Hmm. I do see your point, but if anything I feel 'alcoholism' as a concept could use some 'downplaying'. Too many people think of an 'alcoholic' as, more or les

Hmm. I do see your point, but if anything I feel 'alcoholism' as a concept could use some 'downplaying'. Too many people think of an 'alcoholic' as, more or less, someone who has a red nose, looks homeless, and buys big cans of cheap beer or liquor. Meanwhile, many people who are most certainly alcohol abusers tell themselves it's not a problem yet because they are 'not like that'. I've talked to people who drank around the 'healthy limit' and still struggled because their intention was to not drink at all. I quite like how generally speaking, our (or the more 'professional') views of addiction emphasize the subjectivity of it (while respecting the medical aspects). A big issue with alcoholism is that nobody wakes up a 'serious' alcoholic. It's little steps, often with some big leaps along the way. Quite often, you don't realize you're addicted until well after you are. Making people aware that alcoholism is, usually, a sliding scale rather than some clear 'point' could lead to much more and better intervention before it gets too bad.