In response to an article on The Huffington Post, “Rush People Who Have 1-2 Drinks to AA?” one person wrote: “I’ve been in recovery for seven years. Zero alcohol intake. I thought complete abstinence was the point. Have I been wrong all this time?”
The author, addiction expert Stanton Peele replied:
“You need to be a critical consumer of information for your own life. But, if your decision to abstain for life was based solely, or largely, on the idea that human beings with problems that qualify them as alcoholics never reduce their drinking – you probably should consider the scientific information that this idea is false.”
Peele was referring to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s (NIAAA) detailed study of 43,000 drinkers nationally , which found that three-quarters of alcoholics recover without treatment, and more than half drink safely.
It seems there’s some discrepancy over the use of the word alcoholic.
I’ve always thought (and many of my friends have fought me on this) that if someone was diagnosed as an alcoholic, the only “cure” or solution was to never drink again. I also felt, based largely on my mother’s experience, that it would be nearly impossible for alcoholics to quit drinking on their own, and that they need some combination of therapy, detox, and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
But I missed an important distinction. According to NIAAA, there are two forms of alcohol dependence: time-limited, and recurrent or chronic. As the writers at NIAAA put it, “In most persons affected, alcohol dependence (commonly known as alcoholism) looks less like Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas than it does your party-hardy college roommate or that hard-driving colleague in the next cubicle.”
Your party-hardy college roommate? Most likely, her drinking will ebb and flow as she goes through different ages and stages. Just because someone has a heavy-drinking stage of life does not necessarily mean they are a candidate for AA.
In my opinion, it’s confusing to label time-limited alcohol dependence as alcoholism. I think that there should be a distinction made between heavy drinkers and alcoholics.
What do you think, readers?
We Want to Know…What Is Your Definition of An Alcoholic? Do you think alcoholics can safely drink again and/or recover without treatment? Should there be a distinction between problem drinkers and alcoholics?
It always makes me a little nervous when non-alcoholics try to define what an alcoholic is or what the best treatment approach for them should be, and when people who have no real relationship to problem drinking claim to have all the answers for it. Absolutely, there are different kinds of drinkers. Most people can naturally slow down after the wild years of college or their early twenties. Those people are not alcoholics. The nature of their drinking is different. They can stop without much help, and they can probably drink like a normal person later in life. Alcoholics are people who are powerless against alcohol, whose brain chemistry has been altered permanently so that they can never drink like a normal person. “Controlled drinking” is not an option for people who cannot control their drinking. Most have tried many times, in many different ways. That is why they choose abstinence. Each individual must decide for themselves what category they fall into, and what is the best way for them to recover. It’s not about numbers or statistics, or the way Peele simplistically reads them, it’s about each individual’s relationship to alcohol.
I think Peele sounds like an alcoholic in denial.
I have to stick to my belief that alcoholics cannot use safely use alcohol at all. I am scared to death of what might happen if I drink. I have no desire to toy with the idea that ” I will ever be a normal drinker”. I feel people who do toy with that idea just haven’t had enough pain.
I’m 20 a year old 5 feet tall woman and have had many terrifying, life-defining moments while drinking. In Italy I blacked out before I left the hostel. Friends and I went to a club, they lost me and found me three blocks away with random men. Later that fall, I drank too much, blacked out and ran across the Pacific Coast Highway to “look at the ocean” at 10 o’clock at night. I’ve been in situations with men where I come to wondering what in the world am I doing and then black out again….Amy said “alcoholics are people who are powerless against alcohol, whose brain chemistry has been altered permanently so that they can never drink like a normal person.” I went 5 weeks without drinking this year and it was great. I’m outgoing and have just as much fun when I dont drink. But I have, I wouldn’t say an overwhelming feeling to drink, but I just want to. I could not drink and be fine about it but, I WANT to… People have told me I’m close to an alcoholic, it runs pretty heavily in my family. Am I an alcoholic? I can drink and not black out, but sometimes it’s really hard to watch how much I drink. Should I stop drinking all together? Or really just crack down on the 3 drink rule? Thoughts??
An alcoholic is a person who can never have enough.He knows that there is more,there is some,and that there is none….but enough?He can’t comprehend that word when it comes to alcohol.
AA defines an alcoholic as one who has lost the ability to control his drinking and at the same time lost his ability to control his sobriety.He will intermittently drink to excess until something very bad happens.
I think people in AA are in denial about the fact that most people quit without AA & are oftentimes more successful at quitting than people in AA.
I think everyone is an alcoholic. Just kidding. I think a true alcoholic,having lived with one for awhile, is one who can’t stop once they start drinking,no matter what’s going on. If the drinking turns them into a “different” and unlikable person you don’t want to be around, they could be an alcoholic. If it interferes with jobs and/or relationships, they could be an alcoholic. If they get a DUI…wellll…that’s debatable but if it’s in the mix with all the other “signs,” they could be an alcoholic. Alcohol IS a drug, after all. And it does affect our brains. Why do you think they call it “getting high” or wasted or tipsy, S..t faced, Pick one. None of them are things like…she got flowery. Or he learned how to play the piano. No, you become a degenerate when you drink too much and if it happens alot, like at every event, party, holiday, ballgame, kid party, BBQ, weekend home alone and you suffer from their drinking, they cud be an alcoholic in need of help in some form. I lived with someone who was a very dear person but when they got drunk, it was another person I did not care to be around at all. Not did others. They were a self admitted alkie. So if you’re having issues w/family, friends, work b/c of drinking, you could be an alkie. At least look into it and give up or lessen the intake of the poison.
DANAL If you’re blacking out and exhibiting behaviors that could at some point put you in a very dangerous place, you should probably get some support at AA and keep away from the alcohol…a drug, as you are now. I promise you the urge will fade but you need to give it a chance. Or do u want to black out and wake up in stranger’s room…someone who is not so nice and won’t let you go? I guess you are young….a young, drunk female is easy for a person with sicko ideas. Please be careful, you sound like a nice person who cares about herself. I heard people drink to numb their inner pains. I don’t know. I used to party when I was younger and it was fun but these days, there’s are alot of weirdos and drugs on the loose….like rufies. Take care of yourself, respect yourself. You already know you have a problem but there you are, trying to justify having “just 3 drinks.” That’s precisely what alkies do…justify and rationalize their behaviors so it’s OK in their minds. Stop and look at what you said…You are ok for several weeks without a drink. Keep going. Many people struggle with it but make it. I know a man who has been off it for 32 years. I know another man who has been off it for many years, too, but sometimes he slips up and turns into a total jerk. He justifies his blips on the radar as needing the booze to fall asleep. BS. Alcohol makes your sleep patterns go wonky. Alcohol will age you, make you fat and pastey looking. Is that what you want? Of course not. Be strong and smart. Black outs are a bad thing b/c you are….blacked out. Pay attention…that walk to look at th ocean coulda been a walk INTO the ocean, gurl. Respect yourself. Booze is a drug. Kick it.
DANA….I wrote you a message but spelled your name wrong, sorry. I listed you as DANAL. Duh.
I think you are an alcoholic when your drinking causes you pain and suffering and hurts the people you love. And you can’t stop.
In our opinion that drinking heavily is a slippery slope into alcoholism. It can be argued that a heavy drinker can control and stop their drinking but too often many heavy drinkers over indulge once too many and before they realize it they are in the throws of full on alcoholism