definition of an alcoholic

[spartan7886]

May 2, 2016 18:07:53 GMT -5 CCL said:

Your Dad did that twice? Yikes! That doesn't sound good to me, but I thought you had to be over the limit to actually get a DUI.

Nope. At least not in Texas. I was on a jury that convicted based solely on officer testimony and dashcam. The defendant refused both the Breathalyzer and the field sobriety tests to no avail. To be fair, though, I would not have voted guilty just on officer testimony without the dashcam evidence of the guy being basically falling down drunk.

[cronewitch]

When alcohol negatively affects you life and you can't easily quit. So if your not doing your job or it makes you not a good parent for example you should quit, if you don't you have a problem. If your spouse doesn't trust you because you get drunk so they need to be in charge of always being the driver and always handling the money and they are about to divorce you and you don't quit you are an alcoholic. When your liver is bad or you have diabetes and you don't quit or you go out and drink knowing you don't have a way to get home except drunk driving or you spend the rent money on booze it is time to quit and go to the meetings.
The difference between a drunk and an alcoholic is drunks don't need to go to meetings. So if you are a drunk college kid you can just quit on your own when you get some sense or cut back to a reasonable amount like 2 beers on hot weekend afternoon.

[Shooby]

  I think there are 2 different issues.  One is alcohol addiction.  Someone who is physically dependent and can't stop or if they would did would go through DT's or have negative effects from stopping.  Someone who can't go a day without a drink.  That is an alcoholic.

 Then there are alcohol problems.  People who drink who are not alcoholics but maybe let it get out of control at times causing problems in their own lives.  They aren't alcoholics but have let it become a problem.  Obviously, it is easier for them to stop and get control of their lives again.

  As for the rest, there are people who imbibe every day and it is part of their lifestyle and they even thrive and do well with that.  There are people who drink on occasions, maybe they get drunk now and then as long as they aren't driving and it isn't affecting their family life, then i guess that works for them.  

[tloonya]

May 2, 2016 15:36:31 GMT -5 swamp said:

when alcohol consumption begins to cause issues in your life, whether it be employment, educational, personal, or legal.

Hmmm...when I worked in IT industry I would have friends over on Saturday every week and we would be having A LOT of drunk fun bit I needed to have a clear head on Monday so there it would stop. If anyone had a party in Sunday I would refuse.

After we had opened store we were our own bosses and stress was so great we were coming home with eyes popped out and had a dinner in front of TV sometimes eating and drinking without even talking. We drank plenty until passed out. Sometimes wondering what was that movie about? Never hanged over in the morning. Maybe its a thing because our Russian roots have high tolerance.

Now I am working until 9pm for 2nd week and I can't drink so I don't. When I have one morning per week I don't have to get up at 7am - I can drink at dinner but it is one day per week.

I am still thinking at my age it has to stop sooner or later.

Same thing with me with smoking. I would work for 8 hours or 12 and never go for a smoke break.

But I looove to smoke. So I would smoke after work. If I don't have anything to smoke I am fine.

DD's friends mom considered an alcoholic. She went to jail for drunk driving, rehab and came back to drinking right after. She is passed out most of her life. I think she is pretty healthy otherwise. So I am still wondering. If drinking does not prevent you from living life and functioning as supposed to - is it just called 'drunk' as supposed to an 'alcoholic'?

[mamasita99]

I don't know how I survived my early 20s!

I don't usually get hammered anymore. I may have 2 drinks on a Fri or Saturday night, but not usually more than that. Unless we are out with friends at an all-day thing. I could probably drink more, but alcoholism runs in the family and I really don't need any more problems in my life than I already have!  When I'm old-old I may pick up heavy drinking...

[Deleted]

I've thought about this a lot; my Ex was an alcoholic and he and his previous wife worked for the same company, which had a very strong drinking culture. Three-martini lunches? No problem- we'll reimburse you. Get drunk after work? Same thing. Too drunk to drive home? We'll have one of the plant Security people drive you home.

So, they were employed, paying the bills, no reason that all that drinking affected their lives but I'd still call them alcoholics.

I'd say an alcoholic is someone who likes the feeling of being drunk. Totally out if it. I like to get a little mellow but at long parties I alternate water or club soda with wine. I can't remember when I was last well and truly inebriated but it was over 20 years ago.

[ArchietheDragon]

An alcoholic is someone who is addicted to alcohol.   

[Deleted]

May 4, 2016 14:43:43 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

An alcoholic is someone who is addicted to alcohol.   

Not really the same thing, but kind of, ironic is someone who is addicted to irons.

[mojothehelpermonkey]

May 4, 2016 14:28:56 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

I've thought about this a lot; my Ex was an alcoholic and he and his previous wife worked for the same company, which had a very strong drinking culture. Three-martini lunches? No problem- we'll reimburse you. Get drunk after work? Same thing. Too drunk to drive home? We'll have one of the plant Security people drive you home.

So, they were employed, paying the bills, no reason that all that drinking affected their lives but I'd still call them alcoholics.

I'd say an alcoholic is someone who likes the feeling of being drunk. Totally out if it. I like to get a little mellow but at long parties I alternate water or club soda with wine. I can't remember when I was last well and truly inebriated but it was over 20 years ago.

I worked for a company like that. There was a lot of pressure to drink too. I was older and had the longest commute, so I was able to get away with going to every 5th happy hour and leaving after a couple of drinks. Still, at one point my boss mentioned that I could sleep on the couch in the reception area if I didn't want to drive home. For the most part, they were a fun group of people, but I wasn't too upset when I was eventually laid off. I didn't like it when 75% of the company would show up hungover the morning after a happy hour that went until midnight.

[tloonya]

May 4, 2016 14:43:43 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

An alcoholic is someone who is addicted to alcohol.   

YOU. DON'T. SAY! Really? Like sex-addict is the one who addicted to sex? Except no one believed in that crap! You are amazed me sometimes.

Remember saying 'if you don't have something useful to say - don't say anything'...or something like that...

[Deleted]

I'm giving up alcohol for a month.

edited:  Sorry that came out wrong, I meant,  I'm giving up.  Alcohol for a month.



a reddit joke

[mojothehelpermonkey]

Rimshots for all!

[milee]

I'm realizing I've become a real lightweight.  Maybe because I don't drink every night and maybe because a lot of the time I'm deliberately being moderate because I'm drinking at a social function and I know I'll need to drive myself home, but it's starting to take less to give me a nice buzz.

I just read a story about a prom date where a mom trying to be "cool" supplied alcohol and drugs to her teen son and his GF and the 17 year old GF ended up dead. The article describes the mom giving the teens two handles (bottles) of Crown Royal and 15 hydrocodone pills - 10 for him, 5 for her.   That's a boatload of drugs and booze!  I wouldn't be conscious if I ingested 1/2 of my "share" of that concoction.   

[swamp]

I am also a lightweight now. A six pack used to be a warm-up. Now it's the game. Game over when I'm done

[swamp]

And holy crap on the amount of stuff she gave to her kid!

[milee]

May 5, 2016 12:55:09 GMT -5 swamp said:

And holy crap on the amount of stuff she gave to her kid!

No joke. This is one of the toughest things about parenting, IMHO - dealing with the other parents. It's so hard to be moderate with all the loonies. As a parent, I wouldn't think it was the end of the world if my kid ended up drinking some alcohol. But expressing something like that might put me in the same camp as that crazy woman, so it's just easier not to discuss anything controversial at all and to pretend to just be pretty straight laced, because there's a large segment of the population that has zero judgment about nuance or degrees of OK.

Would I freak out if my kid came home and I discovered he'd had a drink of Crown Royal at prom? No. But idiots like this don't seem to understand that there might be a difference between being willing to overlook a small amount of alcohol that's unlikely to hurt a kid or cause injury versus doling out enough drugs and alcohol to kill an elephant.  Especially when it's coming from a parent - if those teens didn't have much experience with alcohol, they might think that this is a normal and OK amount to drink.  Crazy.  Just nuts.

[jeep108]

My dad was a functional drunk, very much an alcoholic, He started with Irish coffee in the morning, whiskey and coffee yum. Kept a keg at work in the fridge, bought a case of beer and a 5th of Bacardi every night.  If he didn't bring the case of beer home and a 5th. He was at the bar at least 4 times a week.  He got a couple of DUI's had to go to court to try and keep his license so he could still test drive the cars he worked on. He had pretty bad DT's when  he finally quit my senior year of high school.  He quit because the doctor told him he would die if he didn't quit.  His stomach was bleeding from too much alcohol on an empty stomach. I think is is why I will only have an occasional drink.  I drink maybe twice a year.

[mojothehelpermonkey]

May 5, 2016 13:01:49 GMT -5 milee said:

May 5, 2016 12:55:09 GMT -5 swamp said:

And holy crap on the amount of stuff she gave to her kid!

No joke. This is one of the toughest things about parenting, IMHO - dealing with the other parents. It's so hard to be moderate with all the loonies. As a parent, I wouldn't think it was the end of the world if my kid ended up drinking some alcohol. But expressing something like that might put me in the same camp as that crazy woman, so it's just easier not to discuss anything controversial at all and to pretend to just be pretty straight laced, because there's a large segment of the population that has zero judgment about nuance or degrees of OK.

Would I freak out if my kid came home and I discovered he'd had a drink of Crown Royal at prom? No. But idiots like this don't seem to understand that there might be a difference between being willing to overlook a small amount of alcohol that's unlikely to hurt a kid or cause injury versus doling out enough drugs and alcohol to kill an elephant.  Especially when it's coming from a parent - if those teens didn't have much experience with alcohol, they might think that this is a normal and OK amount to drink.  Crazy.  Just nuts.Until

I thought you meant the toughest thing about parenting was figuring out how much booze to give your kid for prom night, until I kept reading. Clearly that is an important part of parenting though. If you give them none, they may have to bribe someone shady, but if you give them too much...

[MJ2.0]

The alcohol is one thing, but were the pills necessary?

[milee]

May 6, 2016 18:42:17 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

The alcohol is one thing, but were the pills necessary?

Yeah, the pills seemed just over the top crazy. And as for the alcohol - again, I keep getting hung up on the amount of that, too. This was two bottles and it was just for 2 kids. Like I mentioned earlier, I wouldn't get too upset if my kid had a drink or two on prom night, but this mom gave them enough alcohol to literally kill a kid depending on how big the kid was and how fast s/he drank it. That seems very reckless even if you set aside the legal aspect of it.

[MJ2.0]

I didn't realize how much alcohol it was. One drink would have been the most I'd be willing to give.... Probably less.

[mojothehelpermonkey]

I bet the boy had been getting pills and drugs for long enough that he had high tolerance, and the mom just thought that level of tolerance was normal. Total parenting fail! That would be the scariest part about having kids.

Edit: I don't have kids, and all I know about raising them after the age of 13 is from watching MTV reality shows. I don't even watch those shows, I just watch the clips.

[milee]

May 6, 2016 19:48:24 GMT -5 mojothehelpermonkey said:

I bet the boy had been getting pills and drugs for long enough that he had high tolerance, and the mom just thought that level of tolerance was normal.

  I suspect you're right, but Holy Guacamole!  An entire bottle of hard liquor per person plus 10 oxycodones?!?  That's a high tolerance even for an adult. 

[mojothehelpermonkey]

His mom probably thought he had more friends to share the drugs and alcohol with. Total parenting fail.

[milee]

May 6, 2016 20:20:16 GMT -5 mojothehelpermonkey said:

His mom probably thought he had more friends to share the drugs and alcohol with.

Nope - the mom knew it was just for her son and his girlfriend. She arranged the whole thing, including the hotel room they were going to (and where the GF died) after prom. She drove the two around, she arranged the hotel, she took them to the hotel, she gave them the alcohol and drugs.

I'm trying to think if I know anyone IRL that can easily down a whole bottle of hard liquor but that doesn't have a problem with alcohol. So far, I can't think of anyone. Any of the people I know that have a high enough tolerance to drink their own bottle in one post-prom sitting is also in the category that I'd consider alcoholic (has physical dependence on alcohol, has had at least some bad effects in their life as a result of their drinking.) It's tough for me as a mom to imagine having a teenage son that was already having issues with alcohol, and even more incomprehensible to think about giving him that amount of alcohol.

[mojothehelpermonkey]

Yuck! That is even worse.

[architecto25]

I just "stumbled" into this thread earlier tonight; No, I'm not drunk ... and it's been a long time
since I've had a drink. I've read many of the posts.... very interesting. I've favored the thread;
hopefully can find it soon ... I'd like to add a few thoughts, and a little of my history. I suspect
that I'm older than almost anyone on this thread.
Arch.

[MJ2.0]

May 6, 2016 20:26:12 GMT -5 milee said:

May 6, 2016 20:20:16 GMT -5 mojothehelpermonkey said:

His mom probably thought he had more friends to share the drugs and alcohol with.

Nope - the mom knew it was just for her son and his girlfriend. She arranged the whole thing, including the hotel room they were going to (and where the GF died) after prom. She drove the two around, she arranged the hotel, she took them to the hotel, she gave them the alcohol and drugs.

I'm trying to think if I know anyone IRL that can easily down a whole bottle of hard liquor but that doesn't have a problem with alcohol. So far, I can't think of anyone. Any of the people I know that have a high enough tolerance to drink their own bottle in one post-prom sitting is also in the category that I'd consider alcoholic (has physical dependence on alcohol, has had at least some bad effects in their life as a result of their drinking.) It's tough for me as a mom to imagine having a teenage son that was already having issues with alcohol, and even more incomprehensible to think about giving him that amount of alcohol.

It makes me incredibly sad. I look at my little boy and can't ever imagine loading him up with drugs and/or alcohol. These kids didn't ask to be born and they certainly didn't ask for such shitty parents.

[Pants]

May 6, 2016 20:06:19 GMT -5 milee said:

May 6, 2016 19:48:24 GMT -5 mojothehelpermonkey said:

I bet the boy had been getting pills and drugs for long enough that he had high tolerance, and the mom just thought that level of tolerance was normal.

  I suspect you're right, but Holy Guacamole!  An entire bottle of hard liquor per person plus 10 oxycodones?!?  That's a high tolerance even for an adult. 

Hydrocodones or oxycodones? Because the difference there is vast.

[milee]

May 7, 2016 11:54:05 GMT -5 Pants said:

May 6, 2016 20:06:19 GMT -5 milee said:

  I suspect you're right, but Holy Guacamole!  An entire bottle of hard liquor per person plus 10 oxycodones?!?  That's a high tolerance even for an adult. 

Hydrocodones or oxycodones? Because the difference there is vast.

Honestly, that particular detail wasn't one I was focused on, so could have been either. Even if the difference is vast, it's tough to imagine any prescription painkiller that it's OK to take 10 of...