It sounds from your post like you do have a drinking problem, which is dangerous because it can get worse to the point where you lose everything.

But you asked the question if it was possible to cut back to only drinking occassionally or what some would call social drinking.

Personally for me the answer is no. I crossed the line into alcohol dependence and can never drink safely again. One drink and I don't know where I'll end up.

That being said, I do believe that harm reduction can work for some people. The treatment centre I go to has two streams, abstinance based and harm reduction. Anyone can go to the harm reduction meetings which are held twice a week. I'm going to them now, because I'm unemployed and want the extra support / structure in my week.

In that group I've met people who were heavy binge drinkers, or daily drinkers (usually after some major negative life event) cut down to be able to have only a drink or two occassionally. But it's important to be brutally honest with yourself, keep track of what you drink, and not exceed safe drinking guidelines. You might find it helpful to have support in cutting down, so a harm reduction treatment program might help - check with hospitals, they're more likely to have harm reduction treatment programs than pure addiction treatment facilities.

I won't lie to you, I think harm reduction is dangerous, but I have seen it work.

Good luck.

--splitimage