[Closed] Do I have a drink problem?

😆 I think you've got a wife problem.

Sounds more like you have a wife problem tbh lol

edit: dammit

Seriously? That's very moderate drinking in my opinion.

I'd be more inclined to ask your wife what she thinks safe drinking levels are. Maybe she has encounered alcohol abuse in a negative way?

She is just being very silly if you ask me. Ask her why she is concerned.

I have 3 or 4 tins of beer most nights if that helps. Possibly more on a weekend.

This is not a typical pattern for problem drinking.

@JohnDoh -snap, my mrs thinks I have a drink problem though :/

Stella is the answer.

Don't do it for a week, if you're climbing the walls on day 3, you've got a problem, not a big one, but one worth keeping an eye on.

If it's no bother, then no.

It seems like you're having 8 units a week, below the NHS recommended 14 max.

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/alcohol/Pages/alcohol-units.aspx

I think you've got a wife problem.

Beaten to it!

Dear god!I have only one word of advice...

[b]RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNN!!!!![/b]

She'd have bloody heart failure if she saw how much I put away in an average week 😆

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Are these pints of amaretto? If not you're clearly soft.

This thread is making me thirsty...

How many units in your 1 drink?

2 = sounds fairly normal.
4 = bordering problem
8 = see a doctor.

+ I need a pint now 😉

Yes, your wife is the problem.

Definitely a wife problem.

The only "drink problem" you have is that you were sober enough to have paid attention.

Am I right in interpreting that as 1 beer, 4 times per week? And sometimes that beer is replaced with a Port or such like?

Or are you having 1 alcoholic drink, 4 times per week. But are also having a Port every evening in front of the TV?

If the former, I'd say it's a wife problem, if the latter I'd say that some would say she has a point.

OP my wife drinks more than you .
Do I have a Wife problem?

Are you spilling any?
No ?

Carry on..

I don't think you have a problem.
I don't think you drink a lot.
However my wife would be constantly on edge if I drank the same amount, because her dad is a raging alcoholic.
(He's also an arsehole, whether drunk or not)
Perhaps there's a reason it makes your wife uneasy?

You are to alcoholism what homeopathy is to medicine. Sort yourself out and have a proper drink!

Has anyone reported you to Social Services...

Our house plants drink more than that.

Not drinking enough imo.
Double your efforts!

I'd be more inclined to ask your wife what she thinks safe drinking levels are. Maybe she has encounered alcohol abuse in a negative way?

This and...

Don't do it for a week, if you're climbing the walls on day 3, you've got a problem, not a big one, but one worth keeping an eye on.

I have exactly the same drinking habit as you, with my 4-5 pints being a once a month meetup with friends. But I regularly abstain for a week, once a year a month sometimes longer to test the theory.

Re the first para Mrs K had a drink abusive father. She gets concerned but I told her that until I behave like him on the booze which I never have, their isnt an issue.

swoosh - Member 
Like I said, I will do this about 4 times a week, not every night. Is this a drinking problem?

Yeah, sounds like you're not drinking enough. Way below the recommended allowance.

One thing to watch out for: are you drinking because you fancy a drink, or because the calendar says you should?

A while back I got into the habit of having a drink whilst cooking tea. Over time I caught myself one evening thinking, "I've just poured this, I don't actually want it." If you're drinking habitually for no real reason that's the time to start doing something about it before it gets out of hand.

However my wife would be constantly on edge if I drank the same amount, because her dad is a raging alcoholic.

I wondered the same.

Over time I caught myself one evening thinking, "I've just poured this, I don't actually want it."

I usually drink whilst cooking then, once I have eaten I don't want any more. I usually eat at around 11pm 😉

A while back I got into the habit of having a drink whilst cooking tea. Over time I caught myself one evening thinking, "I've just poured this, I don't actually want it." If you're drinking habitually for no real reason that's the time to start doing something about it before it gets out of hand.

Not sure about that. Drinking because it's 6.45pm but don't want it is easily stopped. I got worried when although I don't drink massive amounts I really 'wanted' drink at 6.45. Wanted was not so far from needed. Needed is a slippery slope.

I find it difficult to disassociate wine/beer with food. Easy to get into the habit of having "a drink" that accompanies a particular meal and more so as I make the meals from scratch so it becomes a reward. "a drink" easily becomes a few, especially with wine.

Depends on the person - the difference between Tony Blair and John Reid shows that the same amount means different things to different people (see the bottom of this article):

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tony-blair-says-he-used-alcohol-as-a-prop-2067328.html

I don't (usually) drink after 9pm but probably have a beer or a couple of glasses of wine about 5 times a week.

Just become a wine snob, talk about how you're pairing your wine with your meal to enhance/compliment/harmonise the flavours and how "her palette isn't refined enough" to catch the "notes of oak and beech" and suddenly you're cultured and revered and wearing turtle necks .

Absolutely not.

This is on the basis that one drink doesn't mean a bottle of spirits 😉

As above and sorry to be harsh but your wife is being unreasonable / worse words

I usually eat at around 11pm

The guidelines given by the NHS relate to the statistical likelihood of getting some diseases associated with alcohol consumption, not whether you're an alcoholic. They're also relatively arbitrary.

She's right to be concerned, any partner would be IMO.

However, I personally don't think you drink anywhere near enough for "it" to be a problem. So I suspect your wife's concerns are based in either family or historic issues.

Reading the OP was the STW drinking equivalent of having a size zero model ask me if I think she's too fat.

Your a very moderate drinker, I thought you were going to say 4-6 pints a night 4 or 5 times a week, with a large brandy/single malt night cap most nights. Not because I need to but because I bloody well enjoy it 😀
But enough of my drinking habits, have a proper chat with the Mrs, try and get to the bottom of her concerns, they aren't reasonable IMHO.

I wish my drinking habits were as cheap as your's op, unless the alcohol you drink is causing issues with your behaviour or the like, you need to put your back into it and actually get on the ale!!

whether you do or no i won't get into, but i will comment that by asking you will get a million answers.

that said if you want to try without dry january (look for it on facebook) is coming up and i found that an excellent very easy way to give it a break... though as of 31/12 i'm up to 2 years not drinking not just 1 month.

I do the same

I push the boat out on Fridays and Saturdays and have 2 beers.

Sometimes I cut down, but its not because I'm worried about my alcohol intake its more the crisp intake that tends to go with it!

Me and the missus have a few, but well under the recommended maximum. Every so often we have a few more with mates and I don't like it. Not because there is behaviour issues or it happens often but because my ex was an abusive drunk with a drink problem. I can feel the pavlovian response to her drunkenness. I do wonder if it's a hangover from a previous experience.

I suppose it all comes down to how you've been brought up and who you socialise with. If you've had no experience of anything other than a sherry at Christmas and don't go out much, then anyone who drinks that much would seem unusual.

I think she needs to get out more with people like these below, to understand you have nothing to be concerned about!

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As cougar said it all depends on why you are drinking.

If it is routine, because you like the taste or because of some other factor.

I have seen people get bored at work and then one a night becomes two and so on. Perhaps your wife has seen the same. Best thing might be to ask your wife why she is concerned and if not drinking at home in the week makes her happy it doesn't seem like you would be giving up too much..

Classic sign of someone with a drink problem: deciding to give up for a week/month to prove they're not dependent.

Classic sign of someone with a drink problem: deciding to give up for a week/month to prove they're not dependent.

And want sponsoring to do it too 🙂

I give up for at least 6 days every week, sometimes 7 😆

You`re bordering on teetotal 🙂

Best thing might be to ask your wife why she is concerned

The Great Cornholio, aside from needing TP, is wise.

One thing to watch out for: are you drinking because you fancy a drink, or because the calendar says you should?

I'm pretty sure we're using our calendars in different ways.

Dentists, Friday 2:45pm yes, but not Monday 10am Pint of Ossian Gold.

And a plus 1 for finding out why she thinks this level of drinking is a problem.

I have a bit of a drink problem, but havent been drinking for about 2 weeks now (was drinking maybe 8 a day)
No one has really said anything about it though, as apart from my long term health it's not hurting anyone
Even reading this thread earlier started off a sort of craving in my stomach
Then my gf walks in through the door with a crate of 18 San Miguel to apologise for being a bit off recently (I hadn't noticed) so that's the end of my hard work till the new year now (bday next week, Xmas parties and drinks, her bday Xmas etc etc)

I dont thik you have a drink problem but you have an issue you need to talk with her

I suspect she is just worried it will increase over time to 2 aday then three etc

best ask her what her concerns are.....find a quiet pub 😉

Recently I had 4 lots of bloods taken by my GP and she tested EVERYTHING. I mean Thyroid, renal, calcium, iron, kidney, liver function etc and when she was going through the results in the phone I said 'um, go back to liver' (why?) I said 'that's interesting'. She said (now your worrying me, your not drinking alot are you'?) I laughed and said no. Just interesting to see the uni years etc. Etc.

OP your fine. She's basically saying your lazy in a roundabout way.

She's basically saying your lazy in a roundabout way.

My wife thinks I've got a drink problem, I don't think I do but I can see how it could get worse so I see where she's coming from.

Basically I have 1 alcoholic drink about 4 times a day [s]week. Very occasionally, and I mean occasionally, I have 2 drinks in one night. I will have a beer, or a port/whiskey/amaretto of an evening at home when I'm watching tele or messing with the bikes.[/s] I go to the pub with mates about once a [s]month[/s] week and will have 4 or 5 pints.

Like I said, I will do this about 4 times a week, not every night. Is this a drinking problem?

Cheers Mr Freud. Well I don't do bad out of relationships.

Cheers Mr Freud. Well I don't do bad out of relationships.

Being in them, however...

you have a drug habit. simple. 🙂

Good to know no one else thinks I've got a problem.
i know the first sign of an alcoholic is denial but in this instance I think I'm right to deny a problem

Has your Mrs got a "Shoes" or "Handbags" problem? Ie more than 1?

Has your Mrs got a "Shoes" or "Handbags" problem? Ie more than 1?

Scarves! Bloody millions of the things. I've got one which I don't use very often.

She's going to go mental when she finds about your daily coke and hookers habit!

I only drink at weekends or days off. I am usually off on Wednesdays....so tue night is ok as I am off on Wed. Wed night is also ok as it's my day off. And fri, sat, sun is the weekend...I hate Mondays and Thursdays.

in the medical world any self reported alcohol intake is assumed to be half what they actually drink. On that basis I would say you were on the edge of becoming a problem drinker - but its not a huge intake

You're a Troll admit it!

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Which one's the wife swoosh?

anyone else find a bottle of red doesn't last long on an evening anymore ? 😳 Hic.... !

"[i]...1 alcoholic drink about 4 times a week.[/i]"

If it was four times a day it would be a problem, but a [b]week[/b] ? Nah.

Back in Uni days our rule of thumb for a good night out was drinking your week's allowance in one session. And it was 28 units back then. It's not even that difficult (with a bit of practice).

anyone else find a bottle of red doesn't last long on an evening anymore ? Hic.... !

^^^^^ LOL 🙂

yeah, wife doesn't drink and I seemed to start with a full one and end with an empty one last night....not normal for a school night, so a weekend of abstinence now in order 🙂

Don't do it for a week, if you're climbing the walls on day 3, you've got a problem, not a big one, but one worth keeping an eye on.

Four weeks into not drinking. Old habits were forming again.

First week or so was challenging, over the hump for now, until I start again. Could be a month, could be two years as it was a few years ago.

I only drink at weekends or days off. I am usually off on Wednesdays....so tue night is ok as I am off on Wed. Wed night is also ok as it's my day off. And fri, sat, sun is the weekend...I hate Mondays and Thursdays.

I lol'ed 😆

Adviced maximum intake has officially been reduced from maximum 2 a day to maximum 10 a week here in Belgium.
Was on the News Today.

Do think alcoholism is underestimated as a problem.
Wouldnt say op has a problem tough

Do think alcoholism is underestimated as a problem.

Wouldnt say op has a problem tough

The NHS now uses this as it's preferred screening tool for problem drinking.
As said above it's not so much the weekly units as the pattern of drinking and any problems that it might cause that is the issue.

Doesn't sound like a problem to me, though how do you act on it? Does she feel threatened, scared (may not be you but past experience). Alcohol is a problem if it affects those around you. The quantity seems reasonable (except maybe not enough days off it) but what happens when your on it? Though i do think theres a control element going on from your wife as it doesn't seem unreasonable.

12 & 0