Hi there, I drink to escape my feelings and depression...the buzz is a bonus. I have never been in legal trouble or work trouble, but my relationships have suffered and that's why I am trying to get well. Take care.

Yes it's true. Alcoholics drink for the effect produced. You judge yourself based on others. Using that as a yardstick we'll always be not as bad as "them" or worse than. Look inside yourself to see if you have a problem

I certainly couldn't say whether or not your an alcoholic. Like debsoul I drank to numb my feelings and I was never in any legal or work trouble. However, it would sometimes get out of hand. I'd stop drinking for a while but eventually I'd go back to it and eventually it would be every day. Rarely did I black out or have a hangover. Nevertheless, I saw the writing on the wall. Now that I'm sober I can look back and see how drinking was preventing me from reaching my full potential in all areas of my life.

There is a nice little discussion here that may help you. It is called: AM I AN ALCOHOLIC: 20 QUESTIONS, and AM I AN ALCOHOLIC: 12 QUESTIONS. In the first one answer 20 very simple questions about your drinking. Be honest. At the end tally up your answers. I think the results may surprise you. But it should answer you questions about your drinking.

I read your profile and saw that you said you started drinking again after 7 years. You also said you feel horrible. Do you feel horrible because you started drinking again? Or do you feel horrible because of drinking?

I feel horrible because I started drinking again. Nobody knows that I have not even my daughter, I am trying to raise her right so she won't end up like I was at her age.

Hi there. It is true that not all alkies drink to get a buzz. Like me I was drinking to escape from reality. I would drink until I passed out. It was the only way I could deal.

You should ask your self are you dependant on the alcohol? Can you control the amount? Can you go with alcohol? Are you powerless when it comes to alcohol? When you drink, do you drink alone? If you answered yes to any one of these questions. Then you may have an alcohol problem. Sometimes it's not the amount you drink but how you feel when you drink too. Take care.

I do think that it really all depends. I do have those friends that an have a few drinks every night--get a decent buzz and leave it at that. I am not one of them. I need to drink until I blackout or passout. It's easy to call them alcoholics or drunks. If you do it just because you like to drink and socialize, I would say that you are just drinking for fun. If you do it because you have demons that you hate to face, then you have a problem. There are those alcoholics that an't control their liquor. There are those alcoholics that drink just to get a buzz and maintain it. There are also those that need that one drink a day or they can't sleep/eat/function. I hope for your sake that you aren't an alcoholic.

Best of Luck,

JW

I think you need to ask your self a few questions .am I getting drunk when I drink and how often,could I not! drink for a couple of weeks and most importantly why am I hiding it from everyone.Drinking is not a sin unless you have a problem I'm not saying you have because you will find that out for your self in time. What positives I have read in your thread is that you have asked yourself the question "am I or not" most alcoholics who lead normal lives would avoid asking them self this question because they already no the answer and will try and push the solution to the back of there minds. For a therapist (unless they have gone through alcoholism them self's) is wrong to diagnose you as having a drink problem because it can lead to you using this as a solution to the reason why you went to see a therapist in the first place.

When I first went to AA i felt like I didn't belong and ended up going back 2 years later in a worse state than I was previously.

Its not for me or anybody else to say whether or not you are alcoholic its for you to decide and the best way to do this is see how its affecting your life.

If you suffer from anxiety of depression alcohol will make these problems twice as bad as they would be normally. Giving up the drinking would take around a month for your state of mind to get back to it's normal self which I would recommend you try to do.
Then be honest with your self about your problems and how you feel and see if its made a difference.

for that one month write a diary on a daily basis being honest about for thoughts and I'm sure you will come to some conclusion in what you are going through and where your problems lie.

good luck

We don't diagnose, only you could decide if you're an alcoholic or not.
In my experience most people don't question their drinking unless they have reason to question it. Most people also downplay their drinking when people confront them.

You say you stopped for 7 years and you feel awful that you picked up again, that's a clear sign to me that you could have a problem.

When listening to people's stories, it's easy to say, "I never did that, I'm not that bad."
Try to see if you identify with what they're sharing, listen to their feelings more than their actions.

Normal people do not come here and ask questions.

Welcome!

I always drink alone, my boyfriend stopped drinking and he was the only one I drank with. I'm only asking because, who wants to say they are an alki if they are not?

If you are asking the question and feel terrible about starting up again then maybe there is an issue at hand. Maybe you can stop it, if you feel you must, before it gets too bad.

Hey hun normal drinkers don't wonder if they have a drinking problem. If you want to find out it is OK to find the truth about your self. If you have no controll of the ammount or if you cant stop when drinking. You might be an alcholic If you want to realy find out go out and drink 2 and stop. do it more than once it will be worth a bad head to learn the truth. If people in AA aren't making sence then learn the truth. I am not tring to sound critcale I just think you are entitled to the truth.

Keep on drinking you will belong someday. normal drinkers don't think about drinking as much, that may be a hint.