I'll speak just of my own experience. There may be people who can drink socially, but I'm not one of them. Perhaps there was a time when I could have 4-5 beers & stop, but those days are long gone. For me, alcoholism has been a progressive disease. What started at 4-5 eventually turned into 12-15 beers. In fact, the mere thought of having just 4-5 beers sounds frustrating to me now! I've accepted that alcohol controls me...I don't control my intake of alcohol. YMMV.

As for other drugs, I found marijuana to be the same as alcoholism. Once I got high, I wanted to keep the buzz going. I'd wind up spending the whole day stoned. As far as psych drugs, I use them as prescribed. I've accepted the fact that I have an addictive personality, but for some reason that addictive nature doesn't include my psych meds.