What an alcoholic is and is not.

(This is a reply to a casual blogger concerning his drinking and how he stopped after a good strong talking to by friends. He was giving advice to an alcoholic whose blog I have followed)

People who can stop drinking on their own accord through will power are by definition NOT ALCOHOLICS. Real alcoholics by virtue of being alcoholic cannot stop through use of self will. They cannot just one day say to themselves, "I guess it's gone to far I'm going to stop." and then moderate or stop for good.

Heavy drinkers CAN stop by themselves through self will. If you can stay stopped or are able to have the occasional drink after a good talking to by some friends then by definition you are not alcoholic. You can control your drinking. Alcoholics cannot.

Here's an example of a heavy drinker ( not alcoholic ) that I knew from my personal life.
I had grandfather who drank every day. He probably had four or five a day and a few more than that on the weekends. We'd see him fairly stewed most times the family would visit. When the doctor told him that his health was failing due to his drinking he stopped the next day. From then on, till the day of his death, he only had the rare celebratory glass of champagne at a wedding or other suitable occasion. He was not alcoholic.

So I hope this helps to understand what alcoholism is and what it is not. Wait, there's more!

On top of that, alcoholics have what is referred to in AA literature as a "phenomenon of craving" which happens after they have the 1st drink. This information is straight from the doctors opinion at the beginning of the book Alcoholics Anonymous. Ask any real alcoholic. It's a certainty that even after just one drink they develop a craving which drives them to keep on drinking. For alcoholics, it's very rare they can have just a couple of drinks and leave it alone. It's almost always all or nothing. The "phenomenon of craving" is an allergy of the body (from AA text). In other words alcoholics have a different reaction to alcohol then non alcoholics. Non alcoholics can have a few drinks and leave it alone. Nothing happens, life goes on. Real alcoholics have a couple drinks then keep on drinking to inebriation.

A real alcoholic will visit the doctor for a checkup and the doctor might give him news like this; "Sir, if you keep on drinking you'll die in less than a year from liver failure." An alcoholic, even with this dire news in hand might stop for a few days, or maybe even a few weeks, but will eventually drink again, and not just in moderation, but back to usual amounts.