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I don't think you know what a real alcoholic looks like. Edit: Alcoholism isn't just drinking alcohol all of the time. It is a life threatening and often fatal

I don't think you know what a real alcoholic looks like. Edit: Alcoholism isn't just drinking alcohol all of the time. It is a life threatening and often fatal disease. True alcoholics destroy their lives and the lives of everyone around them. So downvote me all you want but people who have no experience with the powers of addiction should keep their petty labeling to themself. The OP is making a blanket statement about a man he has apparently met a few times, and even states that he goes around to various other forums stating the same thing. In my opinion that is extremely rude.

atwebb 13y ago
I don't know if you're being snarky or trolling or what but alcoholism comes in many forms. Please don't diminish the situation people are in just because they do their job well.
- thefreeman 13y ago
  Just because he drinks a lot (note that this is also part of his profession) doesn't make him an alcoholic. People love to toss the term around lightly. If you've ever lived with a true alcoholic then you know it's not something to be joked about and it is a life threatening disease. How would you feel if everyone in this thread was non-chalantly calling John Koch a junkie.
  - Confusion 13y ago
    it's not something to be joked about And there is your problem. You think others must be 'joking' when they call someone an alcoholic while that person isn't obviously destroying his life. You are wrong. News flash: the fact that you know worse cases doesn't mean the less severe cases aren't bad and it doesn't mean that people calling out those cases are joking. Grandparent was saying Jim Koch is drinking in a way that has severe negative consequences for his long-term health. There are a whole lot of people that are indeed functioning alcoholics: they don't drink themselves into a stupor, but they are constantly buzzed, which has long-term health consequences and impacts their effective personality and behavior in (usually) a bad way.
DanielStraight 13y ago
I appreciate that you are trying to raise awareness of more severe, or at least more violent, alcoholism, but at the same time, you are raising denial other forms of alcoholism. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-functioning_alcoholic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-functioning_alcoholic High-functioning alcoholics... "Have difficulty viewing themselves as alcoholics because they do not fit the stereotypical image and because they feel their lives are manageable, [and] avoid recovery help." Saying that people who are high-functioning are not real alcoholics is just going to make them even less likely to admit they have a problem and seek help. Both types of alcoholism are important and trying to raise awareness of one by denying the other is not helpful to alcoholics of either type.
- thefreeman 13y ago
  Thanks, I really didn't consider that side of what I was saying, though I can see how it came across that way. You are right there is definitely a wide range of addiction and I shouldn't have indicated there wasn't. In retrospect it was really just an emotional response to the OP labeling Koch an alcoholic.
  - dang 13y ago
    This comment is exemplary. If we could all land on our feet like this after getting hammered by criticism (and downvotes), HN would be much better.
- AmVess 13y ago
  I'm a high functioning alcoholic, and denial is extraordinarily strong amongst us (other HFAs). Denial is just another enabler to being essentially blotto all the time. I lived in complete denial for 15 years before some of my HFA buddies started burning their lives down in rather spectacular ways. I didn't want my life to serve as a warning to others, so I quit. Luckily, I didn't lose anything along the way, but many have, even many of the HFA's I used to know.

atwebb 13y ago

I don't know if you're being snarky or trolling or what but alcoholism comes in many forms. Please don't diminish the situation people are in just because they do their job well.

thefreeman 13y ago
Just because he drinks a lot (note that this is also part of his profession) doesn't make him an alcoholic. People love to toss the term around lightly. If you've ever lived with a true alcoholic then you know it's not something to be joked about and it is a life threatening disease. How would you feel if everyone in this thread was non-chalantly calling John Koch a junkie.
- Confusion 13y ago
  it's not something to be joked about And there is your problem. You think others must be 'joking' when they call someone an alcoholic while that person isn't obviously destroying his life. You are wrong. News flash: the fact that you know worse cases doesn't mean the less severe cases aren't bad and it doesn't mean that people calling out those cases are joking. Grandparent was saying Jim Koch is drinking in a way that has severe negative consequences for his long-term health. There are a whole lot of people that are indeed functioning alcoholics: they don't drink themselves into a stupor, but they are constantly buzzed, which has long-term health consequences and impacts their effective personality and behavior in (usually) a bad way.

DanielStraight 13y ago

I appreciate that you are trying to raise awareness of more severe, or at least more violent, alcoholism, but at the same time, you are raising denial other forms of alcoholism. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-functioning_alcoholic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-functioning_alcoholic High-functioning alcoholics... "Have difficulty viewing themselves as alcoholics because they do not fit the stereotypical image and because they feel their lives are manageable, [and] avoid recovery help." Saying that people who are high-functioning are not real alcoholics is just going to make them even less likely to admit they have a problem and seek help. Both types of alcoholism are important and trying to raise awareness of one by denying the other is not helpful to alcoholics of either type.

thefreeman 13y ago
Thanks, I really didn't consider that side of what I was saying, though I can see how it came across that way. You are right there is definitely a wide range of addiction and I shouldn't have indicated there wasn't. In retrospect it was really just an emotional response to the OP labeling Koch an alcoholic.
- dang 13y ago
  This comment is exemplary. If we could all land on our feet like this after getting hammered by criticism (and downvotes), HN would be much better.
AmVess 13y ago
I'm a high functioning alcoholic, and denial is extraordinarily strong amongst us (other HFAs). Denial is just another enabler to being essentially blotto all the time. I lived in complete denial for 15 years before some of my HFA buddies started burning their lives down in rather spectacular ways. I didn't want my life to serve as a warning to others, so I quit. Luckily, I didn't lose anything along the way, but many have, even many of the HFA's I used to know.