Thread: Are you an alcoholic?

Originally Posted by Couchie

Take this test: http://alcoholism.about.com/od/tests...iz_alcohol.htm

I got 10/20 which puts me comfortably as an alcoholic in need of physician evaluation.

Screw that. Time for a drink.

That probably explains a lot!

Originally Posted by clavichorder

Aren't you 17?

I didn't think he was even that old.

I agree with PetrB this time.

Funny how nobody is an alcoholic in this country. But out the back of my house, everyone fills recycling bins weekly, and they're mainly full of booze bottles. Or the alcohol related violence on every weekend (& bumping into drunken yobbos in the street if I go out on saturday night). Sometimes I think bring back (partial?) prohibition, or at least some tighter controls on alcohol consumption, esp. when a drunk gets randomly aggro with me or some other innocent bystander (gotta watch what you say, or you'll get your jaw broken, or worse).

But nope, this country has absolutely no problem with alcohol whatsoever. Drinking at home before you go out on saturday night, then drinking at a pub or club, then drinking when you get back home, that's entirely normal.

Being a bit extreme here & yes, the questionnaire is not perfect, but it doesn't mean that alcohol is not a huge problem. Well here it is, anyway. But ask the alcohol or pubs and clubs lobby, and they always try to downplay these deleterious effects of alcohol. In our Aboriginal communities, it's so bad, some of them (tribal elders) have effected total alcohol bans or tight control of it entering and being consumed in their communities. It's basically ripped these communities apart.

But we're soooooo liberal we have to just let it happen, cos otherwise, it's not democratic, dealing with it is taking away people's rights.

Let's tax it to the eyeballs like cigarettes, and spend the revenue on treating alcohol addiction - eg. counseling programs, support groups, rehab, etc.

Good points being raised.

Alcohol use for OTHER people is bad.

Seriously, for those who do not have an alcohol problem there is no problem. But one never knows who will or when they will develop a problem.

My father always said alcohol is a good servant but a bad master. I am grateful that I have been able to keep it at the good servant level for myself.

About 6 days of the week I never feel the need for a drink. It's considered less unhealthy to have a couple of units daily rather than going out either Friday or Saturday for a social session, the amount of which I consume still adds up to less than what I could drink daily according a more sensible regimen. Yet according to this and other surveys I've still got a problem of sorts because I'm doing it all in one go. Next weekend my local pub is hosting its annual beer festival - I will be there.

I don't drink everyday but I always order a couple of pints while I'm out playing and I play almost everyday and,...wait a minute....


Ah, what the heck!

Originally Posted by PetrB

ADD P.S. No matter what you call the substance it is a drug, and the more that is recognized, by those who consume as well as those who do not, the more readily the use or misuse of it can be seen for what it is.

I don't buy it. I have been a moderate drinker all my life (except for a bit more at university 30+ years ago), and scored 2/20 on this ridiculous test, based on what happened 30 years ago. If it is an addictive drug, there should be withdrawal symptoms. Well, I have gone without alcohol for periods of over 6 months four times in the past 20 years without any problems of that kind.

While I don't have an alcohol problem, I certainly have a fine ale problem! I could and do sit around bottles full of liquor...I play at bars every week where I can get shot every ten minutes if I wanted...I've got a full bar at home...but all I like is me beer...and good beer, at that!

It's all about the Micro! So alcoholic? Most certainly not. Beeraholic? Quite certain and happy to be!

According to my physician, and every 'medical' article I have read on the subject, I am an alcoholic. I very seldom get 'plastered' (maybe twice per decade), but seldom a day goes by without intake.

I have a theory about alcohol (and many other non-opiate drugs). There are people who become habituated to booze, and people who become addicted to it. It's probably unscientific to use withdrawal symptoms as the defining factor, but that's what I use.

Originally Posted by Art Rock

I don't buy it. I have been a moderate drinker all my life (except for a bit more at university 30+ years ago), and scored 2/20 on this ridiculous test, based on what happened 30 years ago. If it is an addictive drug, there should be withdrawal symptoms. Well, I have gone without alcohol for periods of over 6 months four times in the past 20 years without any problems of that kind.

Good for you then. Not everyone are able to simply stop drinking without experiencing withdrawal symptoms or other discomforts.

One of my friend's parents is an alcoholic and you can really see the damage it can cause even in a relatively short 2 years time. A liver that is on the verge of failing and a need for alcohol that extremely blurs the mind. The affected person becomes delusional and entirely loses control. It might be on the border of the extreme, but you can still see how bad itl can be.
My father also had drinking problem, but we managed to help him and he's been sober for about 2 weeks now. But then again, it can change, like it happened before. Some people don't even have families that would help them in case of addiction.

I agree with Sid here about the need to somehow control the consumption of alcohol. In Lithuania they banned alcohol commercials from airing before 10pm, you can't buy alcohol after 10pm as well (as in many countries I guess) and you can't drink in public, but the effect is minimal to non existent. Children (13-16) can almost freely buy alcohol, maybe not in the centers of the bigger cities, but in the villages and the suburbs it's very easy to go to the store and say that you need to buy a beer or a bottle of vodka for your parents, because it's normal to be so drunk that you need to send your own kid to buy booze.

Overall, I'm not against alcohol, but against its over consumption. Maybe they should raise awareness of the possible detrimental effects of alcohol more frequently, maybe even similar to the way it's done with cigarettes. Maybe they should write on each bottle how many brain cells you are going to lose after drinking it.

I got 6/10 and fully embrace my love of beer. While others may prefer silent killers like sugar and processed food, i choose a healthy lifestyle that lets me enjoy a good craft beer once in a while, to keep the mind sharp.

I think most of my positive answers reveal a lack of social skills, rather than alcoholism.

I actually do have problems with alcoholism - I hope people realise this is a serious illness.

Originally Posted by Philip

I think most of my positive answers reveal a lack of social skills, rather than alcoholism.

And I thought you were the only TC member with social skills, seeing how you talked to clavi about his problems the other time and you handled it so well. But now, you completely annihilated that fantasy of mine. Ach, what treachery, Philip! What treachery!

Originally Posted by Dodecaplex

And I thought you were the only TC member with social skills, seeing how you talked to clavi about his problems the other time and you handled it so well. But now, you completely annihilated that fantasy of mine. Ach, what treachery, Philip! What treachery!

You're right... but there's one thing i forgot to mention: this account is used by two people.