “not an addict” column (for now).
