Am I an alcoholic if I only binge drink once or twice a week?

Some good answers for a change, if drinking is making your life miserable, you want to stop but can't then you're an alcoholic, the amount is almost immaterial.

You describe alcoholism very well when you say what happens when you get a few drinks inside you.

I'm a recovered alcoholic in my 5th year of recovery thanks to Alcoholics Anonymous, I'm surprised it's only bee mentioned once so far in some of the very good answers.

I now work in an alcohol rehab unit in the UK and also as an adviser on the AA National 24hr telephone helpline.

I suggest you go along to a few meeting near to where you live, my link will help you find one, you don't have to say or do anything you don't want to, just listen to others in exactly the same position as yourself and how they recovered from the disease of alcoholism.

Since I joined AA in 2006, not only have I not had a single drink since, after completing their program of recovery, the desire ever to drink again has been completely removed.

You are welcome to mail me if you need any more advice.

EDIT: I've joined SMART twice in the past year or so as I'm of the opinion that you can never get too much knowledge, however I never hear from them unless they want money, AA has been free since it started in 1935, has meetings every day all over the world and is not a faith healing group, I've been an atheist for over 50 years and know many just like me, have a look and judge for yourself.

I never run down any help group so I can only tell you my experience in AA, Smart have 600 + face to face meetings around the world, AA had over a 106,000 in a 2006 census.

Once or twice a week is fine. If you are a daily binge drinker then you are an alcoholic. But having a few drinks a couple days a week in nothing to worry about. The crying may be depression related and for that you need a doctor. While there ask about drinking, etc. They will always tell people to not drink so keep that in mind. The other thing is they will say that the depression is alcohol related no matter if it is or not-if you tell them that you drink, so keep that in mind too. Just don't slip into a daily binge routine. As one nonalcoholic to an alkie I think you can pull through this. Give it a go and see how it works for you. Maybe you need just the minimum of units and not binge level stuff.

I think that your are at the point that you have no control which is really too bad and may mean you need to retire from the party scene. Later, mate.

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RE:

Am I an alcoholic if I only binge drink once or twice a week?

think I may be an alcoholic. My question is, can you be an alcoholic if you are only a binge drinker? I feel like sometimes I am making a bigger deal out of it than it needs to be. However, over the past two years or so I've been feeling so helpless when I drink. I wake up the next day and cry...

Binge Drinking Once A Week

Alcoholism is defined as the compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcohol despite its negative effects on the drinker's health, relationships, and social standing.

Though you only drink two nights a week, when you do drink you cannot control it so yes, you are by definition an alcoholic.

If you really want to stop doing this you might want to get some professional help or join a group to talk about it. Often times there are other reasons behind excessive alcohol consumption (trying to escape or numb yourself to something for example) that can be worked out.

Some simple advice would be to not drink for a weekend or two to see that you actually can make it without drinking. That can help give you the confidence that when you do drink you don't need to go crazy and get drunk to have a good time. Also, limiting yourself to one drink per hour, or forcing yourself to drink a glass of water between every drink can also help as well.

Lastly, if your friends are encouraging/enabling you, let them know that you are not happy with how much you are drinking and would like it if they supported your decision to drastically cut back.

drinking too much or too often can be considered alcoholism, if you make bad choices often while drinking it can also be a sign of a problem. If you want to stop but still keep drinking in excess that also can be a sign of alcoholism. I used to have this problem myself, and what I did to stop it was stop going to places and people and scenes that revolved around booze, finding other enjoyable things to do on the weekends and also seeking therapy. Binge drinking is also very bad for your health, the effects that mass alcohol intake cause are almost worse than someone who drinks lightly on a daily basis.

You are an alcoholic. You have no control over what you do and you regret it the day after every time. Have you been date raped yet or woken up in some strangers bed? I have been doing what you are doing since I was 15 years old. I am 45 now. Binging on weekends and going to work everyday does not exclude you. It will get worse unless you find a way to quit.

It depends on how dependent you are. If you absolutely must bindge drink a couple nights a week, every week, yeah I'm calling you an alcoholic. But if you can pull it back and just have 4 drinks over the course of the entire week, or abstain from drinking for a whole weekend, you're all set.

To be blunt and to the point, just fact you are concerned means there is a problem. I would say yes . You even said once you start you can't stop. That is a problem. Now there are alot of alcoholics that are binge drinkers. So what do you do now. If you really want help, pick up your phone book or look online for your local AA chapter. They can help you more than people online. They are there to help everyone that wants help. I just looked up there online site. Start there... www.aa.org

Good Luck

"I wake up the next day and cry because I don't want to live like that anymore, but then I do it again the next weekend."

If that isn't the bottom line definition of destructive drinking, I don't know what is. And I don't care what label you put on it: that's a miserable way to live and it will not change unless you change it.

I have been abstinent for over 12 years following a severe addiction to alcohol. I have tried AA but found it was a faith healing group, which wasn't for me. I prefer SMART Recovery. You might want to give it a look.

http://www.smartrecovery.org/