Is this excessive.

[sizzledrizz]

I used to be a big drinker as a student but I don't think I am any more. But a friend has said that the amount I drink is verging on a problem. I usually have one or two glasses of wine in the evenings. Once a month or so I might have 4, which is my limit before I get drunk enough that my words become slurred. If I'm out with friends I might have two vodkas.
I never drink to get drunk, just to enjoy the drink, and never drink and drive. So I think I'm a responsible drinker.

Drinking every day is excessive yes, massively

Yes drinking everyday is excessive.

Yes its excessive.

I have a lovely friend who I'm concerned about. She drinks every single day (2-3 glasses of wine) and on a Friday and Saturday she will drink a couple of glasses of spirits plus a few glasses of wine and is very ill the next day to the extent that most of every sunday is spent recovering.

She says its a medical thing and she's sensitive to alcohol. She can't see that she has a problem. She thinks its normal.

Hi

I drink like you do but have realised it is a bit excessive- especially if you don't measure the drinks and they're larger than a standard measure- you're probably drinking more than the recommended 14 x units a week.

I love a drink... but downloaded the drinkaware app and did Stoptober and am now aiming to have 3 x alcohol free nights a week and 2 x drinks maximum on the other nights to bring me within recommendations. Gin is my poison so I've got a measure and have started measuring properly rather than sloshing it in...

Stoptober was difficult but manageable- and stupidly I've already got hammered twice in November so far so am very aware at the moment that I do need to keep an eye on my relationship with alcohol...

So, it might be worth downloading the drinkaware app just even to track what you drink - and be honest about the size of drink and frequency.

How many bottles are in your recycling at the end of the week? It’s easy to drink half a bottle in just two glasses if you don’t measure. You should have a couple of alcohol free days per week. If you feel anxious or agitated at the thought of not having a drink then it is a problem.

not sure if its diff in the UK but in NZ a bottle of wine holds between 7 and 8 units of alcohol so your two glasses might actually be 4/5 units of alcohol, which is a lot if you do that every night

a day off each week, a week off each month and a month off each year.

Every day or even several days a week, yes that's excessive.

Your drinking (and my own), probably falls under the umbrella of excessive in the sense that it’s beyond NHS guidelines. Which are pretty arbitrary and much debated in terms of health impact. But I think beyond that, excessive is subjective. If it causes you no problems then it’s not problematic. If you suspect it might be having a negative impact then yes, you probably need to review the situation.

I drink “too much”. I know I drink “too much”, but I like drinking and I like being happily drunk. It doesn’t impact on my career or my interpersonal relationships, and I've never caused any harm or inconvenience to myself or anybody else when I am drunk. If any of these things were not the case, I’d consider my drinking excessive.

Drinking daily is excessive and if you feel like you need to then it is low level alcoholism. You need to think about why you drink so much? Do you feel like you can’t really relax or wind down without it? If so (like so many British people) you are an invisible alcoholic. Or do you do it out of habit without really thinking about how bad it is for you? If you you feel like you need to or it benefits you you have a problem. If you feel like you can stop without noticing then you just drink excessively. If you have a problem then please take my advice and stop. I know it’s managable now but that doesn’t mean it will necessarily stay that way. Most hardcore alcoholics start with a glass of wine and at some point a glass turns into a bottle.

Pre-DC I only drank alcohol at weekends, and since DC I’m pretty much teetotal.

BUT I’m going to go against the grain here and say that I don’t personally think an alcoholic drink every day is excessive? If you’re blacking out drunk every night then yes, excessive, but I know loads of people who pour themselves a nice glass of something to mark the end of the day and I wouldn’t be concerned about them just based on that.