The thing that makes an alcoholic different is the way booze effects them. If booze is THE way to cope with life then there is a flag. The normal person will have a couple on a Friday or sat. I used to drink every day and didn't know that I was just hiding I thought it made me feel better , it just made me NOT feel. This got to be a problem because two things. When I wasn't drinking I would just only think about when I would drink, and when I drank , I would just want more. I didn't understand that it wasn't the booze it was the behavior of looking for the easy out that made me alcoholic. I would also isolate and postpone life. It sucked. Now today I just don't start with the first, deal with life, and magically life is a Whole lot better.
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You won't go through withdrawl if you are one drinking 3-4 beers a night. The question is, can you go without it for a few days? Are you obsessed with the thought of drinking those beers and can't imagine life without them? For me the answer is No alcohol, I don't know when to stop! Only you can answer that question. If there is an obsession, then I would say you are. If no obsession, and you can take it or leave it, you are not an alcoholic. The rule of thumb is if you think you may have a drinking problem, you have a drinking problem!

Hello e4shannon,

Defining alcoholism is not an exact science but there are a couple of good indicators that you can use to evaluate your situation. The fact that you are concerned enough to post on an alcoholism board shows that you are not at ease with your drinking and that in itself may be sufficient reason to make changes.

Having 3-4 beers a night becomes a habit and you may feel some benefits from drinking, such as being more relaxed and less stressed after a hard day etc. For some people, a mental bond is formed between the consumption of alcohol and feeling good and the mind learns from this. The next time that something challenging happens, the subconscious mind will remember and the message will be: When this happened before, you had a few drinks and you felt better. Why not drink again. When this process is repeated many times, drinking can become an obsession. A subtle change can then occur, where the message becomes: Take a few drinks and those bad things wont bother you. Now, instead of drinking to cope with difficult situations, its a case of drink first to avoid dealing with life drinking becomes an obsession.

You may be some way down the path to becoming obsessed with alcohol but only you will know the truth about that. The second thing to watch out for is the number of drinks. Maybe someone starts off with one or two drinks per night and it then becomes two or three, then three or four etc. That person could be undergoing a change in the way in which the body handles alcohol and is starting to develop a craving after the first drink is taken. A person does not have to be a fall down drunk to be an alcoholic and such a person can function quite well, up to a point (I did that for many years).

It is very unlikely that you would have much trouble with withdrawals from 3-4 beers but dont take that as fact from unqualified people on an internet forum. The best course of action is to have an honest talk with your doctor.

If you are concerned about your drinking I would suggest cutting back on it. Go some nights without drinking any alcohol at all. Have only one or two beers some other nights. Go off drinking entirely for a few weeks or months. If you find it difficult or impossible to do those things or if not drinking leaves you irritable and cranky, then you may be in alcoholism territory. If that is the case, you cannot drink safely and your only option is to quit.

I can't imagine you would get withdrawals from drinking 3-4 beers a night. Unless these are HUGE beers.
I agree with the others; question is can you go a few days without beer and when you do; how do you feel? try it.
I knew I was / am alcoholic when I stopped. I would then obsess over booze and within a few days; sometimes months; sometimes even lasted over a year; I'd drink again. when I drank I felt overwhelming relief until of course I got back to drinking a bottle of wine ++ a night. then I felt shame, remorse and physically awful. So went the cycle.
Most normal drinkers don't wonder if they are alcoholic they just cut back, moderate or quit. Not so with us.

that is a lot of beer calories that you could do without dude even if not alcoholism....

This may help you.

https://ncadd.org/get-help/take-the-test

Damn Impermanence, I answered yes to every single question! I was pretty sure I am an Alcoholic before I took the test! I knew after my first good buzz, I was going to have a problem!

Huge withdrawls, not likely on the amount of beer you are drinking, but glad your concerned.
I think that is kind of like (IMO) drinking 4 cans of soda pop a day, but worse. It Is NOT healthy and just adding on the calories.
Someone said something like mental obbsession, I think they are right,at least it was for Me.

It's extremely doubtful you'd have withdrawals.

Obviously if you don't want to test yourself cold turkey, take it down to two drinks a night for a week, then one.

Only you can know if you are alcoholic. There is some strong advice in these posts above mind. Solid people with great information.

I was a daily drinker for years, other than the very few days I didn't drink, only because I was recouping from too much. After the first drink, it was a snowball .Then back at it. I finally had enough and didn't seem to have physical effects. More like mental, the guilt and remorse. I have been sober now for almost 2 years and the only regret at this point is not quitting sooner. Sobriety is amazing.

Fish, I couldn't have said it better. Sobriety is amazing