[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

I guess I left it pretty vague to see what sort of responses I would get.
Thing is if you talk to people in AA or running recovery programs (I have) they push a zero tolerance program.

I don't consider myself an alcoholic, however I do have a tendency to "over do" food, drink, whatever... I consider it a personality defect but not alcoholism.

I was a huge partier most of my adult life then around twenty years ago I stopped doing drugs without a "program".
However with drugs once you stop you eventually stop hanging around with "those" people you loose all your connections... with alcohol it is right there at the supermarket every time you go for groceries (at least here in Cal).
I WAS drinking everyday before I got married six years ago (mostly a carry over from my bachelor days)... however over the past few months I cut down to a few drinks a few times a week.
Out of curiosity (and to encourage myself to cut down) I started going to AA meetings and while I enjoy the conversations and camaraderie there is no way they will accept "having a few drinks a few times a week."
Oh and from the "oh irony file" my drug of choice from back in the day? Marijuana!

Most people who are dependent don't consider themselves alcoholics. Test yourself to see. Make a list of every time you have a drink: how much and when. See if the few drinks a few times is really the case. Better still go totally abstinent for a month. Isn't a requirement but as I stated before, if you can't be abstinent for a season then you are addicted. Its easy to say I can quit anytime but most people are surprised to find out that quitting wasn't as easy as they thought.

An addictive personality refers to a particular set of personality traits that make an individual predisposed to developing addictions.[1] This hypothesis states that there are common elements among people with varying addictions that relates to personality traits

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addictive_personality

It is GREAT that you are evaluating yourself for the sake of your family. Make sure you don't cheat on the test.