Am I an Alcoholic ?
Most people who are drinking too much, in whatever way, will occasionally ask themselves the question – am I an alcoholic?
It’s a scary question to ask yourself, but as with most things the answer will not be a black or white,
“yes you’re an alcoholic” or
“no you’re not”,
but a shade of grey somewhere in between.
What sort of alcoholic are you?
Binge Drinker
- Irregular over-drinking,
- Monster hangovers,
- Doing embarrassing things you regret,
- Alienating your friends,
- Accidents,
- Days off work,
- Mood swings…
If this sounds like you, then get some help here.
Heavy Drinker
- Very difficult to have a day without alcohol,
- Can’t sleep without drink,
- Drinking alone,
- Guilt,
- Cravings,
- Can’t concentrate,
- Low energy,
- Depression…
Or if this sounds more like you, then contact us here.
Dependent Drinker
- Physical withdrawal,
- Drinking from early in the day, every day,
- Isolation,
- Poor health,
- Unstable work,
- Relationships failing,
- Feeling hopeless & ashamed…
If however, this is who you are, then to start with you’re going to need some medical help to detox your liver – go and see your Doctor, then get in touch with us.
You might be wondering, more simply, how can I stop drinking alcohol? But of course it’s never as simple as that. You’ll need plenty of support, and some clear goals, plus some in-depth understanding of how your own particular addiction works. That’s what online counselling will do for you. Try one session at least, and you’ll see how it can help.
If you do nothing about your problems, then nothing will change.
Hi, so many of you suffering with this horrible problem, i have seen both sides, i have nursed them in hospital, many i may add didnt survive, my youngest sister suffered badly after losing her partner…… now im living with a binge drinker, very predictable as he follows a pattern of snappyness picking fault with everything…… right now he is in bed after drinking a bottle of whiskey in an hour. he hasnt had a drink since january 1 this year. Im not sure how i can live like this as it is becoming a lonely exsistense for myself…. we have been together now 7 months but not sure i should continue this relationship as in them 7 months ive only known him sober about 6 weeks, he has had 2 detox’s and 2 blood transfusions…
please can anyone chat with me. xx
Hi Donna! You should definitely get out of this relationship, unless he can stay sober. For a seven month relationship its not worth the pain. Especially if you plan on having kids right? Keep your head up!
Donna, just get out of the relationship before too late. It just will get worst.
I feel if you have the strength to support him? Do it but to l
Let you know it takes time.Tell him he needz to stay sober/?
God Bless you both.
Brit
Hi Dona,i do apologize for ur situation but actually i think my girl is experiencing the same thing that you have but not that bad,it’s just tat i spent half time of my life with my friends in a place known as liquor proned area (Batangas,Philippines).I am product of Broken Family and i started drinking since i was 13 y/o.Im not really a heavy drinker one,i just like the fact drinking with my friends.Im not shaking and very minimal for cravings but when i get started, I cannot stop it until my body surrenders and then the nextday my hangover killing me just like now when i search this site at work.I dont even remember what happened that time.The thing is when i get drunk i use to say foul words not really my intension.I wonder how i can cope with it.I drink every weekends by the way.What i really hate is this hangovers.haaaaysssssssssss
Donna, Please dont do this to yourself. I know its hard to walk away from someone that you love, you always hold in the back of your mind that they will change and that hope keeps you hanging on. I fell in love with an alcoholic, and i have never been in a more destructive relationship in my life. I left him at the end of last year, and looking back i cant believe some of the things I put up with. You deserve better. Just cut your losses and dont look back. x
hi
hello
please dont stay in this relationship i know from experience its gets worse, trust me it really does im now middle aged now chance of meeting a new partner and have a drunk downstairs a i write and that is for 3 days a week its a lonley painful existence i promise the years are terrible now i wish i had seen this before. ive aged because of it and i know people see my tired and sad eyes in fact life threw another suprise at me that i blame on my poor choice of partner , was friends and family yes my sisters, abondend me got sick of me because i couldnt hide the effects and yes they dumped me as i guess they see one big loser in the end, but im sad i lost my friends i didnt see it coming but when i pictured them like me sad every drinking weekend now i can see the light i was not the happy friend they once had anymore even despite trying to hide they saw the turmoil and torture i set my self with this binge drinking man and witnessed text i sent him i must ended up looking so ugly to them but i was just trying to change him hoping until the point i exhausted myself
Hi
i need advise as my partner of 5 years drinks half a bottle of vodka every day, starts at 9 til the early hours. I have three teenagers from different partner and we have a baby boy of almost 2 togeather. He can be the best and were great but when the drink kicks in he is either fine or causing trouble, nasty comments, he is not violent.. but so worried about my kids and whats the point in all this watching him kill himself, he also has two older girls and i feel so upset he cannot do this for his kids. there are a lot or reasons behind his drinking and its to blot it out but what can i do i try to talk to him but he gets funny about it but now i feel its time to move on if he cant start to accept it and get help. His kids have alwasy known him tyo drink and were all worried but whats the best thing to do as not sure how much longer i can go on with life passing us by as it does affect our days as he spends half the day in bed. When we could be out with our son. its a bad habit and needs to be broken.
I have lived in shared acommadation with five people who have a drink problem I was able to help them deal with their problem but it was not easy if you care for this person then stay and help them untill this problem is solved
there is a massive difference between living in shared accommodation with someone and being in a relationship with someone. Also its very difficult to help an alcoholic if they are not ready/not interested in quitting. Its naive to think that you can make a difference. The best thing you can do is walk away before to much emotional damage has been done. Who knows, that might shock them into sorting their drinking habits out. But its foolish to stick around and let them drag you down with them just because you “care for this person”.
hi. I suffer from what i think is mild binge drinking. I mean i drink around 8 cans of say them vodka n oranges pre mixed drinks then maybe a few shots. I hate myself. The worst thing is i breast feed my baby and i really want to stop the drinking as its bad and am getting fat. Please help!
3 months clean finding it so hard.does it get better and when do you think it will.bad day today trying to stay focused
i have been a alkholick for 10 years bad i hade a botel atack 2 yeares a go i have a lot of fits tried 2 coll my sellf a lot i sufer from dapreshon and in siatey i have been tring 2 get hellp for years if you are a junke you get methadon but drink is the bigest ciller in skhotland i am losing my wanes cose of my drinkingi tried stoping dat i am sick all the timecose i am nt geting eney hellp i wont 2 just end it ror good my bruthers dine as well 34 cose the drink is killing himm ihave 2 have shoger all the time jose or a sweet my bruther has die abetes and shumetink i my hav dont no whot its cold my number is 07542839792 as i need hellp soon dont wont do sume hin bad ta for lisaning
Hi George
I moved to Scotland about a year ago and find myself drinking much more than I used too. Some ppl here say that its “the norm” but Im starting to really hate myself. I am NOT enjoying it what so ever but find myself with a bottle of wine quite often. BUT THAT’S IT! as of today im not touching that crap. It ruins my life. I dont have energy to do the things I used to enjoy and I feel like a total loser. Admitting the problem is the first step NOW FIGHT IT. It doesnt do you any good any how and it’s not really enjoyable when you reach a sort of age. DO IT FOR YOUR SELF AND YOUR LOVED ONES!
are you for real john george thompson? Your message is a bit extreme isnt it
Hi there I would like to comment on some to of the same kind of stuff that my husband is going through I think he is a binge drinker he mostly does his drinking when he is in the garage and or if Iam not home for a while. When he does drink he doesn’t want me around him he will sit in the garage intill he is ready to come in and starts yelling and calling people names as he is texting he as no contact with his friends anymore he says one of his friends makes fun of him all the time and won’t stop. He says he gives support to him but his friend doesn’t. Now it is down to his mother and I to help him with this monster he as inside of him
this is a question i ask myself a lot. every day i drink 3 bottles of wine, the minimum is 2 but most days is 3 and has come close to 4. i dont get drunk or feel drunk. i dont feel that i am alcoholic as i choose when i drink but once i start thats it. i drink 7 days a week but never before 1200 but its open season thereafter.
what criteria do you need to fit to acknowledge you are an alcoholic. i know i have a problem but do i admit that i am alcoholic?
i feel the same. I dont get drunk or feel drunk but know am some sort of alcoholic. Its wrong to be drinking what i drink as i dont need it but just get the urge to do it constantly from morning to night. I get thru many pre mixed drinks and have plied the weight on. I dont like it and need to stop. But how?
MY NAME RAYMOND I DRINK ONE DAY WEEK AND FALL OUT WITH EVERY ONE I LOVE TO SHOW DOWN I START DRINK AT 33 AND NOW AM 42 WHEN I START I DRINK ANY THING .
I have my little story.
About a year and a half ago everything was going great, i was 17, was going out Driving for my P’s and had friends to chat on Facebook, few friends at school, it was perfect back then……..
although there was a friend of mine that had minor asperger syndrome and he annoyed me, upset me at times and was a attention seeker……
Anyway i left to go to Vietnam for 3 weeks for a Lovely vacation, nice martini on our resorts private beach, wine with my family at dinner….but eventually the alcohol got to me more day by day, i went out when they were sleeping in their room to go to the resorts bar which was outside under a pine tree and started drinking 7 – 8 Long Islands.
When i returned my friends were pissed off at me cos i sent my mate (who has asperger syndrome) a harsh email that i never remembered, i found this disturbing then i looked at it myself when i got home and i felt bad, i didn’t go back to school cos my best friends were harrasing me, annoying me more then ever n they were the only friends i kept seeing everyday….
So i started drinking during the day n my mum and step father were threatening to kick me out cos i upset them right before the end of my holiday (i tried to attack my mum cos they got pissed off over a safe lock was bugged) n it was nothing to do with me and it was very pathetic…
4 months went by with drinking, parents threatening to kick me out, my friends and my fb friends refused to speak to me, so i was on my own with no help, i was so depressed i cried every night, and my mum adviced me to go for a walk for 10, minutes, i was so emtionless and depressed i walked for 6 and i didn’t even realise untill my mum called me asking where i was…..
But eventually i consiously stopped drinking without me thinking about quiting. Took 7 months but i went from 8 – 7 drinks per day, 6 – 4, 4 -2, 2 – 1, 4 drinks per week, 2 per week, 1 drink per week, then stopped completely, but my parents were still causing me trouble.
And now I’m 19, my mind knows when i’ve had to much, can go months, maybe years without a drop. Moved into my own place thats recently been constructed so it’s all new and i have a nice view of my city of Melbourne, got a job, saved from $1.25 to $6.000 and still saving, still keep in contact with 2 of my school because they forgived me after nye, all my fb friends who i know in person don’t talk to me, don’t even post a Birthday wish.
But at times i regrett doing the thing’s i did, and telling people i was an alcoholic (big mistake of my life) but I’m feeling more normal now then i was a year ago, at times i feel lonely when socialising…
But now I’m just finding myself.
And i realise their comes a time in our life
About who matters,
Who doesn’t,
Who never did,
And who always will.
I found myself to become a unique person in a year, i now have the mature age of a 24 year old.
My therapist was shocked when i told her i gave up drinking without thinking about it, she told me i had some kind of psychological defence-mechenism that came into action to save myself. And she’s still amazed how my self progress is going, but she and i know i still suffer loneliness and suppressed memeories at times, but it doesn’t stop me from giving life another try.
Well done to yoou and keep going! Grab life and fill yourself with it.
Hi, I’m having major problems with my live in boyfriend of 3yrs. He drinks almost every day. It’s not like a drink or two… It’s more so a case of beer and a half bottle of Vodka. He drinks whenever pressure is in his face or when things don’t go his way. He blames everything on me. He tends to go on these drinking binges where he goes missing from our house for days. As we speak…. He has not been home in the past 4 days and blames it on me. He did the same thing in his past relationship and says that we cause this because we act like his mother. Now, this man has two children, one which lives with me that is not mine and he just left him with me. I try to help him because I love him, but when I say, lets go to an AA meeting, he tells me that I should not be asking him to go to AA and thats his business. I’m at the end of my rope and depression is setting in on my end. I have a daughter as well. My child see the pain that I’m in and I’m not even active with my child. I feel as if I’m the cause of this all. Can someone give me some good advice so I can feel better….
Also wanted to add that I’m scared that he is going to hurt his self or drink his self to death. I want to help him, but need help on what to do!
Chrissy,
This is not your fault, your partner is responsible for his actions. Alcoholics like to put their hurt and pain onto everyone. This is their defence mechanism to avoid looking at themselves. This is also exacerbated with the effects of alcohol. I understand how hard it must be for you to be abused and blamed for things. Don’t take it on board. This is just a deflection from him on to you. Stay strong and believe in yourself that it’s not you. I would consider getting out of this relationship unless he is very willing to get help, as it will esculate. You must feel anxious and have an unfulfilling existance with him. Think of your children and the effects it has on them. They would rather COME from a broken home than be IN a broken home. i feel your pain, hope that helps. I would also recommend you getting some counselling or support in place.
Get him to a good GP if you can, but he has to be willing to go.
I drink on weekend like most people, but I cannot have a ‘dry’ weekend and by wednesday im craving a drink again, im a wine drinker, i find that everything i do revolves around drink. I know most people are the same after a week of 9-5 but id like to be able to stick to having a weekend off which never hapens, and i drink alone as well as in company. am i an alcoholic??
Hi Guys. I strongly, strongly suggest you read Allen Carr’s Easyway to Control Drinking. I read it back in 2007 and it will help you to understand exactly what alcohol is and is not. What we all need to understand is, regardless of how much alcohol you are currently taking, 90% of the western world drink alcohol. If 90% of the world smoked cigarettes, either one pack a year, or one pack a day, we would know there is serious problem. Its not surprising we all want to drink. From birth we are taught it relieves stress and boredom, is essential as a social prop and removes our inhibitions. But as you know from your drinking the following day, removing your inhibitions has caused you terrible embarrassment, horrible guilt and even caused you extreme danger. Alcohol is a colourless, foul tasting poison formed as a result of putrifying vegetable matter. If you had a tiny dose of pure alcohol it would kill you very quickly. However, we drink it in a highly dilluted form and society has brainwashed us into believing it gives us certain advantages which outweigh the disadvantages. Look up Allen Carr’s easyway and get the book.
hi im a binge drinker i drink mainly weekends i have a daughter who sees me drinking i always regret it the next day and hate the hangovres i dnt wana be this person any more its affecting my realationship my bf hates it i get into fites and his kids see me acting a fool i wana change i just dont know were to start ive slowd down heaps but still manage to get smasd every second weekend and dont do nething the next day worst part is i drove my car drunk i cud off killed some one or myself i really need sum selfcontrol but drinking releives the stress and bordom as i live in a small country town with nothing to do but drink i also work on the shire and do not want tohave a reputation as a alcho its so hard to find counciling here as well im lost and feel ad tho a part of me has died..
Hello I used have a friend drink years ago when he was 18 1n the 1980s thot it was a great thing try it too that waking up feeling little drunk even that not know. The next day had to work and leave after work for a drink with the boys. couple years later came by I got sick one day found life got shorter wasn’t not much, i had slow down just got thinking you drink to much that feel it in life later what makes us, the days of drinking gave up in the 1984 and learned to control what happen that not thinking of dating or not with any women or anyone else, the beers felt great, I know where was when I’ve drink at the time i had dreams and goals never happen, i took job that was with friends and drank. Knew if wasn’t paying for beers that friends drink. First week came said time move on beer not for me. I got liking apple juice and water and other drinks from the store. I know a lot people had pass away from drinking too much. If want know more how to quit drinking Alcohol and soda and coffee and get your life back on track feel free to find me for a date. That like tell you life is meant something too find what you been missing.
I GAVE UP DRINK 1 YEAR TODAY
NOW IS THE HARD PART STAYING STOPPED HOW PLEASE ?
youve gone a year,craving should be gone by now.i cant go a day.
nobody i chat right now,so going to go pour me a cold one,yes that would be
wine,nobody here to stop me.best time to quit drinking is always”tomorro”.goodnight
For goodness sake,get him out of your life.
I dated an alcoholic for a year,dumping him as he loved the booze more than me.
As a nurse you are likely to be kind and sympathetic,but please don’t be a mug.
loving relationships are mutually supportive…you will find one when you are released from this.
all the best