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I’m a casual drinker. Enjoy nice wine with a nice meal, am repulsed by beer, fix myself cocktails maybe a few times a week. Never drink to being drunk but certa

I’m a casual drinker. Enjoy nice wine with a nice meal, am repulsed by beer, fix myself cocktails maybe a few times a week. Never drink to being drunk but certainly get buzzed off of two glasses of cab. Anyone know if I have a risk of becoming an alcoholic? I’m 50 and never really started drinking until my late 20s. What should one look out for?

ndbsbsb 1y ago
Fixing cocktails multiple times a week is a red flag. Not wanting to be an alarmist, but if you fear about your consumption being problematic, it probably is. Talk to AA instead of strangers online
eawgewag 1y ago
Maybe try not drinking for a week and seeing what happens? It's hard to say. I think a lot of people hover in this inbetween of frequent casual drinking that for some people becomes pathological and others it's truly optional. IMO you'll know best if you attempt to choose to stop.
nunez 1y ago
You're going to get lots of opinions from lots of people, so here's a Reddit thread from the before-AI times that does a pretty good job of answering that: https://old.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/5kp9va/alcoholics_of_reddit_when_did_you_start_seeing/ https://old.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/5kp9va/alcoholic... My two cents: addiction is about losing the ability to control how much of something that you do. I'd get worried once you start finding reasons to drink earlier and more of it during sessions. I also believe that alcoholism is a disease that runs in the family, so if you know someone close that had it, then assume that you're at risk. Lastly, after seven years of traveling for work as a consultant (and, now, as a sales engineer) and seeing loads of people slam down beers, wines and all sorts of other things at 9am, I firmly believe that alcoholism is much more prominent (and, to a degree, socio-normalized) than people talk about.
- matt-attack 1y ago
  Fascinating Reddit thread, thanks for linking. I’m happy to say I’m not even on the same planet as any of those cases.
  - nunez 1y ago
    No problem!
Viliam1234 1y ago
Choose one month in the calendar to abstain from all alcohol, every year. If you can do it, I think you are not an alcoholic. If you can't do it, you are. One month is long enough time so that if you are addicted, it will feel like forever. One month a year still leave you more than 90% days to enjoy a nice drink.

ndbsbsb 1y ago

Fixing cocktails multiple times a week is a red flag. Not wanting to be an alarmist, but if you fear about your consumption being problematic, it probably is. Talk to AA instead of strangers online

eawgewag 1y ago

Maybe try not drinking for a week and seeing what happens? It's hard to say. I think a lot of people hover in this inbetween of frequent casual drinking that for some people becomes pathological and others it's truly optional. IMO you'll know best if you attempt to choose to stop.

nunez 1y ago

You're going to get lots of opinions from lots of people, so here's a Reddit thread from the before-AI times that does a pretty good job of answering that: https://old.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/5kp9va/alcoholics_of_reddit_when_did_you_start_seeing/ https://old.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/5kp9va/alcoholic... My two cents: addiction is about losing the ability to control how much of something that you do. I'd get worried once you start finding reasons to drink earlier and more of it during sessions. I also believe that alcoholism is a disease that runs in the family, so if you know someone close that had it, then assume that you're at risk. Lastly, after seven years of traveling for work as a consultant (and, now, as a sales engineer) and seeing loads of people slam down beers, wines and all sorts of other things at 9am, I firmly believe that alcoholism is much more prominent (and, to a degree, socio-normalized) than people talk about.

matt-attack 1y ago
Fascinating Reddit thread, thanks for linking. I’m happy to say I’m not even on the same planet as any of those cases.
- nunez 1y ago
  No problem!

Viliam1234 1y ago

Choose one month in the calendar to abstain from all alcohol, every year. If you can do it, I think you are not an alcoholic. If you can't do it, you are. One month is long enough time so that if you are addicted, it will feel like forever. One month a year still leave you more than 90% days to enjoy a nice drink.