I wonder sometimes how useful the concept of alcoholism is. It can refer to a broad range of drinking patterns, but it also seems to cover a broad range of underlying causes and ultimate effects. Take the study in this thread, for example: Binge Drinking and Empathy - #3 by LSLGuy
If everyone who has had the equivalent of 2.5 beers in an evening in the last month is a binge drinker, and a binge drinker is an alcoholic, then most people I know are alcoholics at least a couple months out of the year. Yet we’re all holding down jobs, some are raising kids, none are in trouble with the law, none have alcohol-related health problems, and as far as I know we can all reduce or stop our intake as necessary (for example, when taking medication that shouldn’t be combined with alcohol.) So what does it mean to say someone is an alcoholic? Is there a defining feature, a constellation of symptoms that you must have a certain number of?
I tend to think in terms of the negative impact on your life. If you’re doing something you don’t want to do, like throwing up, because of alcohol, but you can’t stop, then maybe you’re an alcoholic-- even if your consumption is lower than someone who has it under control but just likes to drink a lot. But a lot of folks who study these things don’t agree with my definition. So I tend to avoid using the “a” word and instead talk about having a drinking problem. No problems? No drinking problem.