I'd say, yes, you are one of us.

I drank for fun, boredom, inspiration... I am a musician, too. But it's a lie to think we're better musically when a few are in us. We just don't give a sh!t as much, so we let er rip. Doesn't mean it sounds any better to others listening, though.

Welcome.

Yes, those are all signs of alcoholism.

I hope you are smarter than me and that you don't waste years of your life in a drunken stupor.

pretty good description of the booze not working any longer...when it gets bad enough please stop...that could be today for you and there are ICYPAA which stands for International Conference of Young People in AA.....and many young people stay sober for long time and never need to drink or get drunk again with an AA way of doing things...but AA is for him/her who wants it not just for those who need it....you gotta want to be sober....it does not sound like you have that desire to me....just your curious if it is alcoholism that is causing the issues with your drinking....that recognition is important but there comes a desire to stop the insanity that is continued drinking...

I get it....always more creative drunk.
That feeling is hard to kick.
Your young and I first recognized I was addictive at 17...good you found this board so young....I would not even blink an eye at your age.... Get better now :).....You are in so much danger...at your age.....glad your here :)

My wife's nephew got cirrhosis of the liver at age 29. It can happen to anyone. Your body will break down in some way if you continue at this pace. Hope you find sobriety soon.

IMO, yes it is a sign...
Looking back, when I was 24, I definitely had alcohol issues. I started partying just like U.
U said U have a stronger urge to drink than usual, U drink because your bored and its all about getting drunk and then hiding it.
'Hello, of course U should be concerned'.
Alcohol is one of those things where it slowly creeps up on you and then it gets U . In your situation, it already has, at least thats what I think.
BUT...it is up to U to change that. U recognize U have an issue and U R truly the only one who can really change it. Coming here is a start.

If one's life revolves around drinking it's a problem and it's time to lay off the stuff for awhile.

Hello Musicalinspiration,

You are right to be concerned about your drinking and you would be wise to make some changes before it gets worse. Judging by your description of your drinking I would say that you are likely to be either an alcoholic already or on the way to becoming one.

Drinking has become an obsession for you, although you may not see it that way and will probably put forward some convincing reasons for drinking. You are happy not to drink as long as you know that you will be drinking later on. You say that your friends drink as much as you do a way of trying to justify your own drinking. You can relax better with a glass of whiskey. These are all signs of an obsession for alcohol and I recognise them very well because I have been there.

The second alarm bell concerns the way in which you drink. You are always getting as drunk as possible and no longer have fun with it. You get dangerously intoxicated etc. You lie to the bar staff in order to get more. You always have some glasses of whiskey in order to relax. These are signs that your body has developed an abnormal reaction to alcohol. When you take one drink your body gets a craving for more alcohol so you take another and this increases the craving so you take a third etc.

If you continue to drink in this way, it is likely and almost certain that your situation will get much worse. Again, I speak from experience here because I have done what you are doing and the results were not good. In my case it eventually came to a point where I drank more or less all day, every day. I could not control the amount that I drank and when I decided to quit, I could not do it on my own and had to get help. I drank at the bar and drank whiskey at home like you are doing. At the start, a bottle of whiskey would last for a full week and gradually it built up to a point where I was struggling to make the bottle last for a second day, on top of several daily visits to the bar.

A person who has developed an abnormal reaction to alcohol can never go back to controlled drinking because one drink will always produce a craving for more and the only solution is to quit drinking entirely. You are the only one who can decide whether or not you are an alcoholic but the signs are there. Take a look at the video at the link below as it explains it very well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pVBDQPC2XQ

Welcome. My opinion is "normal" drinkers don't have to "trick" bartenders.
Just saying.

I'm 39 and you sound like a lot like me. I didn't become a full-blown alcoholic until I was 36, but it seems like you're set for that destination at a younger age.

The last three years of my life have been a waste. I wish that I could have know at 24 that I was heading down a dangerous path.

And trust me, the bartenders know.

If you drink to feel normal, that's also a sign...

End it now and never look back. That's my suggestion.

I can't tell you what you are but I'm an alcoholic

Two things are in play for me

One. I obsess over the next drink and
Two. Once I start , I want more, infinity

I'm an alcoholic and I have to do a few things ea day and I have a. Chance in short circuiting my disease
I am greatful
I admit I'm alcoholic
I try to help another alcoholic
I pray
Today is 3 years , I'm not bragging, but there has been a change in my behavior, a change in me, I'm alive not subsisting to drink

It's possible
1is2many

The first step is to know you do not drink like others. I think you got that one down. The next step is to realize you have a problem. Seems to me you got that one down, too.

I started drinking at 11. When I was 18 I left home for the US Air Force and drinking the way I wanted to. (Nice that the services allowed 18 year olds to drink back in the 1960s). I eventually joined the Navy cause they drink like I did. I drank daily, I was functional until almost the end of my drinking. I would drink whenever a ship I was on left port for three days, I drank aboard ship, at night. Never once fell overboard but close a couple of times. I put my wife at the time in danger by drinking and driving. I first started going to AA in 1976 after messing up base payroll. Stayed sober 3 years the first time and 13 months the second time.

I am now 33 years sober as of June 10th. I can relate to you in that you cannot do your work without a glass of whiskey. You have to drink as much as possible as quickly as possible. I was the same way. I drank because I was bored, I drank cause I was sad, glad, in love, etc. I was 29 the first time and 35 the last time. 24 is really kind of old to get started but you can do it if you want. Suggest you find a rehab treatment facility near you and check in. Then follow their guidance.

Its so nice to have someone who's quite close tom my age on here!! Im turning 20 in 12 days and Ive been sober for 52 days now. I have had a similar ewexperience to you. I started drinking and going to parties at 17 and it is so much fun in the begining, getting drunk and having a laugh!

But when I turned18 my drinking became more of a routine and I was gradually drinking more and more, once I started drinking it was once or twice a week, with a bottle of wine with friends and maybe a couple more after the wine was gone. Which is quite a lot anyway but everyone I drasnk with had about the same. It then started going up to drinking 4-5 times a week in the nights but I realised my tolerance was going up and once the bottle of wine was gone I would scavenge drinks off of anyone else I could at those parties and eventually just took a bottle of wine and a 2 litre bottle of cider to these parties which made me completley sick in my friends back garden but I did it the very next day after that. I then started drinking alone in my room when people no longer drank as much as me. If I had a day off I could skip breakfast and buy another bottle if I wanted and I was no longer drinking to have fun, it just became an obsession.

I came onto this sight last year thinking someone would tell me if I was an allcoholic but I couldnt get an answer and just thought "this isnt for me" and deleted my account but I came back early on this year and now I started going to AA meetings where I did realise I AM an alcoholic, at 19 years old. But I realise now that this isnt a bad thing as I used to feel likie I was basicvally dead as I was in my own world where noone understood this addiction I have and now I realise I have a whole new life and another chance, it honestly feels like I was brought back to life after dying and I got a second chance.

You have shown a few similarities to me and it even made me remember my past when reading this, I wish you all the best and please do not hesitate to message me whenever you want about absoloutley anything and I will reply ASAP!

Joe x

I almost didn't respond because I myself have not struggled with alcoholism as the person drinking - I was the child of an alcoholic. My mother started drinking with neighbors after her nasty separation and eventual divorce from my dad. I think she was lonely and drinking was her way to socialize and relax with friends.

But fairly quickly it became less about the friends and relaxing and more about just drinking. I watched as she used a lot of guys just for those boxes of wine. She's trick them into thinking she cared about them, they would buy her the wine, she'd drink and pass out. She didn't care about them. She went through a lot of guys that way - and a lot of boxes of wine.

Meanwhile, her drinking made her a horrible mother. My siblings and I suffered a lot of neglect, and were also subject to a lot of situations that were not appropriate.

Anyway - I guess my advice to you would be to talk with someone. Find a substance abuse counselor or even your family doctor or if you're open to it check out a local AA meeting. It can't hurt.

You're really smart to think about this and question it while you're young. So many people don't wake up and realize what they are doing to themselves and the ones that care about them until they have done so much damage, or until it is too late. My young cousin was drinking and driving and died when he was 17.