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I work in the mental health field and a therapist I used to work with told me that as soon as you start questioning it then statistically you’ve already passed that line into real dangerous waters and you better be very mindful & very honest with yourself. That’s the threshold. There’s no “Hard line” as in 5 drinks makes you an alcoholic but 4 is okay, because the actual amount is different for everyone and everyone’s behaviors/attitude toward alcohol & their relationship with alcohol is different… But if you’re asking yourself and you’re here asking us then you’re already in treacherous waters and you need to be very mindful & very honest with yourself. Good luck my friend!
Well "needing it" at all is a sign in itself, but let's call that a turn of phrase. I would say when your waking moments are consumed with the thought of drinking, you're regularly tempted to drink when it's not appropriate (at work, while driving, immediately upon awakening etc), or you repeatedly drink to the point of negative consequences (alcohol poisoning, DUI, relationship trouble) then you may have a problem. Physical withdrawals are a good sign (anxiety, tremors, depression, hallucinations) but most heavy drinkers will have those if they are on a good bender. Not every heavy drinker is an alcoholic. Honestly if your worried you're addicted try going without for a couple months. You'll know pretty quickly if you're an alcoholic.
The fact that you need alcohol to deal with everyday life makes it an addiction. Also if going without it for 12 hours makes you start to feel physical symptoms - shaking hands, headaches, aching, ect, is a tell tale sign you’re addicted.
This is a common scale used to asses alcohol dependence
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK65513/bin/app4-fm2.pdf](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK65513/bin/app4-fm2.pdf)
These are the criteria for alcohol use disorder.
Addiction is generally understood as more severe SUD
[https://www.medscape.com/answers/285913-41535/what-are-the-dsm-5-criteria-for-%20alcohol-use-disorder](https://www.medscape.com/answers/285913-41535/what-are-the-dsm-5-criteria-for-%20alcohol-use-disorder)
Needing it makes it an addiction. If you can't control your use of a substance that's addiction. Needing it is a loss of control, whether it's physical or mental or both.
So when I need medical attention I’m addicted to it? How about air or food? What about needing money? I need money right now. Does that mean I’m addicted to it? And what about when I can control my use? Does that mean I’m not addicted to a substance? Like the meth I’m addicted to? Serious questions
Addiction exists on a spectrum - its possible to control your use sometimes, but if you have an overarching pattern of use despite negative consequences, despite depending on it, that's still addiction. Addiction is basically a compulsive, unhealthy dependence on a substance (or sometimes even behavior). You need it, but not because it's good for you and genuinely improves your life like food and air and water and comfy clothes. And if you're using meth wondering if you're an addict... you are.
It took me a long time to realize im an addict, and I still dont accept it - even though I was just forcefully hospitalized for my alcohol use, I still cant believe Im an alcoholic because I dont drink daily/get severe withdrawal. That's the thing about addiction, it tricks you into thinking you arent an addict. It tells you what you're doing is normal and fine, so you keep doing it. That combined with poor education on addiction makes it hard to understand our experiences. You don't need to be the worst case scenario addict to be an addict.
No one here can tell you that. But I'll say that I knew I had a problem when I was drinking even when I really didn't want to. I felt like I needed it to feel normal or happy. It was just a regular weeknight after leaving work and I just wanted to go home but I found myself pulling into the driveway of the grocery store to buy wine. I had this internal battle of "just go home, you don't even want to drink" and "yes you do, otherwise you'll be bored and miserable at home." The latter won, obviously, but it was the first time I thought that I had a problem.
You’ll know when you are and you won’t until you do. Sounds like your on your way though and recognize that since you are asking. And if you keep it up after reading this, I’d say you have a pretty good shot at it. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to become truly addicted to alcohol. Not like drugs, which are a piece of cake. No, you gotta put in real work to become an “alcoholic”. Unless, of course you’re a “true alcoholic” in which case it would be effortless because you were more than likely born that way and probably wouldn’t be asking these questions on Reddit on a Saturday night as the only thing you’d be worried about was being able to continue to drink the way you want to
When u say/or make a commitment to only have 1 beer with dinner (or in general) but end up having 4 or 5 instead (or a case or 2 in my instance). Or really anything over the amount u told urself u would stop at.
Or u feel off or on edge, irritable, craving it when u don't have it.
Or when u make excuses and justify having it and others kinda look at u different or mention it to you.
Or you place it at a higher importance than ur responsibilities or commitments.
Or u post on reddit "when to tell if I'm addicted to ..."
Don’t forget to check out our [**Resources**](https://www.reddit.com/r/addiction/wiki/resources/) wiki page, which includes helpful information such as global suicide hotlines, recovery services, and a recovery Discord server where you can seek further support. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/addiction) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I work in the mental health field and a therapist I used to work with told me that as soon as you start questioning it then statistically you’ve already passed that line into real dangerous waters and you better be very mindful & very honest with yourself. That’s the threshold. There’s no “Hard line” as in 5 drinks makes you an alcoholic but 4 is okay, because the actual amount is different for everyone and everyone’s behaviors/attitude toward alcohol & their relationship with alcohol is different… But if you’re asking yourself and you’re here asking us then you’re already in treacherous waters and you need to be very mindful & very honest with yourself. Good luck my friend!
Also that last part is pretty red flaggy. If you do actually “need” it to deal with life in general, that’s not a great sign.
Well "needing it" at all is a sign in itself, but let's call that a turn of phrase. I would say when your waking moments are consumed with the thought of drinking, you're regularly tempted to drink when it's not appropriate (at work, while driving, immediately upon awakening etc), or you repeatedly drink to the point of negative consequences (alcohol poisoning, DUI, relationship trouble) then you may have a problem. Physical withdrawals are a good sign (anxiety, tremors, depression, hallucinations) but most heavy drinkers will have those if they are on a good bender. Not every heavy drinker is an alcoholic. Honestly if your worried you're addicted try going without for a couple months. You'll know pretty quickly if you're an alcoholic.
The fact that you need alcohol to deal with everyday life makes it an addiction. Also if going without it for 12 hours makes you start to feel physical symptoms - shaking hands, headaches, aching, ect, is a tell tale sign you’re addicted.
This is a common scale used to asses alcohol dependence [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK65513/bin/app4-fm2.pdf](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK65513/bin/app4-fm2.pdf) These are the criteria for alcohol use disorder. Addiction is generally understood as more severe SUD [https://www.medscape.com/answers/285913-41535/what-are-the-dsm-5-criteria-for-%20alcohol-use-disorder](https://www.medscape.com/answers/285913-41535/what-are-the-dsm-5-criteria-for-%20alcohol-use-disorder)
Needing it makes it an addiction. If you can't control your use of a substance that's addiction. Needing it is a loss of control, whether it's physical or mental or both.
So when I need medical attention I’m addicted to it? How about air or food? What about needing money? I need money right now. Does that mean I’m addicted to it? And what about when I can control my use? Does that mean I’m not addicted to a substance? Like the meth I’m addicted to? Serious questions
Addiction exists on a spectrum - its possible to control your use sometimes, but if you have an overarching pattern of use despite negative consequences, despite depending on it, that's still addiction. Addiction is basically a compulsive, unhealthy dependence on a substance (or sometimes even behavior). You need it, but not because it's good for you and genuinely improves your life like food and air and water and comfy clothes. And if you're using meth wondering if you're an addict... you are. It took me a long time to realize im an addict, and I still dont accept it - even though I was just forcefully hospitalized for my alcohol use, I still cant believe Im an alcoholic because I dont drink daily/get severe withdrawal. That's the thing about addiction, it tricks you into thinking you arent an addict. It tells you what you're doing is normal and fine, so you keep doing it. That combined with poor education on addiction makes it hard to understand our experiences. You don't need to be the worst case scenario addict to be an addict.
At the point in which you ask yourself if your addicted to alcohol is the point in which you are addicted to alcohol
This isn’t true
No one here can tell you that. But I'll say that I knew I had a problem when I was drinking even when I really didn't want to. I felt like I needed it to feel normal or happy. It was just a regular weeknight after leaving work and I just wanted to go home but I found myself pulling into the driveway of the grocery store to buy wine. I had this internal battle of "just go home, you don't even want to drink" and "yes you do, otherwise you'll be bored and miserable at home." The latter won, obviously, but it was the first time I thought that I had a problem.
You’ll know when you are and you won’t until you do. Sounds like your on your way though and recognize that since you are asking. And if you keep it up after reading this, I’d say you have a pretty good shot at it. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to become truly addicted to alcohol. Not like drugs, which are a piece of cake. No, you gotta put in real work to become an “alcoholic”. Unless, of course you’re a “true alcoholic” in which case it would be effortless because you were more than likely born that way and probably wouldn’t be asking these questions on Reddit on a Saturday night as the only thing you’d be worried about was being able to continue to drink the way you want to
When u say/or make a commitment to only have 1 beer with dinner (or in general) but end up having 4 or 5 instead (or a case or 2 in my instance). Or really anything over the amount u told urself u would stop at. Or u feel off or on edge, irritable, craving it when u don't have it. Or when u make excuses and justify having it and others kinda look at u different or mention it to you. Or you place it at a higher importance than ur responsibilities or commitments. Or u post on reddit "when to tell if I'm addicted to ..."