Am I an alcoholic or just a heavy drinker?

Posted by quietharbor2214 on August 10, 2026

Original post

I've been drinking a bottle of wine most nights for about a year now, sometimes more on weekends. I still get to work on time and pay my bills, so part of me thinks I'm just a heavy drinker, not an actual alcoholic. But I tried to cut back to 2 nights a week for the last 3 months and I haven't made it past day 4 a single time. Is that the line, or am I overthinking a normal habit?

2 replies

coastalpine3187Aug 10, 2026Marked as the answer
I asked myself the same question for almost 2 years before I looked up the actual criteria instead of comparing myself to people who drank worse than me. The line isn't the amount, it's whether you can control it once you decide to cut back. You said you tried to hold to 2 nights a week for 3 months and couldn't get past day 4 once, and that loss of control is exactly the diagnostic piece, not just heavy drinking. I brought that specific pattern to my doctor and finally got an honest answer instead of guessing on my own.
sunlitridge4402Aug 12, 2026
My drinking looked a lot like yours, steady and not dramatic, and I told myself for a long time that functioning fine meant I was fine. What changed things for me was writing down every single drink for a month instead of estimating at the end of the day. Seeing the actual number on paper made the pattern impossible to argue with, even though nothing on the outside had changed yet.

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