Or, y’know, maybe you’ve been whooshed. 
I think context has a lot to do with this. I probably would, because I very rarely drink alcohol–the idea that drinking=alcohol isn’t something that would automatically come to mind. Especially if you don’t have a problem that you’re trying to deny, your mouth can run faster than your brain and you’ll give an answer before you realize you misunderstood the question.
Geez, suddenly I’m very thankful the only question I kept getting asked was “are you suicidal”.
I agree with this, too, particularly if it wasn’t explicit that the doctor was asking about substance abuse. If it were me, I would probably have assumed they were about to take a blood test.
Too late.
That’s what I thought it was supposed to be, until I read the last sentence:
Faking concern isn’t a wooshworthy cause, IMHO.
Yesterday was payday in my company. Today I could smell beer on the breath of about 80% of the people I talked to. I was a bit tired last night, tonight however I’ll be out on the lash. The only problem will be finding a bar that isn’t packed to the rafters.
Welcome to Ireland 
By this logic every single person on earth, including those who’ve never touched a drink in their lives, is an alcoholic. “Never drank, eh? And proud of that, are we? Well it’s a coma for you Sunny Jim!”
There are two pssible answers to the question “Are you an Alcoholic?”
1.) Yes, in which case you’re an alcoholic.
2.)No, in which case you’re an alcoholic in denial.
Threads like this’un always make me yearn for the sage advise of UncleBeer.
At the time, I was filling out paperwork and answering her questions, so I was a bit distracted by the need to write, listen, and speak at the same time. We hadn’t been discussing substance abuse prior to that question, we had been talking about my medical history like diabetes and heart disease so alcohol wasn’t the first thing that came to mind.
While I appreciate the concern, this interview was the 4th such interview in the past 3 months and the 3rd with this program. Only this counselor seemed convinced I’m a substance abuser, so I’ll take the 3 other counselor’s opinions instead.
I would think that saying Yes would mean that you are in denial and are not an alcoholic. It would fit the logic of #2 better.
or 3.) I don’t know, what have you got?
Dude, I had a shelf full of hard lemonade (oooh, so risky) in my fridge from when my friend and I were watching movies. The fact that I had it there for so long (slowly dwindling–I offer it to another guy whenever he’s over) shows that I don’t drink because I’ve pretty much never had alcohol when alone. In fact, pretty much everyone I know has some “stockpile” of alcohol at their house. And most of us can stop whenever we want. We’re all alcoholics?
It will take Shagnasty to elucidate his own post, but he’s a smart guy. I think he gets it.
But he raises a good point – If someone has a strong idea about someone else’s life, they will tend to collect evidence to support that idea. Almost anything said could be twisted to fit.
or 4.) I’ll have a scotch and soda.
We had a similar thing happen with my Dad over Christmas. He was hospitalized for what was eventually diagnosed as an anxiety attack. At the time, the first diagnosis was that he was an alcoholic and was going through withdrawal symptoms.
They did a ton of blood work at the time, and he’d had a complete physical in October. Neither showed any signs of alcohol abuse. When they asked in the ER if he drank, he answered truthfully that he drank about 4 ounces of brandy a day. When he was admitted to the hospital, his chart said a pint of alcohol a day. When that changed, we don’t know.
We told the doctors several times that he’s never shown signs of alcoholism, that he has drank 1 or 2 brandies a day for his whole life, and if anything, he’s been cutting down lately, not increasing. None of this mattered; he was a drunk.
So… either all of us are in denial, or the doctors didn’t know what was going on and lunged at an easy answer.
I’m not.
You weren’t?
Well, sure - I have been thru enough medical evaluations to recognize that this is something they ask - if you are being prepped for surgery or something. I have also been evaluated for substance abuse, and they did ask “when was the last time you used”.
What I mean is, if they want to know “what did you have to eat or drink today”, they ask “did you have breakfast” or “what have you eaten today” or something like that. They don’t ask “when was the last time you had something to drink”. That means, in my experience, something other than “what have you had to eat or drink today”.
I want to be careful here - I am not calling anyone a liar, which would be a violation of the rules (outside the Pit). I am saying that, rightly or wrongly, she isn’t coming across very convincingly. Saying that they hadn’t talked about substance abuse at all coming after the OP saying it was one of the first things the counselor mentioned is something I considered. Another is a general sense of “the lady doth protest too much”. There are always five or six sentences justifying her drinking with every mention of the topic.
Whether or not she is being truthful, I have no way of knowing, as I mentioned. I’m willing to take her word for it. I am just trying to express why I can see that the counselor might not think the same, especially since
Regards,
Shodan
Well, she was being put on the defensive. The counselor assumed out of nowhere that her drinking was a daily thing and a coping strategy, when the OP had already said that it wasn’t.
That is the truth.
My sister, who the family thinks IS an alcoholic - doesn’t admit to ever having been diagnosed as one - she’s always diagnosed with something else - depression, “co-dependency” (which isn’t even a valid diagnosis). Because she was physically and sexually abused as an adult by an abusive boyfriend, she was told by more than one therapist that she “learned” as a child that was OK - and must have been abused as a child. If she didn’t remember it, that was because it was so horrific that she has repressed it. (I think she HAS been diagnosed as an alcoholic, but lies to us about it).
Get a counselor who sees everything as substance abuse, get a substance abuse “you must be hiding it” diagnosis. Get one who thinks everything can be traced to depression, get depression. Many therapists are professionals, who take the time and effort to come up with as accurate a diagnosis as possible - and there are a lot of hacks out there who think their patents are lying (and, its therapy, a lot of them are to start out - but often not about what you think they are lying about) and have a lot of their own bias in diagnosis.
Come on, dude, it’s obvious (to me, at least) that the quote reads:
Since you conveniently left out :
Well, since you brought up the rule, you’re skating about as close to that line as possible, IMHO:
Saying, “You come across as a liar,” is about as close to calling somebody a liar as you can get without saying, “You are a liar.”