I responded with my reply which I will post here.
I know what an abnormal drinker is. I am an alcoholic and I know this because I have studied the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous and identify with AA's description of alcoholism. I am not just a hard drinker, but what AA calls a "real" alcoholic.
AA defines alcoholism as a two fold illness. Alcoholism has two features:
1) An allergy of the body. Consumption of alcohol produces a craving to consume more. Once I start to drink I can't help but just keep going. I get this over powering craving to drink more once I start. Once I crossed the line and became alcoholic I could not moderate my consumption and would always get drunk once I started to drink
2) Obsession of the mind. Since everytime I drank I would get drunk I started having a lot of problems. I finally made up my mind to quit because I found I could not even moderate anymore. I had to abstain complely. THE PROBLEM WAS I COULD NOT ABSTAIN FOR VERY LONG. Usually maximum of 2 months. I lost the ability to control my drinking using my own will power. I tried for 3 years but fell off the wagon again and again and again. My will power was non existent. So lack of will power, the ability to think straight 100% of the time is a mental obsession. I could not control it anymore on my own thinking.
As a result I was powerless to control my drinking. Only an complete physic change could relieve my alcoholism.
I got that change by doing the 12 steps of AA
On pages 20 and 21 of the Alcohlics Anonymous book they point out that there is a definite difference between a "real" alcoholic and just a hard "problem" drinker and moderate drinker. The simple difference is in lack of control.
Put simply in the chapter "More about Alcoholism". (pg 30-31)
We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our
drinking. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control.
