Only you can answer this for yourself. When I was younger I had friends who could, and did, drink me under the table. But when adult responsibility reared its ugly head, they cut back without a problem as I went full speed ahead into becoming a textbook-case alcoholic. And even after I admitted all that, I still drank for another 13 years. Good luck.

As Nemo said, only you can answer this for yourself. What interests me is that you said:

"I can go a week just about without a drink, but when I do drink, I will usually end up either blacking out or on the verge of being drunk."

That is quite a difference and suggests you still have some control over the amount that you drink? If so, great! Cut it out for quite a while until after your exams maybe, and see how you feel.

What are the other ways that you are finding to deal with the pain, if you don't mind me asking? I hope they are healthy.

I couldn't cut back, that just didn't work for me. Maybe it will work for you, but I think I'd cut back on the amount you drink. IMO drinking to blackouts is the sign of a problem.

You say you quit for 166 days. How did that feel?

You turned to alcohol when things got tough, like splitting up with your boyfriend. I think it is healthy that you are looking for other ways to deal with pain

I have a friend who used to drink a LOT when he was younger. His girlfriend (now his wife) told him that it was a deal breaker. He promised her he would only drink on weekends, and never have more than two drinks. He has not broken that promise.

Alcoholism is progressive -- and maybe when I was younger I could have made a promise like that and kept it. But I don't think so. I know that now there is no way I can drink socially and not end up drinking excessively.

I've never been able to cut back. I could go for awhile and not drink if I never picked up the first one... once I did, I couldn't stop.

See if you can control it. Abstinence might be the only way to go if you cannot control it. If you have a problem abstaining, try AA.

If alcohol is affecting your life in a negative manner and you continue to drink guess whats going to happen.It will never get better. Turning to drugs will only make the problem worse. It sounds like if you change the way you live life and how and when you use alcohol. You maynot be alcoholic.But if you find yourself drinking when you don't want to or drinking to escape from a mental state of mind ( boyfriend troubles, parent troubles school pressure) that may very well be a sign that you might have a problem.If we drink at someone at some situation we need to over come we're drinking for all the wrong reasons. Alcohol has never fixed anything. When we wake up the next morning the problem is still there and we find ourselve with nothing but a hangover. Want to learn more? Keep coming back

Nope.

I know what "moderation" means and I can even spell it. Never could practice it though.

For me, no. World is a much safer place if I don't drink at all.

I know its hard but you need to consciously think about picking up the first drink. From my experience Alcohol turned me into a nasty person with no control and just ended up blacking out when I didn't have stress or worries. So When i did have depression and anxiety in my life then put alcohol into the mix I put myself into situations that gave me a bad reputation and I lost my friends and family for all the verbal and mental abuse i gave them.

My advise is even if you feel you have control to cut down on drinking do that but take extra steps to prevent alcohol consumption when life is getting tough. Work on ways you can distract yourself, to better yourself. To change the way you link alcohol with coping mechanisms.

Nope....cutting back doesn't work for me.

My intention, when I first went to AA, was to get my life organized, and get my drinking under control - so that I could drink normally. It didn't work.

People generally don't wonder if they are an alcoholic - unless they are. Blacking out is never a good sign and our disease is progressive.

for me i was never able to cut back because im an alcoholic once i have that first drink i set off the reaction where i cant stop, i remember one time staying at my brothers and i wanted to drink normally like he did so i tried my hardest just to have two drinks, which i managed but it was torturous i was so preoccuppied with getting more drink when i got home i drank twice as much i would have usually. so for me i know i have to stay away from that first drink.

but that is me and some people are able to cut back a gd test is get your favourite drink have one glass and then put the rest away, if your honest with yourself you will know whether cutting back will work.

Never did for me, but then again I never really wanted to, I tried it a few times but It was to painfull, when I enjoyed my drinking it wasn't controlloed and when I controlled it I didnt enjoy it!

Hello Beckay,

Heavy drinkers who are not addicted to alcohol can cut back and control their drinking successfully. On the other hand, people who have crossed that line from heavy drinking to alcohol addiction can never again return to being normal drinkers.

There is a difference between a normal or social drinker and an alcoholic and this difference is both mental and physical. An alcoholic develops a mental obsession for alcohol and comes to rely on drinking as a means of dealing with emotions, be they positive or negative emotions. An alcoholic would use alcohol for dealing with some of the situations you have described. Very often an alcoholic can go for long periods of time without drinking but eventually the mental obsession becomes too strong to resist.

I know plenty of people who are not alcoholics but I would suspect that they often have a mental obsession for alcohol, so what is the difference between them and an alcoholic like me? The difference is that when an alcoholic succumbs to the mental obsession and takes the first drink, a physical craving develops in the body for more alcohol. With each subsequent drink the craving becomes stronger until no human power can resist it. That is why I often drank too much but rarely felt that I had enough.

Only you can decide if you are an alcoholic. Be aware that people who drink in the way that you have described eventually do one of three things: Some decide to cut back their drinking and they have no trouble in doing that. Some decide that alcohol does not agree with them and they decide to quit drinking and again they can do that successfully. Of those who continue to drink heavily, a high percentage will eventually cross the line and become full alcoholics.

I am one of those alcoholics but I have not decided to stop and never have a drop again. What I have decided to do is not to have a drink today.

Sure I cut back countless times. I quit too. 2 years, 18 months, 93 days, etc. But something (life) would happen and I'd drink again.
My definition of alcoholic is in the big book. Essentially it says that I'm powerless once I take that first drink. So moderation isnt something that will EVER work for me. I'll "moderate" myself drunk each and almost everytime I pick up. So I don't pick up today.