> I'd been an excessive drinker from my late teens through to my early 30s. "Alcoholic", I'm not sure about; I've seen others who were formally diagnosed alcoho

> I'd been an excessive drinker from my late teens through to my early 30s. "Alcoholic", I'm not sure about; I've seen others who were formally diagnosed alcoholic, including one friend who ultimately died of it, and I wasn't that bad, but I was at least very socially dependent. Modern addiction specialists have mostly moved on from this kind of definition of an addict in favor of a view that says, more or less, that addiction is characterized primarily by repeated use in the face of adverse consequences. I've noticed that I tend to get pushback on this whenever I mention it, so here are some sources. Here's the American Psychiatric Association: > Substance use disorder (SUD) is complex a condition in which there is uncontrolled use of a substance despite harmful consequence. Here's the National Institute on Drug Use: > Addiction is defined as a chronic, relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking, continued use despite harmful consequences, and long-lasting changes in the brain. Here's the American Society of Addiction Medicine: > Addiction is a treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual’s life experiences. People with addiction use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences.