what is the real definition of an alcoholic??

[beaniedog]

how much do you have to be drinking before you are classed as an 'alcoholic' and what is the difference between alcoholism and drink dependency - ps how can alcoholism be classed as a disease when it is self inflicted in most cases- comments will be greatly appreciated.

[andy hughes]

An alcoholic is an individual with a chemical depndecy (they are terms for the same condition) on alcohol, so it's not so much the amount an individual drinks, as the bodily requirement for intake.

Like all addicitions, alcoholism is self-inflicted, but it is an illness in the sense that it requires a programme of medical treatment to control it.

There is always an argument that people who cause themselves harm by their recreational habits - heroin, HIV, alcohol, food, and so on, are in some way less deserving of sympathy and treatment than those who are 'innocent' sufferers - cancer, TB, strokes, and so on, but I personally feel that as a compassionate society, we should be less inclined to adopt high moral judgements, and accept that everyone has personal weaknesses, and some people find their weakness means they depend on the help and support of society as a whole.

[Drusilla]

As andy says it's a chemical dependency that defines an alcoholic. www.alcoholism.about.com is an excellent site.
I remember reading about alpha alcoholism; beta alcoholism; gamma alcoholism; delta alcoholism and epsilon alcoholism, so it would appear there are different types.
I looked up dipsomania when I first read Brideshead Revisited because Sebastian Flyte was described as a dipsomaniac and the medical book I read said dipsomania was now referred to as epsilon alcoholism, but this was about fifteen years ago .

[Drusilla]

I've just re-read my comments and realise I've got paragraph 2 and 3 in the wrong order. I don't want you to think I read about the different types of alcoholism on the web site. I read about them in my research of dipsomania many years ago. Sorry!

[Buenchico]

One of the simplest definitions of alcoholism is that someone is an alcoholic when they say "I need a drink" and they actually mean it (rather than meaning "I'd like a drink"). So, by that definition, anyone who says "I need a drink each night or I can't get to sleep" is, by the strictest definition, an alcoholic. (This still applies even if that drink is, say, just a single Scotch. As long as there is an element of dependency then, strictly speaking, that person is suffering from alcoholism).

Chris