Alcoholic vs. just drinking too much

[KKr]

I reckon OP does have a problem already.
passing out on the couch is not a good thing, and surely will not make the family feel proud of you.

it simple means you imbibed too much, and apparently have no control over when to stop and alcohol takes over.

what helped me to realize there was an issue, was one day when meeting up after working overtime when the party already had a few.
such a sorry sight; about ten otherwise normal, intelligent and sociable people talking gibberish, to themselves most of the time; puking on themselves. 
only to be disturbed from their drunken bliss when a toast was made, never mind the words, wait until the glass is raised and quickly down another shot to be washed away with half a pint, or when it was time to go staggering to the loo.

And I used to be sitting there as well and think it was a great night out !

Wake up !!

[1FinickyOne]

quit golf... that seems to be the trigger. 

[Guitar God]

If you click on Thaivisa articles titled “no alcohol sales on...” you may have a drinking problem. 

[Elkski]

I say Op has a problem.   I recall reading some article long time ago if you had 3 servings more than 3 days a week or binge drinking anytime.   I don't recall all the details but the numbers were quite low.  I'm not an expert. But I feel Better and save much money by only drinking 1 beer  a couple times a week

[BobBKK]

I'm probably an 'in control' drinker in that I never drink before 6pm and have days when no drink at all but I do enjoy 2 or 3 glasses of wine in the evening. Benders are reserved for nights out in bars maybe once or twice a month. I have a friend who drinks when he wakes up at 11am and continues until 3am every day.

 

Someone mentioned on here can you be in control when you don't drink? and do you drink daytimes?  I would think that was a good way to classify an alcoholic. I'm probably borderline an might be called a 'functioning alcoholic' maybe. I do know if i suddenly have no drink at all my sleep is very disturbed - nightmares and all. I'm sure there are millions like me. In control but borderline.

[millymoopoo]

Really easy to answer, ask (and practice) this:

Can you stop drinking for 1 month easily, without getting the DTs.?

If yes, you're not an alcoholic, then why not try it permanently, there's a whole wonderful life on the other side of drinking that no drinker ever experiences.!

If no, you're an alcoholic. No amount of alcohol is relevant, it's the addiction, not the alcohol. It's no different from gambling or drugs, if you can't give up, then you're addicted.

 

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, millymoopoo said:

Really easy to answer, ask (and practice) this:

Can you stop drinking for 1 month easily, without getting the DTs.?

If yes, you're not an alcoholic, then why not try it permanently, there's a whole wonderful life on the other side of drinking that no drinker ever experiences.!

If no, you're an alcoholic. No amount of alcohol is relevant, it's the addiction, not the alcohol. It's no different from gambling or drugs, if you can't give up, then you're addicted.

 

Why would I want to give up any pleasure?

[Pferdlkrantz]

Anybody know of AA for Falang in Pattaya? 

 

Just askin'

 

[4MyEgo]

On 3/21/2019 at 4:09 AM, roroeow7 said:

but I am concerned my habits may either be a problem already or turning into one.

Now that you have identified that your habit is actually turning into a problem, you MUST learn to implement that old saying, i.e. everything in moderation.

 

I drink socially 3 times a week at the local water-holes that I frequent as I like to socialise. I make it a habit to drink no more than 3 small light beers, or a couple of glasses of red, or 3 glasses of Vodka and soda, I make sure I give my liver a rest for at least a day or two.

 

You might laugh and say, 3 light beers or a couple of glasses of red or 3 Vodka and sodas, kids stuff right, well, after seeing my father waste away from alcohol, although he didn't die from it, my late brother who was 49 did, it started off with the beer then it turned to the spirits, and I had a friend who came off it all together because he recognised he was drinking too much, started off with 6 big bottles, then 12, then 18, add two bottles of red to it and your well on your way.

 

Having too much time on your hands can be good or bad, depends on what you want to make of it, i.e. either be a couch potato or be health conscious. The way I see it is, we have one life, and we should look after it as we do everything else we look after, so eat right, sleep right, exercise right, drink right and you will hopefully live a longer life with less chances of developing diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, etc, etc.

 

I keep a case of 330ml small bottles at home in case a visitor comes by or the wife might feel like a beer with me over a meal once in a blue moon.

 

To drink as you do will only lead you to destroy yourself much earlier in life. I see the guys that I drink with, they are like fish, 6 big bottles and off they go home, they won't tell you that they were at the other bar earlier drinking the same amount because they don't want you telling them that they have a problem. One is on his deathbed, liver is failing, gem of a bloke, lovely Thai wife, every time I would see him, she would always tell me, he drink much, but he no listen to me, tears held back in her eyes, now this guy worked all his life to get to retirement age and retire and live the life of a retiree, however I don't see my life as a retiree being a drunk and wasting my life and money while I burden my wife for my taste of alcohol, I watched my mother suffer, I watched my late brothers partner suffer with their relationship ending because of he chose not to give in to the alcohol over his partner.

 

Time for a life change mate, get active, look after yourself, drink in moderation, or as they say, join the bandwagon, don't know about the music though, might be a "lonely road" or something like that playing in the background ?

 

Best of luck.

 

 

[Lacessit]

39 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Why would I want to give up any pleasure?

Because that pleasure may kill you? In a fairly unpleasant way?

A guy in my condo had years of heavy drinking which irreparably damaged his liver. At the end, he was in constant pain and shitting blood. He committed suicide.

I've found as I age alcohol definitely affects me in various ways. While I still enjoy a drink, I only drink on weekends now. Even then, it's only two scotches with dinner, or a beer at lunch.

A simple test for the OP is to stop drinking for 5 days in a row stone cold. If he can't do that, he is an alcoholic.

[nikmar]

1 hour ago, hyku1147 said:

I just talked to my brother who is a long term AA member. He recommended AA's 20 questions:

TWENTY QUESTIONS - Could I be an Alcoholic?

http://www.aascv.org/index.php/find-help/20-questions

Well, havent you just ruined my day!!!

[ToddinChonburi]

If you can't stop at 1 or 2 or 3 beers then there is a problem. If you can't stop drinking for 6 months and enjoy your life without alcohol then you have a problem.

[BritManToo]

48 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Because that pleasure may kill you? In a fairly unpleasant way?

I should give up sex because HIV might kill me.

I should give up cycling because a Thai driving a pickup might kill me.

 

You could apply your statement to almost any activity.

I might not live any longer, but it would certainly seem longer.

[4MyEgo]

2 hours ago, kingstonkid said:

An alcoholic is someone that can not self regulate and does not know when to quit.  I would suggest based on the people I have known that you are not but that you easily could become one.  My advice is to trade beer for something else when you drink for a while and see what happens.

 

Consider this at this time you have a good deal of free time.  Imagine if your wife tells you where to go and leaves you then you will have more time.  My suggestion to see if you can find something that you both like and do it.  I have started going window shopping only because she likes it.  

 

You re in more danger of screwing up your life with your family than you are at this point being an alcoholic but if you screw up the family you could end up there easily.

 

Your words have a lot of truths in them and very much to the point.

 

This is exactly how my late brother went down on the elevator as impulse stated in his earlier reply to another post.

 

My (older) brother knew he had a problem, attended AA on a few occasions, and as he was single and alone once again after his second relationship failed, he took to the heavy duty stuff, talking a bottle of Johnny in the morning and a bottle of Ouzo in the evening, mum would go around in the morning when he wouldn't return her calls and find him passed out on the floor, either the bathroom, the kitchen, the lounge room, the hallway, always with a pool of blood coming out from his head injury after hitting the floor on the way down from passing out, this was hard on her, but she was also contributed to his death in my opinion by going up the road and buying him more because he would threaten her that he would go up to the local bottle shop himself by either driving or walking and would either get hit by a car or crash his car into another if he had the shakes, a mother's love can sometimes be hard to know which way to turn.

 

Not wanting to go into it too much, he ended up in hospital on a number of occasions and was put into an induced coma, I lost count, the hospital eventually gave up on treating him, and the last time they farmed him out to palliative care where he ended up passing, but not before his organs starting failing, one by one, each time I visit (daily), it was something new, the last day I saw him, was when he couldn't see, he was blind, he asked me in a desperate tone to get him out of there and take him to Thailand with me, I made up an excuse and said, I only brought one helmet with me, so I couldn't take him on the bike, with him saying, come on mate, I can tuck in, the cops won't notice...lol, always up for it.

 

I got a call at 4am the next morning telling me that he had passed, not wishing to sound as I am spilling my beans, I didn't cry for him, I loved him dearly, he was the kind of brother who would stick up for you, have your back, look out for you, would always drop something to help you out, respect your opinion, even after arguing, but I was happy for him to have passed, the suffering he went through was immense, not to mention the others who were caught up in his tornado, his daughters, his x wife, his x partner, mum, his brothers, one who wouldn't go to the hospital when he knew he wouldn't see him again.

 

You cannot bring them back when they reach a certain level, he was drowning in alcohol. I just hope when people realise alcohol is taking control, that they fight back early and get off of it, drinking in moderation is the key and if one can't, then one should make the decision to bail altogether if they cherish their life and their loved ones, because not only will they suffer the consequences, others will too.

 

 

[4MyEgo]

27 minutes ago, nikmar said:

Well, havent you just ruined my day!!!

Or saved your life, if you actually want it !

[Lacessit]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

I should give up sex because HIV might kill me.

I should give up cycling because a Thai driving a pickup might kill me.

 

You could apply your statement to almost any activity.

I might not live any longer, but it would certainly seem longer.

No no no. AFAIK the mortality rate from heart attacks during shagging is a minuscule proportion of deaths arising from alcoholism, AND it's a lot quicker. So have at it, not that you need my permission.

[MrPatrickThai]

On 3/21/2019 at 1:58 AM, pr9spk said:

A genuine alcoholic will drink every day, and they won't wait until 3pm to do so - I have met dozens in my life because of my line of work.

I'm a genuine alcoholic and haven''t had in drink in 30 years.

 

There are binge drinkers.

 

OP - if you haven't had DT's then you're not an alcoholic, just use willpower to reduce your intake. 

[MrPatrickThai]

1 hour ago, Pferdlkrantz said:

Anybody know of AA for Falang in Pattaya? 

 

Just askin'

 

Yes, it's on google, and there is no requirement to be white.

[robblok]

On 3/21/2019 at 11:20 AM, Berkshire said:

You seem quite knowledgeable in these matters.  Question:  Can 2 to 3 beers, every single day, damage one's liver or other organs? 

Nobody can really say that because it depends if your otherwise healthy. It could be disastrous for your health if your pre diabetic, and it could be fine if you are healthy otherwise. 

 

Within humans there is a large variation too some people get away with stuff others get sick from. If you are worried im sure there is a way to let them test your liver.

 

I would think that 2 to 3 cans a day for an otherwise healthy person is not a problem. If your overweight in bad health and gaining extra weight still then it might cause problems.

[robblok]

2 hours ago, BobBKK said:

I'm probably an 'in control' drinker in that I never drink before 6pm and have days when no drink at all but I do enjoy 2 or 3 glasses of wine in the evening. Benders are reserved for nights out in bars maybe once or twice a month. I have a friend who drinks when he wakes up at 11am and continues until 3am every day.

 

Someone mentioned on here can you be in control when you don't drink? and do you drink daytimes?  I would think that was a good way to classify an alcoholic. I'm probably borderline an might be called a 'functioning alcoholic' maybe. I do know if i suddenly have no drink at all my sleep is very disturbed - nightmares and all. I'm sure there are millions like me. In control but borderline.

Wow.. you say you only drink 2 or 3 glasses.. i would not think of that as someone who is an alcoholic or even a big problem. However you are saying that you get a disturbed sleep if you don't take alcohol. Thaat does signal dependance. I never thought that could happen by the (relatively) low amounts your talking about. 

[4MyEgo]

1 hour ago, hyku1147 said:

I just talked to my brother who is a long term AA member. He recommended AA's 20 questions:

TWENTY QUESTIONS - Could I be an Alcoholic?

http://www.aascv.org/index.php/find-help/20-questions

The questions are pretty good, I answered no to 19 of them, yes to the one that said Have you ever had a complete loss of memory as a result of drinking? and this is what it gave me: If you have answered YES to any one of the questions, there is a definite warning that you may be an alcoholic.

 

I have had on two occasions in my lifetime that I can remember, having no recollection on how I got home, and it's telling me the above, I don't think so, I think I would have more chances of dying from some sexually transmitted disease because I love pu$$y more than the drink, just saying ????

 

[MrPatrickThai]

3 minutes ago, robblok said:

Wow.. you say you only drink 2 or 3 glasses.. i would not think of that as someone who is an alcoholic or even a big problem. However you are saying that you get a disturbed sleep if you don't take alcohol. Thaat does signal dependance. I never thought that could happen by the (relatively) low amounts your talking about. 

Nah, poor sleep could be caused by many other things.

[robblok]

1 minute ago, MrPatrickThai said:

Nah, poor sleep could be caused by many other things.

He specifically said he had bad sleep at days he did not drink. Then there is correlation between the two probably causation too. If he only has it on non drinking days then it definitely related. 

[robblok]

3 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

The questions are pretty good, I answered no to 19 of them, yes to the one that said Have you ever had a complete loss of memory as a result of drinking? and this is what it gave me: If you have answered YES to any one of the questions, there is a definite warning that you may be an alcoholic.

 

I have had on two occasions in my lifetime that I can remember, having no recollection on how I got home, and it's telling me the above, I don't think so, I think I would have more chances of dying from some sexually transmitted disease because I love pu$$y more than the drink, just saying ????

 

I think that test is crazy.. i almost never drink but in my youth and even in my time in Thailand there are parts I have no recollection from because of drinking too much. Missing just a few hours, cant say it has happend often but certainly 1 time in the last 10 years. 

 

I was drinking, Hoegaarden in the Kiwi bar near nana Bangkok. I cannot remember how I instructed the taxi to go to my home or what i paid. The fact that I woke up home says enough. I recall being in the taxi but that is it.

 

Anyway I doubt that getting real drunk once makes one an alcoholic. I could go months without drinking and then have a day that i drink. Certainly not an alcoholic. 

[MrPatrickThai]

4 minutes ago, robblok said:

He specifically said he had bad sleep at days he did not drink. Then there is correlation between the two probably causation too. If he only has it on non drinking days then it definitely related. 

He's using drink to cover another problem.

 

I can't sleep if I don't have a cup of chamomile tea. I'm not addicted to the tea.

[Lacessit]

7 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

The questions are pretty good, I answered no to 19 of them, yes to the one that said Have you ever had a complete loss of memory as a result of drinking? and this is what it gave me: If you have answered YES to any one of the questions, there is a definite warning that you may be an alcoholic.

 

I have had on two occasions in my lifetime that I can remember, having no recollection on how I got home, and it's telling me the above, I don't think so, I think I would have more chances of dying from some sexually transmitted disease because I love pu$$y more than the drink, just saying ????

 

The difference with pu$$y is HIV and STD's are avoidable. Or curable.. Death from excessive alcohol intake is not.

Life is full of risk, one just has to be sensible about the risks they choose to take.

[The Theory]

On 3/21/2019 at 12:09 AM, roroeow7 said:

I don’t drink because I’m sad or depressed,

If you keep doing the same soon or later end up to depression. 

After while your regular mode will be alcohol time (when you are drunk) and sober time will be unpleasant. 

Why you think people become alcoholic ?!!! That would be the reason. 

[MrPatrickThai]

7 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

The difference with pu$$y is HIV and STD's are avoidable. Or curable.. Death from excessive alcohol intake is not.

Life is full of risk, one just has to be sensible about the risks they choose to take.

Why write pussy like that? Have you ever thought about SA? 

[NCC1701A]

On 3/21/2019 at 12:09 AM, roroeow7 said:

but in a day where I start drinking that early I might have 12-16 beers before the night is over. 

i couldn't drink that much water. at least you are asking the right questions.  I hope you can get some help with this.

[freedomnow]

Is that 16 small beers ? I'd hope so, otherwise that is HARDCORE boozing.

 

Thailand put me off boozing...local slop 'beer' dearer than CAMRA winning craft beer supermarket back in my home country..never been so totally laid flat from booze than from Thai slop beer...Chang Export was good to me anyway, then they phased it out !!

 

Imported craft beer is crazy priced...double supermarket price back home, then even more in a bar.

Snowy Weizen on Kopper something were OK craft, but I just gave up and lost 12kg in weight.

If I lived in Laos, I'd put that 12KG back on very quickly as I love Beer Lao and its the least headachy beer in Asia, for me anyway.

 

Anyway, get another hobby !