re: how many days a week do you have to drink to be considered an alcoholic?

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You can drink everyday or once a week and be an alcoholic. There isn't a guideline to let everyone know.

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That as well. It's more how you handle alcohol and let it run your life. Just loosening up doesn't make you an alcoholic. Being an alcoholic to me means you can't stop once you start drinking and have to get as drunk as your body can take.

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Being an alcoholic to me means you can't stop once you start drinking and have to get as drunk as your body can take.

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Nah, it's when you have to drink to be normal. Without it, you don't function.

When you would rather drink than anything else in the world, you're an alcoholic.

Problem drinkers may or may not be alcoholics.

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Nah, it's when you have to drink to be normal. Without it, you don't function.

When you would rather drink than anything else in the world, you're an alcoholic.

Problem drinkers may or may not be alcoholics.

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Maybe I'm talking about more functional vs non-functional alcoholics.

Yep.

When you need a substance to feel "normal" and not to get fricked up. On the rare occasion you feel fricked up that's just an added bonus.

When you have money to either buy groceries or a substance and you choose the substance, because, frick food.

And so forth and so on.

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If you have to get fall down drunk you are an alcoholic

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there's different levels of alcoholism

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Maybe you should take your own advice

There aren't different "levels" of being an alcoholic, you either have an addiction or you do not.

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Maybe I'm talking about more functional vs non-functional alcoholics.

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Lots of alcholics can function for a while but it does catch up to you.

When you turn down evening social functions if it means you can't drink, you've most likely become alcoholic. It runs your life because you cannot function without it.

In the end, you don't function with our without, you just drink to keep from feeling sick.

When you don't feel like doing anything until you have your substance and then after you get it you don't want to do anything because you just want to relax and enjoy it.

In my opinion there are 3 types of alcoholics:

1. You simply HAVE to drink every day. Without it you can't function and you get the shakes etc. You act more like a drug addict than someone who just likes to drink.

and/or

2. Any time you drink, you get absolutely blackout plastered. And it's not because you want to. We are not talking about the 21 year old who goes to a party expecting and wanting to get hammered. I'm talking about the 30 or 40 year old who simply can't put a drink down when he starts, regardless of whether it is at a midnight party or at a 1:00 lunch. They simply can't stand the feeling of sobering up once they feel the rush of alcohol in their system. The only thing that can make them sober is sleep. They will never say "I have had enough for tonight." You can be this type of alcoholic even if you only drink once a week.

or

3. You used to be either #1 and/or #2 and you had to go totally sober the rest of your life. You are still an alcoholic, you just found a way to stop drinking. If you ever started drinking again you would likely be back to your old addiction.

Anything else is not an alcoholic regardless of how often or how much you drink.

I've been sober for 200 days. I mean, not in a row, just in general.

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100% agree. I cannot stand the term functioning alcoholic. Most of the people that use it are trying to be cute whil admitting they might occasionally over serve themselves. I've been to the bottom and anyone who uses the word "functioning" with alcoholic has clearly never dealt with being a true alcoholic.

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This entire post is bullshite.

There are people that run million dollar companies and have to drink every day to ward of the shakes.

Just because you cant function at an extreme level of alcoholism doesn't mean it's not possible.