Alcoholic

[Gingerbaker]

Am I an alcoholic if a drink a half a bottle of vodka every evening between 5pm to 7 pm?

[bobbinwales]

If you feel totaly unable to skip a night then its a yes from me. When do you drink the other half?

[ToraToraTora]

it's not about how much it's when and why. Can you go days without drinking? Do you crave alcohol first thing in the morning?

[Gingerbaker]

Sounds like I need help, what is the BEST! Place to get help?

[-SharonA-]

Yes! Get help firstly from your GP. He should be able to recommend the best way forward for you.

[davebro]

I would say drink dependent rather than alcoholic.

If you can have 2 or 3 days a week without drinking or craving a drink you're not alcoholic & an alcoholic wouldn't stop at half a bottle, when drinking they would finish the whole bottle (presuming you don't buy it in halves?).

BUT at 1/2 bottle every day you will be risking serious health problems & giving your wallet a beating.

[aelmpvw]

there's a four week wait for a phone consultation with my gp . . .

[Buenchico]

You're consuming about 13 units of alcohol each evening (based upon the strength of Smirnoff, as an example, at 37% ABV). The weekly safe limit, as defined by the NHS, is 14 units. So you're drinking about a week's worth of booze in the space of two hours.

If you feel a compulsion (or, at least, a strong desire) to drink that vodka, you're classed as an 'alcoholic' (or, in more modern parlance, 'alcohol dependent') by many/most medical practitioners.

Alcoholics Anonymous is the obvious support group to turn to
https://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/
Others are listed here:
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-support/

[jno]

the NHS thinks a glass of wine with your dinner every day is unsafe. And yet the French have longer life expectancy than Brits. I can only suppose a regular game of boules soaks up the toxins.

[douglas9401]

That could explain why boules players throw up.

[Atheist]

There's no scientific evidence about what is a safe amount of alcohol. It's a complex issue; there are benefits (feelgood, social wellbeing....) and there are also questions of diet, lifestyle etc. I drink 'too much' but I have a level at which I know I have had enough for the day. I don't drink until the evening and only with food. I don't like spirits.

[Atheist]

Douglas, not all boules players throw up. Women in particular tend to favour a roll along the floor. Of course not everyone is the same; I'm not stereotyping here.

[douglas9401]

What they do for a warm up is their business.

[david small]

Try missing ever other nights drinking. See how you feel.

[Atheist]

Douglas, I'm just reporting my own experience. Boules requires a straight arm for best results, but women's arms are bent; that's why they can't throw a tennis ball properly like a lad can.

[Atheist]

david; don't be so sadistic! Miss a nights drop?
Ginger, if you feel bad about it, then best to follow your instict and try to follow dave's advice. Or maybe reduce the half bottle to a quarter?

[jno]

Atheist, I think david small was addressing the OP. It seems a fair test: how long can you go without alcohol?

[Atheist]

jno, my earlier post was meant to recommend following dave's advice. I can go without whenever social situations make it appropriate. I don't go without otherwise. I drink more than is recommended. I have never missed a day at work because of alcohol the night before. I'm old enough to be a bit blase about certain things like wanting to be at the peak of fitness. Not that that is your business! :-)

[roadman]

Yes

[jno]

I've followed your advice without knowing it, Atheist, I ignore the NHS advice just as I ignore the five-a-day business. But the suggestion of seeing if you can cope without alcohol is important: if you can't you may well be alcoholic; if you can, you're probably not - regardless of the actual amount you drink.

[Hymie]

From a Wikipedia article on alcohol units:-

'An international study of about 6,000 men and 11,000 women for a total of 75,000 person-years found that people who reported that they drank more than a threshold value of 2 units of alcohol a day had a higher risk of fractures than non-drinkers. For example, those who drank over 3 units a day had nearly twice the risk of a hip fracture.'

Given the claimed dangers of excessive alcohol consumption, I’m surprised that such a study did not find other effects such as liver damage/loss of function, shorter life expectancy etc.
It seems that the greatest danger from excessive alcohol consumption is physical body damage due to a fall/accident.