Am i an alcoholic, an alcohol abuser or am i fine?

I don’t know if I am an alcoholic because I don’t drink everyday or even that often; just on weekends (although that may have something to do with the fact that I have only just turned 18 so until now it been a lot harder to get alcohol)… but when I do drink I drink ALOT… I am actually known for my impressive ability to drink copious amounts but in the past year it’s reached this question.
A psychologist has told me that I have a serious problem with alcohol after I told her that I often cant stop drinking once I’ve started and that in my whole life I have never drunk alcohol without getting drunk or without the intention of getting drunk. A psychiatrist has similarly told me it’s a problem for me, especially because I have bipolar and that I should stop but I don’t.

When I drink I will on average drink more than 10 standard drinks in one sitting, i basically drink until i am beyond drunk haha. When attending a social situation/party where I know everyone is drinking I always make sure I have an entire bottle of Jack Daniels or something like that just for myself. At one particular party I drank an entire bottle of Jack Daniels in a couple of hours then ended up waking up semi naked on a wet mattress on the lawn outside my friends house with absolutely no memory of the night before… which is one of many stupid alcohol anecdotes.

I never thought that my drinking was a problem because a lot of people my age binge drink but in the past year, a couple of my closest friends (one of which I have gone out with and drunk with many times) told me that my drinking is out of control. This was prompted in particular by an evening a few days before when I had the house to my self, so they came over and I proceeded to get really drunk on half a bottle of JD and half a bottle of Tequila (as well as weed) whilst they stayed relatively sober and I had supposedly been obnoxious and annoying so they left… after which I slashed my wrists with a kitchen knife and passed out on the couch in my own vomit… and continued drinking heavily (with other friends so they didn’t know this part) every night for days after that. They told me that a lot of our friends didn’t want to go out with me anymore and when if did go out they were all secretly keeping tabs on how much I was drinking.

The last thing that is making me ask this question is that there has been two occasions around a year apart when I experienced what I think was alcohol withdrawals after drinking heavily… the first was with a group of friends at a friends house whilst her parents were away...I was SO excited about the prospect of her parents liquor cupboard that whilst the others had like one glass of vodka lemonade I tried everything they had and drank glass after glass of hard liquor... but about 15 hours after my last drink I was in bed and my body started having spasms and my legs where kicking out without my control, I was shaking really violently all over and had tremors in my hands, I was sweating A LOT, I was dizzy and confused and thought I was actually going to die (I called my friend in a haze ranting that I was going to die) and I felt like there were things crawling all over my skin on my arms – like a tactile hallucination… the second time was at my friends birthday dinner, I had decided I wanted to get drunk that night .. Whilst waiting for the waiter to bring my drinks I was really antsy and anxious and started drinking any dregs from other people drinks on the table… then the day after I had similar symptoms to the other time… this is weird cause it doesn’t happen every time…and I think with both these occasions I hadn’t drunk for a couple of weeks before hand - and thats the thing! CAN I BE AN ALCOHOLIC IF I GO FOR A COUPLE WEEKS WITHOUT?

I will get drunk at any opportunity I have.. I tend to drink to deal with social situations, to make myself more confident and on a number of occasions I have got drunk to drown the sorrows as it were… it hasn’t really caused any problems with work or school or the police, but it has caused a lot of problems with my friends and family… My friends AND my family have confronted me about how much i drink and my behaviour on it ... i promised my parents i had stopped/cut down but i haven't...i just lie, sneek out and steal money from them but its just such fun what can i do?

Sorry for the long explanation... but the essential question is whether i am an alcoholic if what i am really doing is binge drinking?

Wow cloe, I read your whole story and I relate to it a lot, I feel like most of it I could have written myself.

As for your question, I think what you have is alcohol abuse, which your binge drinking problem is a part of. But your story about having withdrawal could be a sign of physical dependence, but if you don't need alcohol every day to function, you're probably not an alcoholic as I understand the word.

Hi cloe,

Someone once told me that if you think you have a problem with alcohol, then you probably do. (Actually, I think a few people have said that to me, not just the one). I think the fact that you've written in this forum shows that you don't really think you're fine. I don't know if you're an alcoholic, but from what you've said here I think you're definitly abusing alcohol.

I can relate to some of your story... I don't drink every day either, but I can't stop when I do and it causes all kinds of problems.

Would it help to discuss this more with your psychologist? Seems like you already did a bit, but I don't know how much detail you went into with him/her.

cloe wrote:CAN I BE AN ALCOHOLIC IF I GO FOR A COUPLE WEEKS WITHOUT?

Yes. I know alcoholics who haven't drunk for 20+ years. It's the inability to use it responsibly that signposts alcoholism, rather than quantity or frequency of drinking. Like just-a-girl says, if it seems like a problem, it's a problem.