I disagree. I believe it is possible for a person to have one social drink here and there. Abnormal drinking to me means someone who abuses alcohol in a non-social setting. Sorry, I'm not more descriptive than that. I'm @ the doc's office waiting for hubs and my phone sucks.

GMOs and everything man-made would be bad as well, including all prescriptive drugs?....Pot would be ok? I know it's not all black and white like that. There is always a grey area and that perfect "normal" balance is hard to find. I don't have the answer for what normal would be. I'm just guessing. I certainly am not normal.

my stock broker will have a scotch with dinner , go home and not drink more

My wife will have a glass of wine with dinner and one after

My bil will have a beer or three by the pool on sat.

A majority of the population doesn't have issue stopping with 2-3. I would consider these normal drinkers.

But me I have one and I crave more, I drink alcoholically. In my active addiction I will obsess over my next drink, when , and where. Did I buy enough to make it.?? Is my stock going to make it thru Sunday???

Craving and obsession are what in active addiction make me NOT normal. God I don't miss that merry go round. Drink, remorse, work for money, stock up, drink, self loathing, work, wonder when the waiter will be back, etc, ad Nausium.

Some normal ppl don't even drink at all. But reality is there are normal drinkers and they are not going anywhere, so I must just not envy them but realize I had more already in my time than they will have their whole life

1-2

Not just a non social setting but any setting.

Normal = glass left on table with a full swallow left
Not normal= wanting to down the swallow every other normal person left in their glass !!!

LOL!

...I drink more than 2 energy drinks a day. I know that is overdoing it and 'not normal' or healthy for you.
...I know if I was to have 2 or 3 candy bars everyday, that is not healthy...
...anything like 'that', 2 or 3 everyday is not healthy and is too much.
...it all catches up to you sooner or later...

Yes, I know it is "possible" for some people to drink a couple and then quit. It was actually possible for me on most occasions as well. Yet in a certain environment (parties, out drinking with the boys, etc.) I never wanted to stop until I was wasted. But that is not my question. My question is at what point does someone cross the line between "normal" levels of drinking and "abnormal" levels of drinking. Does someone who drinks say 2-3 beers or 2-3 glasses of wine every single day not have a problem with abnormal drinking habits? Should the abnormal amount be the same for everyone, or is it user specific?

Good question! More research will be done, I am sure!

The normal dinner for an obese person would probably vary from the normal dinner for a regular person, results may vary with booze toos.

I think the difference is in the intent. See I didnt want just a buzz i want ed oblivion. From the start I wanted to check out of the world and drank in such a manner. So called normal ppl dont want to lose control. Actually they process it differently and 2 drinks for a normal person makes them tired and ready for a nap. Not me 2 AND were just getting warmed up. I process it differently.

1is2many

1 is 2, I am still not ready to say you aren't normal. You obviously liked getting drunk very much, and perhaps even much more than most people, but that does not mean you are abnormal. All people who drink alcohol are drinking to get drunk to some desired level. Your desired level was (and likely still is) to get smashed, but there is a wide range of drinkers who fall in between a little sip and getting smashed. At what point do these people become abnormal drinkers? My contention is that there is no such thing as a "normal" drinker. Drinking alcohol in any amount is inherently unnatural and abnormal for the human animal. I do believe there are people who commonly lose control, or have no control and drink far too much on a regular basis, but they are just normal people who are addicted to the feeling that alcohol gives them on a temporary basis and want to make it last.

Note: all of the above is just my opinion, for what it is worth.

I would suggest a 30 or 60 day in-patient treatment center, Buck.
Your making alcoholism harder than it actually is.

Good luck with your sobriety.

I have no problem in terming myself an Alcoholic buckstag.

MY drinking is abnormal. I know and see other people who drink perfectly reasonably.

I don't have to turn booze as a whole into something abnormal to justify the fact that "I" have a problem

P

^ Having said that...yes I understand the value to some of seeing it as a foreign substance...an unuseful one. I think it helps to hold all of these idea quite loosely and not get too rigid about them.

When I drank, I wanted everyone to drink like me and see it as normal. When I stopped, part of me wanted everyone to see that drinking to excess was abnormal.

Little matter...the most important thing is what "I" choose to do from this day forward :) And to try not to inflict these values on others :)

P

To answer your question, I think that normal versus abnormal drinking is "user-specific." If a person has two glasses of wine every night that can be normal. If a person has two glasses of wine and plans their day around having the wine or can't stand the idea of not having wine, then IMO it is a sign of a problem or abnormal drinking. So it's not so much the quantity but the perceived need and dependency that turns a normal drinker into an abnormal one.

I

Jersey makes a point.