At what point is someone considered an alcoholic?

Question

At what point is someone considered an alcoholic?

Answer 1

Seems to need alcohol to feel better, desire it all the time. Gets grumpy without it... even if they say they'll stop they don't stop drinking..

Answer 2

when a person is so dependant that it interferes with relationships,etc.

when they blame everyone for everything, instead of taking responsibility. when they hide and lie about their drinking.  when they have to drink to function.  there are stages of this disease.  in the latter stages, they drink first thing in the morning or they have the shakes.  the stages progress over time.  this disease is a thinking problem.  even when they have sober periods, they still have that same blaming mentality until they are in a healthy recovery that has lasted at least a year.

Answer 3

A social drinker drinks on occasion.

A problem drinker is when alcohol interferes with life.

An alcoholic is someone who considers life interfering with his/her alcohol.  

Answer 4

when they are depandent on alcohol.

Answer 5

When you depend on it.  Trust me, there IS a difference between being an alcoholic and just drinking a lot.

Answer 6

When they are drunk before 9:00am.

Answer 7

http://www.alcoholscreening.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholism

Answer 8

Drinking all night, then staying awake so you can get some when alcohol is sold at the supermarket down the street again at 6am.

Answer 9

A lot all of my friends went through periods of drinking to excess when they were younger. It was a phase they went through whilst growing up, and they were testing their boundaries. Now they're a bit older they've calmed down and drink socially with no ill effects.

There are a number of indicators of alcoholism, ranging from drinking on your own, guilt about your drinking, drinking to deliberately get drunk etc. The usual medical check for alcohol problems is the Michigan Alcohol Screening Test (MAST) or the CAGE questionnaire shown below:

Two "yes" responses indicate that the respondent should be investigated further. The questionnaire asks the following questions:

- Have you ever felt you needed to Cut down on your drinking?

- Have people Annoyed you by criticizing your drinking?

- Have you ever felt Guilty about drinking?

- Have you ever felt you needed a drink first thing in the morning (Eye-opener) to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover?

There are multiple tools available to those wishing to conduct screening for alcoholism asidentification of alcoholism may be difficult due to the lack of detectable physiologic difference between a person who drinks frequently and a person with the condition. Identification involves an objective assessment regarding the damage that drinking does to the drinker's life compared to the subjective benefits the drinker perceives from consuming alcohol.

While there are many cases where an alcoholic's life has been significantly and obviously damaged, there are always borderline cases that can be difficult to classify.

If you're still concerned after looking over the CAGE or MAST tests,  talk to your GP