Am I an Alcoholic?

Check out episode 1 of our podcast HERE.

Howdy,

Tony here. Just wanna relay a conversation that was had between myself, my mate and our wives. We were all at my place last night for our ritual of dinner, drinks and TV shows. Spicy, sticky chicken wings, potato salad and simple salsa were all over our plates. Yummo...  We began discussing beer and its price and the frequency with which my mate and I purchase it, therefore drink it. I love beer. I have always done so, but I've not drunk it as often as I have in the past 12-18 months. It is very rare that a day goes by when I don't have at least 2 or 3. This may not sound like a lot, but when does it become habit and when does it turn into alcoholism?

I worry about this. I worry about it not so much from a medical or health point of view, but more so from the point that I want to be able to control it. From my personal perspective, I want control of it psychologically and do not want to become dependant. Anything habitual with grog cannot be a positive thing. If the first thing we do when we're home from work is run to the fridge, whether we mean to or not, then I think we've a problem.

My ritual is I drink 2-4 beers a night while cooking dinner. I don't drink after dinner but what it does is fill me up, make me tired and I'm sleepy and headachey by 8pm... So, no good. While it is a good feeling to take the edge off for an hour or so, it really is only habit and not for a genuine longing for a beer. MOSTly at least.

So, for me personally, this conversation and revelation last night has prompted me to adjust how I drink. No longer will I be drinking on a daily basis. I'm going to go back to the good old fashioned ethos of having one 'when I FEEL like it', instead of out of sheer habit.

Tonight, my mate and I bottle 2 batches of homebrew which will then take at least a few weeks to condition. We discussed buying more beer to tide us over but I'm thinking I'm gonna hold off... I might buy a longneck or something if the need arises but I'm happy to drink less frequently and if it is for research only..... 

Did that sound convincing????   :) Hahahaha.... 

Here's to health and self-control.

Don't wanna end up here...