Hi Daviduk,
I've just joined the forum and this is my first post, but alcoholism is something I know quite a bit about. I've been clean and sober for 11 years and can tell you that it's not how often you drink; it's HOW you drink. The classic test is to try to drink two and only two drinks regularly. Nonalcoholics have no problem doing this. They say the strangest things. "Oh, I'm starting to feel it so I'd better stop." or "Well, it's 6pm, time to go home and eat dinner." I wasn't going home after two drinks; I needed just one more........
The AA website has a questionaire you might want to take. Alcohol worked very well for me for many years, but eventually the problems it caused became bigger, and the alcohol itself stopped working reliably. It's a progressive disease: one's drinking only gets worse and the relief and fun less as the years go by. "Recreational" drugs greatly speed the descent to one's bottom so that nowadays even teeneagers can hit bottom and seek help. Hope this helps.