You're out with your friends drinking and having a good time. You may have had a little too much that night, but no harm done, right? Just because you had one too many doesn't make you an alcoholic. But then you notice youre drinking everyday, and not just with your friends. You drink a little more everyday. A glass of wine with dinner, a beer during the football game. Your drinking starts to get excessive, but you don't see a problem, but do the people around you see a problem? Is your drinking starting to affect your relationships and your life? Thats when most people say there is a problem. When your drinking starts to affect other aspects of your life in negative ways. So, when do you cross the line from being a social drinker to being and alcoholic? When do you know you have a problem? Did the problem begin when your relationships where affected, or when you took that first sip of your new companion, alcohol?
Thursday, October 13, 2011
The Thin Line Between Social Drinkers and Alcoholics
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You're out with your friends drinking and having a good time. You may have had a little too much that night, but no harm done, right? Just because you had one too many doesn't make you an alcoholic. But then you notice youre drinking everyday, and not just with your friends. You drink a little more everyday. A glass of wine with dinner, a beer during the football game. Your drinking starts to get excessive, but you don't see a problem, but do the people around you see a problem? Is your drinking starting to affect your relationships and your life? Thats when most people say there is a problem. When your drinking starts to affect other aspects of your life in negative ways. So, when do you cross the line from being a social drinker to being and alcoholic? When do you know you have a problem? Did the problem begin when your relationships where affected, or when you took that first sip of your new companion, alcohol?
You're out with your friends drinking and having a good time. You may have had a little too much that night, but no harm done, right? Just because you had one too many doesn't make you an alcoholic. But then you notice youre drinking everyday, and not just with your friends. You drink a little more everyday. A glass of wine with dinner, a beer during the football game. Your drinking starts to get excessive, but you don't see a problem, but do the people around you see a problem? Is your drinking starting to affect your relationships and your life? Thats when most people say there is a problem. When your drinking starts to affect other aspects of your life in negative ways. So, when do you cross the line from being a social drinker to being and alcoholic? When do you know you have a problem? Did the problem begin when your relationships where affected, or when you took that first sip of your new companion, alcohol?
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I believe there is a fine line between a social drinker and an alcoholic. A social drinker may loose control and go beyond themselves but I see that as carelessness. If you're a problem drinker, often you'll go out of your way to get alcohol even when you can't afford it. I believe the line is crossed when you find yourself feeling depressed and its the first fix your mind turns to. What bothers me is the amount of judgment placed on a drunk partier verses a drunk alcoholic. Both result from the same actions but one is viewed as an issue while the other is socially acceptable. Also, partying too hard and being addicted to alcohol have equal affects on relationships, neither of which are positive.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jeremy in the fact that there is a fine line between social drinking and alcoholism. I believe that the difference between them is a lot bigger than people think. I believe that social drinking is something completely different than someone who will do anything and everything to get alcohol. I believe drinking becomes a problem when it starts to affect the life you have and the people that care about you. I don't believe that every social drinker turns into an alcoholic but I do believe every alcoholic starts out as a social drinker. It depends on many factors, including personality, on wether a person will cross that line over into alcoholism.
ReplyDeleteA person becomes an alcoholic when they use alcohol to escape a problem in their lives. Going out of one's way to acquire alcohol doesn't necessarily mean they're an alcoholic; maybe they just want to have a good time. Also, alcohol can affect one's friends even if the person is not an alcoholic. Basically, alcoholism is only defined by its usage to relieve stress multiple times a day.
ReplyDeleteI think that a person would definitely notice that they're drinking excess but wouldn't be able to stop drinking, since a part of his mind would justify himself that he's not alcoholic, but a social drinker. Many others would agree that they're alcoholics but they won't stop drinking since they're alcoholics. I agree with previous comments that the problem of drinking starts when you find out that you're craving for more and more alcohol to consume. I think that the environment in which you drink matters and not the amount or how often you drink. Environment can change people, like if you drink with those who are alcoholic, you're most likely to become an alcoholic but if everyone gets together to drink to socialize, I think that the chance of becoming an alcoholic is lesser. So I think that this is the line where non-alcoholics and alcoholics can be differentiated.
ReplyDeleteI think the difference between a social drinker and an alcoholic is the difference between need and want. A social drinker just wants to drink, either to socialize or relax with a glass of wine after a long day. However an alcoholic needs to drink possibly in order to feel comfortable enough to socialize, or like jmnemeier said, "to escape a problem in their lives." Although there is this difference I agree with Jeremy and Erin that the line between the two is very thin. Having just been in High School this was very easy to see as people drank every weekend, made stupid mistakes and talked about/looked forward to drinking over the weekend during the entire week. A lot of these descriptions are mentioned in the article as being a part of an alcoholics behavior i.e., "they can't set limits", "have an increased tolerance", and "drinking takes up more of their time." So I guess that fine line is separated by need and how important alcohol is in their life.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the points that Kristin has made about need and want. In my opinion, that fine line that is made between a social drinker and an alcoholic all comes down to the individual. It seems as if people who are current alcoholics are people who started to become social drinkers while they were young. This may not be the case if a person is responsible enough to know when they have had too much to drink in their mind. This idea was also present in my high school, like Kristin mentioned about her high school. From what I knew, it seemed like the people who drank on the weekends to have fun did so because their parents were okay with it. In my opinion, this makes it even more likely that a person would become an alcoholic, considering that not only are they starting to drink as young as 16, but also that the parents are okay with it, and even encouraging it at times. This is only one example, but there could be many reasons why a person drinks socially and is never told to not do it, so they keep doing it and develop a problem.
ReplyDeleteComing from a long line of alcoholics, I can assure you the line isn't as thin as it would seem. I am sure that addiction has touched the majority of the people in this class at one time or another, and I don't mean to lessen any experiences had, but most alcoholics are "functioning alcoholics". They are able to perform their daily duties without event, keep their relationships in order, and appear quite normal to the rest of us. You might, however, notice a loose pattern of events. For example, a DUI, hangovers, etc. Non-alcoholics have these same events occasionally. I think the defining aspect is motivation. If you drink to numb something or if you can only have fun while intoxicated, that's when things get sticky.
ReplyDeleteThere is a difference between socially drinking and alcoholism because socially drinking is how it always starts but for someone to get addicted that lays in the person's behavior and life style. Like most addictions, people have certain tendencies when it comes to getting addicted, many outside factors can lead to an alcohol addiction such as depression, excitement, or even relationships. socially drinking is where the abuser consumes alcohol every once and a while and its where they get stupid crazy, but alcoholics consume alcohol on a daily basis and not only do they have high functioning behaviors while intoxicated they also seem to find comfort in subscribing to a daily dose of that alcohol. for many they find out they have a drinking problem when school begins to interferes with your need to drink and they then begin need to surround themselves with others with common interest, drinking. When someone has an addiction they deny, deny, and deny and it's difficult for them to even realize that they have a problem until after so much damage is done that it might just be impossible to reverse. something that started out like fun ended in a way of living that has taken all your opportunities and chances and thrown them out the window. addiction is just like a two-faced friend, at first it seems fun but then out of nowhere it stabs you in the back and you're addicted.
ReplyDeleteI think that with drinking, the line is very very slim. I think that drinking issues can very by age as well. A college student's idea of drunk is a lot different than a college students neighbor's idea of drunk, Alcoholism is the same way. If a 30 year old man was drinking the same amount as some college students, he would be considered an alcoholic in a heart beat.
ReplyDeleteI think the line can be obvious.Once you find yourself can't help thinking about drinking when you're doing something else, there may be a problem, no matter how often you get drunk.
ReplyDeleteAt the very beginning, you may just feel that you are very enjoy the time you spend drinking with your friends so you would like to hang out with them more often. Then one day, you find that drinking during dinner cannot satisfy you any more and you are eager to drink some beer even when you are at home alone. You think you're just too tired and may be a little bit depressed, so you indulge yourself do relax for a while, so you enter into a bar or buy home a dozen of beers. Finally, you'll find that happiness has deserted you ever since.
That is exactly what will happen to any potential alcoholism. So..watch out!
one becomes an alcoholic when they begin to depend on nothing but the alcoholic beverage. the line between social drinking and alcoholic drinking is very thin though, a social drinker can drink a glass of wine and not yearn for more but an alcoholic will want to continue fulfilling the taste of the drink
ReplyDeleteBeing a social drinker or an alcohic have two different distinct meanings.An alcholic wakes up from bed and the first thing that comes to mind is to open the refrigerator and take a bottle of beer or wine and he/she keeps opening the refrigerator for this same purpose until he/she finally goes to bed.If this happens then one can be regarded as being an alcohol addict.However a social drinker drinks occasionally.
ReplyDelete