Am I a Alcoholic

The authoritative American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of

Mental Disorders, or DSM-IV, separates alcohol abuse from alcohol dependence, based partly on

the problems the drinking causes. The holidays are over. Resolutions are wearing thin. It’s a time

of the year when many people wonder if they have a drinking problem. More than 30% of

Americans engage in risky drinking at some point in their lives, according to the National

Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. But there’s no consensus on exactly what an

“alcoholic” is. Even Alcoholics Anonymous relies on alcoholics to diagnose them.

Researchers have made up dozens of screening tests over the years. According to one

developed for John Hopkins University Hospital years ago that still pops up on the Web. I’m

definitely an alcoholic” because I answered to at least 20 questions: I “ crave a drink at a definite

time of day” ( evenings, mostly) and drink alone (sometimes) and drink to “escape from worries

or troubles” (doesn’t everyone who drinks?). But Alcohol screening.org says I’m “below the

range usually associated with harmful drinking or alcoholism” since I have only a glass or two of

wine when I drink .You qualify for a diagnosis of “abuse” if you’ve done any one of

these in the past year: drunk alcohol in hazardous situations, like driving; kept drinking despite

social or interpersonal problems; had legal problems related to alcohol or failed to fulfill major

obligations at work, school or home because of drinking.

You’ve moved on to “dependence” if you’ve done any three of these seven: drunk more or

longer than you intended; been unable to cut down or stop; needed more alcohol to get the same

affect; had withdrawal symptoms without it; spent more time drinking or recovering; neglected

other activities or continued to drink despite psychological or physical problems. “Some people

will abuse alcohol driving drunk, for example but they only drink heavily once a month. They

can remain stable for a long time and not progress to dependence,” says Mark L.

Wilenbring director of the division of treatment and recovery research at the NIAAA.

“And people can be dependent and not have abuse problems at all. They’re successful students.

They’re good parents, good workers. They watch their weight. They go to the gym. Then they go

home and have four martinis or two bottles of wine. Are they Alcoholics? You bet. And the goal

is to get treatment for these folks, earlier, that is acceptable and attractive and effective.

Many heavy drinkers are very high functioning until they can’t function anymore.

“Alcoholics can be high achievers in the short run, because they’re driven and compulsive,”.

1). says Charlie, a New York attorney who, like all AA members, wants to remain anonymous.

Charlie was drinking about a fifth of Johnnie Walker most nights when it began to show. “I’d tell

my secretary I was in a meeting with a client, but I’d be home and only starting to feel human by

noon. Then I’d try to eight hours of work in four hours,” he says. This went on for seven years,

until he finally went to rehab. He’s been sober now for 26 years. Charlie says many heavy

drinkers, especially those who grew up around alcoholics, set a private benchmark in their

denial. “They say to themselves, вЂ?As long as I’m not making a fool of myself in a bar, or

drinking in the morning, or as long as I’m still showing up for work, then I’m not an alcoholic.

Ruth a nursing supervisor in Las Vegas, hid her quart a day whiskey habit from work for

about five years until her husband and her employer both invited her out of those positions at the

same time, she says “ That got her attention”. Both Ruth parents died of alcohol related illnesses,

but she thought her medical training would protect her from getting seriously addicted. Doctors

and clergy who drink heavily often have the notion that they are somehow immune to the

problems they see in others, she observes, and affluent people can pay others to take care of

them. “People with less money and less education often get the message faster,” she says, now

that she’s been sober for 37 years. NIAAA