...AN ALCOHOLIC? I mean what classifies someone as an alcoholic and what are some of the early warning signs?

quote:

Originally posted by benje309:
My friend has a drinking problem, he spills his water on himself all the time...((Airplane))

I cracked up when I read that. It really made my day. I know that sounds a little cheesey but wtf.

Alcoholic - noun.

A person who drinks alcoholic substances habitually and to excess or who suffers from alcoholism.(Dictionary.com)

Early warning signs? When you start to resort to drinking after any action. This is my opinion.

My friend has a drinking problem, he spills his water on himself all the time...((Airplane))

If you're worrying about it, then you might want to listen to your innermost self about it. I mean, if you're beginning to worry then that's a good thing, whether the person IS alcoholic or not, because it's probably easier to prevent it from getting worse.

I can tell ya this much: You are not an alcoholic. Not yet, anyway.
I have a good number of friends at school that have a drinking problem, but they are not alcoholics. We aren't old enough to really be alcoholics. In all honesty, it doesn't sound like you're takin enough to really even have a problem, but I wouldn't test that.
I can tell ya this much, though... I have a couple of friends who have developed more serious drinking problems, and it has seriously hurt their future. They are not at Purdue anymore: they've either gotten so deep into it that they've failed out or have lost scholarships and therefore can't come back. And that has happened in the time of less than one semester for some of them.
So... you aren't an alcoholic, but you could develop a drinking problem. That always comes before true alcoholism, which is a horrible trap to fall into.
Alcoholism: symptoms are craving (strong need/urge to drink), not being able to stop once you start drinking.... nausea, sweating, shakiness and anxiety after you stop drinking, and tolerance: needing to drink more to get the same satisfaction.
I'm not tryin to preach at ya, but please, don't walk into the traps of alcohol. I've watched my friend's lives fall apart, and it can be avoided. Please, don't reach for the bottle whenever ya feel like it.

Thanks risika. I put up this thread thinking I could find some kind of answers yet I don't know. Here's the situation: I took my first real drink about 5 months ago. I had only wanted to see what it tasted like so when I got hom from school that day, I did my normal routine. After everything was done, I got a glass of juice and poured some Bicardi stuff in it. I drank it and realized I put to much in it but I still drank it anyway. I didn't finish it though. I poured what I hadn't drank down the drain. I took the necessary means to hide the fact that I drank alcohol. My mom never found out but it never really stopped there. After that, I've drank on 5 different occassions and still my mother has no clue. I'll have a glass of tea and put a cap-full in my drink. But then I'll go maybe two or three weeks without doing it. I still find myself wanting to take another drink, so I do it again. the last time I drank was yesterday. This time I didn't even make it a week before I did it again. I only put a cap-full in because there wasn't much in there to begin with and I don't want my mom find in out and I don't want to put so much in my drink.

My mom was an alcoholic for 15 years of my life. The signs of an alcoholic is constantly drinking. Never really stopping. Everytime they get the chance, they drink. Usually alcoholics are depressed, which is why they drink sometimes.