Hi TheQuietOnexx,

First off I think it's great that you're looking at your drinking and asking if you have a problem. While only you can say that have a problem or not, there are some things in your post that suggest that yes you might have a problem with alcohol, even if it's only in the early stages.

Drinking in the morning. Most people don't do this, although I did in the latter stages of my career.

Drinking throughout the day and hiding it. This suggests to me that maybe you're a little ashamed of what you're doing or worried that other people might find out.

Are you sure about how much you're drinking? The way you describe your drinking would actually make it very difficult to accurately measure how much you're drinking.

The fact that medical professionals have suggested you have a problem is another big clue - anyone expressing concern that you have a problem, is a concern really, but more so from a professional.

Finally there's a line I like that I hear fairly often in AA "Normal people don't sit around wondering if they have a drinking problem"

Here are a few more questions for you to think about?
Has drinking ever caused problems in your life, financial / relationships / accidents?

Have you ever tried to control your drinking but have been unable to?

Do you find you need more alcohol to get the same buzz than you did say 6 months ago?

Do you use your substance to change your mood. Your drinking in the morning before a psych appointment suggests to me that maybe you're trying to self medicate anxiety.

If it were me, and I was being told by Dr's that I was an alcoholic I'd want to explore with them in more detail, why they think that way.

There's also a couple of experiment's you can try. Try to control your drinking - don't drink at all during the day and then go out to a bar and have no more than 2 standard drinks. Then stop & leave. Can you, or do you have to keep drinking? How does stopping drinking make you feel?

Try stopping drinking for a few days, and see how you feel? Again can you do it?

Alcoholism is a bit of a loaded term. It's not actually a medical term per se, although it is used a lot. On the less severe scale, the Dx is substance abuse disorder, which might be used to describe someone with problematic drinking habits or who drinks more than the safe drinking guidelines. Then there's substance dependence disorder. That's when you're physically dependent on the substance and it's a lot harder to stop.

The good news is that if you do decide you have a problem, there is help available. There are treatment centers both residentail and outpatient to help you stop. There's AA, there's Women for Sobriety if you're female.

And quite honestly, if you do decide that you have a drinking problem, the sooner you get help and stop the easier and better it is. It doesn't have to destroy your life. I let drinking pretty much destroy my life and I'm still trying to come back from that, and it's really hard. About my only regret in life is not getting help when I first realized I had a problem, rather than wait until my life was totally out of control, because then I had a very serious problem.

Good luck.

splitimage