How do you know if you have drinking problem?

Sometimes, it is hard to discern whether you just have the habit of drinking daily or you already have a problem with drinking. How do you know if you already crossed the line? Are there sort of obvious indications? Thanks!

Drinking daily IS a drinking problem. One cup a day can make you an alcoholic in no time, I know from experience.

The day I realized I had crossed the line (with alcohol, I've had other substance abuse problems) was the day I woke up in jail for trying to rob a store while drunk. Of course, there are different bottoms for different people, but I'd say a pretty good indication is having to drink to cope with everything (ie "I have to drink before I do that") every day. Hope I helped. Be safe.

When you drink alone and if it is affecting you daily life and relationships then it is perhaps time to look into getting help. If you drink a beer or two a day, that's fine. If you can't go a day without drinking, then that's not. I have seen more people who come to work sloshed to the gills and expect everything to be fine even though we have to babysit and pick up their slack. After months of this someone gets tired of it and actually reports it. Most are given the option to go for treatment and coming back on a probationary period before they are considered fired. It all boils down to how your drinking is affecting you and those around you.

Drinking alone or drinking in secret is a real problem. When you have to hide it from others and if it is daily then it is a problem. It is time to look at the real reasons why you are drinking. If you prefer drinking over your friends and family then it is a problem.

When you spend a lot of money on alcohol and have a little left over to spend on food and bills you know there are problems. Drinking to avoid problems is not right, as the issues are there and give you false comfort if you drinking to escape problems you have to face. It is a problem, when you cannot think right and get angry all the time and your family is the one suffering from your actions. If you are taking money from others without asking and just buying alcohol than you have a problem and need to resolve it.

Here are a few signs that may indicate alcohol abuse.

I read somewhere the medical definition at one point was "Anyone who becomes intoxicated four times a year." But honestly, if someone is wondering if they have a problem, then they already know they have a problem. Ask your friends, family and partners. Ask people close to you who are honest. Unfortunately, our society does not equate "fun drunks" and "mean drunks" on the same level. They are. Both are losing control.

So when the drinking becomes unnecessarily regular, the problem's there right? My friend thinks that he needs to drink alcohol daily in order for him to get to sleep. I think he has the sign already- taking alcohol as reliance to keeping company of his issues.

I think drinking in moderation, whether socially or to get to sleep is not a bad thing. I know lots of people who drink a glass of wine with dinner every night, or drink a few sips of wine at night to get to sleep. The key is for it to be a few sips, not a jug, not a gallon.

I feel as long as the alcohol is not affecting the person's quality of life then things are okay. If one's quality of life is not affected in any way, then something like wine in moderation is okay... moderation being key.

The place I work helps me not to drink. I am by no means an alcoholic and have never drank much really except in college. When you have to deal with drunks day in and day out you tend to not want to get off work and join the club. I have worked with many functioning alcoholics and pill poppers over the years and when it affects your job and family, you need to take a long hard look at your life and consider stopping. When you have to stop and ask yourself if you may have a problem, then really yeah you probably do.

I would assume that drinking is a problem when it starts to interfere with your daily life, and or it becomes dangerous to your immediate health and safety and to others. There is a level of responsibility one takes when they partake in any substance. Alcohol is no exception.

I really don't think that's good advice. This guy could very well have a problem. Drinking every night isn't healthy. Of course, you start with just a few sips a night, but your tolerance grows stronger, and we all know the vicious cycle that leads to. I can tell you from experience, it never stays at "just a little every day", you always want more and more until you realize you have an alcohol problem.

Well I took a brief quiz and one of the questions was have you ever blacked out? I thought that is an odd yes or no question, I figured they would want a number to see how bad it was... Then I realized how bad it was.

I had a cousin who drank gin (30% alcohol) at least three 330mL daily. In a span of three months, he had a lung issue. After 2 years, he passed away. The irony is that, he was 21 that time, and he was healthy as he seemed.

When you drink often and can't stop, when you are controlled by the alcohol and you have no control over it. When you have to drink, you have a drinking problem.

I understand where you're coming from, but I respectfully disagree with you, and that's fine. We can agree to disagree.
We all come into situations with our own life experiences, but the fact of the matter is not everyone who drinks just a little bit to go to sleep at night is going to become addicted to alcohol. Obviously the guy being talked about in the post needs a sleep aid, and perhaps a drink works for him.

Every day in the world drug companies are raking in millions upon millions of dollars by giving people prescription drugs that they don't need, pills for this, pills for that, pills to go to sleep, pills to become alert, pills to chill out and relax, pills to perk up and act buoyantly.

There are tons of over the counter sleep aids sold every single day and ingested every single night. To me, those pills are a problem, but a sip of wine is not. But as I said, we all look at things differently.

Like I said, you are coming from a different place than me because you have a challenge with alcohol, and I get that. For people who have that particular challenge, then wine to get to sleep would not be the road to take.

Quite frankly, it seems like a control issue. Trying to control what another person does. Just because someone does not agree with a friend's choice of a sleep aid does not mean that friend has a problem.

I totally get that both possibilities can happen, and I acknowledged diecarmona's perspective due to his personal experience.

I can identify with your friend because I've been drinking wine for years (although not every night) to get to sleep, but then again, drinking has never been "my thing". My thing was (and still is, although I don't smoke anymore) "smoking".

My "drinker" friends simply marvel at the fact that I could keep a bottle of liquor in my house for months and months and not touch it. If my friends come over to my house for a party in January, when they come back over in May, June, August, the same bottles will be there. In their house that may not be the case, but it is in mine.
"Drink" never called to me like "smoke" did. I think that different personalities crave different things. Then again there are some personalities that crave it all, everybody is different.

Similar to how your friend is, I know a lot of people who function well and drink wine on a regular basis. But I do completely understand how certain personal experiences come into play, that's why I said in a previous post that we all bring our life experiences to the table.

It would irk me to no-end if my husband (I don't have one, but if I did) told me not to drink wine because he didn't want me to. Unless I was being sloppy, or "failing" in some type of way, then I would not look kindly on that request.
Like you said, when drinking gets the better of you, then it's time to make a change.

If I had to choose between taking some over the counter sleep aid every night, or consuming nightly some prescription drug that might cause 50 million side effects
(you've heard the commercials, they say in their sweet, soothing voices, "May become habit-forming, may cause thoughts of suicide, may cause changes in urine flow, reports of excessive hair growth on the bottoms of the feet have been reported... and on and on it goes),
I'd chose the few sips of wine.

All that being said, I'll repeat what I said in my previous post, if one has issues with alcohol then wine is not the sleep aid for them.

I agree with starrie. Although it most likely that the guy needs an alcohol to fall asleep, it is not a good idea. In fact, in the long run, this would still affect his health. Just my opinion, buddy.