How do I know if it's an addiction?

I have recently decided to take a break from drinking because I do it quite a lot and I tend to drink hard liquor in large quantities.
I am okay with not drinking, but when I start I find it hard to have one or two, and when I get to a certain point I lose all self control over how much I drink. My mindset changes and I just think f-it. When I can do that I can drink well over a pint of vodka in a night (and I'm female). My T said it has "an addictive quality" (he's not qualified to diagnose addiction)
But I don't really feel like I need a drink. It's easy enough for me to go without. So that doesn't sound to me like addiction. Or am I wrong? I've certainly gotten into a bad habit of drinking when I'm stressed or bored, but it's fine not to. I've stopped for a bit, partly just to show T it's not an addiction. But I dunno. Does this sound like addiction?

Hello Echos Myron: Well... from my perspective... there is a sense in which addiction... like beauty... is in the eye of the beholder. I'm quite certain you can find people who will say yes you are addicted.

Personally, I don't drink at all any more. But, years ago, I used to drink socially (not infrequently to excess) & I would also binge drink. If something went wrong in my life, my response would be to get snockered. Was I an addict? Some people would probably have said so. On the other hand, when I first went on antidepressants, I simply gave up drinking. And, except for the extremely infrequent glass of wine with dinner, I never drank again. Nowadays, I don't even do that. Water is so much cheaper than alcohol, in any form.

So, are you addicted? I don't know. I think the questions are, one, are you harming yourself doing what you're doing? Drinking over a pint of vodka in one night certainly isn't doing you any good. And, two, what is it that's causing you to drink & where is your drinking going? Yes, you may be able to stop now. But will this continue to be the case in years to come? Come to some conclusions with regard to these questions, & I think you'll find your answer.

Thank you for your thoughtful response Skeezyks, everything you say makes a lot of sense. I will certainly have a think about the questions you suggest I ask myself and may discuss this with my T too.
Thanks again.

It seems to me that if you generally feel like you can't do without something (you're psychologically/physically dependent on it), then it'd qualify as an addiction.

Thanks for this. So it follows you would think I'm not addicted?

I think you're not addicted YET. but when you keep on drinking when you're bored and stressed I think you have a high chance to become addicted. Addiction seeps in, you start using the drugs, in this case alcohol, because ytou like it. then before you know you're doing it daily and it's the only thing that helps with boredom/stress. it'll turn into you feeling bored/stressed when you're not drinking, so you'll start drinking not to feel that

You also said you have no self control when you start drinking, so if you keep this in mind. try buying a smaller bottle, so that when you finished that amount you don't have anything in your house to get even drunker.

Yup, if you don't feel like you need a drink, I'd say you're not addicted.

Thank you. I suppose this really means I need to keep an eye on my drinking habits to make sure I don't become dependant.

There's a quick self assessment called CAGE:

Have you tried, unsuccessfully, to Cut down/Control your use?
Have you found you become Angry/Annoyed when others try to discuss it with you?
Have you felt Guilty because of your use or because of things you did and/or said while using?
Have you felt the need for an Eye-Opener/drinking/using upon awakening?

Answering yes to one of these suggests the need to monitor/keep an eye on your use. Answering yes to two or more suggests at least a professional consultation is needed.

I have to agree with others who implied that while you may not have an addiction now, it is certainly a behavior to keep an eye on. I can't tell you how many times I examined my drinking habits, or even took breaks, just to see if I could stop. And when I proved to myself that I could, I wrote off the problem as a moment of paranoia and went back to (what started out as) social/recreational drinking (in excess). That cycle continued until I lost the capacity to question the behavior at all and by the time I tried to quit again, I was too far out of control to get a handle on it. So really, it's up to you to determine whether or not you have an addiction, but it is always worth examining not only where you are, but also where you are headed.

I leave you with this: My biggest regret is that I didn't change something when I first had the sense to ask myself this question.

It can be said profoundly that its an addiction. One of my friend was having the similar illusion and confusion but later on it got resolved with some herbal medicines with changed the mindset simultaneously.

(Haven't read others replys). I'm newly sober from alcohol. But I know I'll slip again. It's just the story of my life. I'm like you, I binge drink to the point of no control and then I black out. I would do this every single night and wake up hoping I didn't **** too much up. I'll tell you now, it's no way to live. I think since you're able to quit and have then you're not so far gone. But when you find yourself falling into a pattern with it and "needing" it, get help. I also have BPD so I'm very impulsive. That doesn't help.