You're not an Alcoholic!

[dogsaremybusiness]

I watched a documentary last night, and this woman was saying that alcoholism ran in their family (she was one), and she kind of blamed her Dad because he was an alcoholic too.

It transpired though, that her Dad enjoyed a drink between the ages of 21 and 29, and then he never touched another drop, for the following FIFTY years until his death.

However, he made money touring around and giving pep talks to alcoholics and recovering alcoholics.

AIBU to think that if you drank in your 20's (which most of us do) and then you are Tee total in your 30's, 40's, 50's 60's and 70's that you are NOT a fucking alcoholic, and maybe you just enjoyed making money by claiming that you were?

Really got my back up, as I am the DD of an alcoholic, and do really struggle to keep my own drinking under control.

An alcoholic is always an alcoholic no matter how long they haven't had a drink. If thd dad was alcohol dependant, then he was a lifetime alcoholic (in recovery).
I'm not necessarily convinced that alcoholism is hereditary, I believe that certain people are more likely to have addictive personalities i.e autistic people, and that trauma can be passed down which can be a factor.
I also think that if you don't class yourself as an alcoholic but know that you "struggle" then you are already in the stages of alcoholism and should get help immediately.
My mam was an alcoholic, died aged 49. My sister is an alcoholic, my other sister drinks socially, and myself and brother are completely tee total.
We don't get to police who is, or isn't classed as an alcoholic.
I would really urge you to have a conversation with your GP or even AA regarding your situation, even just to talk things through.

Ah I couldn’t find it on sky

Just want to say as someone who had issues with drinking and alcoholism in the family, I hope you really do try to stop for a year to get a handle on it. I work with people with alcohol related brain damage and a lot of them drank similarly to yourself. It gave me such a fright I’m lucky if I drink every couple of months now. I’ve also lost close family members to it and it’s just so sad. You are functioning just now but all it takes is another life event and you start drinking more and you are no longer able to manage, especially getting older. I took up cold water therapy, walking and yoga and had to work on years of emotions that I had numbed with drinking but feel so much better now and am finally able to actually say I don’t want to drink rather than all the fighting in my head and craving

My drinking wasn't massively different from my peers in my 20s. However, i struggled and ultimately failed to moderate my drinking while everyone else just naturally cut down in their late 20s and early 30s.

I was an alcoholic, they weren't. I have been sober now for 13 years. I'm still an alcoholic. I work hard not to drink.

So no, you are not being reasonable.