Someone who requires alcoholic drinks very frequently. addiction to alcohol. Famous alcoholics: almost everyone who was famous before other drugs were invented.

It appears there is a new definition of alcoholic.

I was watching CNN Headline News on the morning of July 31, 2000. They announced that Charlton Heston, the President of NRA, was in good health upon release from treatment to which he submitted himself after his social drinking got out of hand.

The new definition of alcoholic then appears to be a person who cannot control his social drinking.

And they say that alcohlics
are always alcoholics
Even when they're as dry as
my lips
for years
even when they're standing
On a small desert island
with no place in 2000 miles to buy beer

Ani DiFranco - Fuel

Don't let them brand you. It's your own life, your own feel for what you need. The term alcoholic should not be used to refer to people, it should be reserved for the chemical state of that which they drink.

Person A rarely drinks. When Person A does it is at some sort of lively gathering of friends and/or family, like a good ol' summer barbeque or something of that nature. But when Person A does drink, he or she cannot stop. Person A's personality totally changes. The person becomes belligerent, insulting, and vindictive, a stark contrast to how sweet, loyal, kind, and loving the person usually is. Person A will continue to drink for days, maybe even a week or more. Person A will do anything to keep drinking and defy all efforts from well-meaning loved ones to stop him or her. Person A will even hide alcohol in various places around the house and drink in secret, in hiding. The binge ends when the person hits "rock bottom," as it were, and everybody convinces the person to stop in some sort of intervention. Once the drinking didn't stop until Person A was pulled over for drunk driving (it is never a good idea to cut off a squad car while drunk). Years will go by before Person A has another drink, but when he or she does, the cycle repeats itself. Person A displays no physical characteristics of heavy drinking for, as stated above, Person A rarely drinks.

Person B drinks quite often. Person B is a very social person and goes to the local bar or pub on a regular basis. Person B is always pleasant to be around and this person's personality does not change significantly when he or she is inebriated, just the usual unshackling of some inhibitions and the slurred speech. Person B, unlike Person A, is fun to be around when drunk and Person B only gets slightly annoying when one must hold him or her up after a long night of partying. Even then, you smile, shrug, and do it, maybe laughing as you do so. Person B does not get that drunk on a regular basis. Person B jokes all the time about how long his or her liver has left which demonstrates that Person B is at least somewhat aware of the risks of consuming that much alcohol. Person B needs not hide alcohol and always has beer or somesuch in his or her refrigerator. Person B does not usually drink at home unless it is with dinner or if him or her is the actual thrower of the party. The only physical characteristics of drinking Person B displays is a bit of a beer gut.

Person C drinks on a daily basis, whether at parties or not, whether it is 9AM, Noon, or 7PM. Person C does not get stone cold, falling-down drunk on a regular basis, but is rarely seen 100% sober. Beer is a usual beverage for most meals like soda is for other individuals. Yet somehow Person C's life is not a disaster and he or she somehow functions. Person C does not appear to be the stereotypical alcoholic in the movies and TV that alienate everybody, wreck their only car and end up sleeping in an alley somewhere with no money or friends. Person C has drove drunk quite often. This person is very fortunate that the accidents she or he has so far been in have been single-car accidents that had only caused minor injuries. Person C is red-faced and bloated, fat and generally not healthy-looking at all. In fact, ironically, Person C looked most healthy after coming out of a long hospital stay after an ATV accident. No drinking or smoking for almost a month de-aged Person C by about twenty years.

Most people think I am crazy when I tell them that I believe that Person A is an alcoholic and Person B is not. Person C obviously is but quite besides the main point I want to make and was only provided here as a control example. Person C demonstrates traits of both Persons A and B as in he or she drinks often but when really drunk gets mean, loud, and sometimes quite unpleasant to be around. But because Person B's personality does not change when Person B is drinking and the drinking seems to be only for social purposes. Person B has quite a handle on his/her drinking and I do not believe this person to be an alcoholic. Most people have the misconception (that I believe is inaccurate) that an alcoholic needs to be a person who drinks all of the time and, concurrently, believe that anybody who drinks often cannot control themselves and must be an alcoholic. The basic fact is, an alcoholic has to be somebody who is addicted to alcohol and once he or she begins drinking has extreme difficulty stopping. Person B can and does cease drinking entirely from time to time for various reasons and only craves the alcohol like somebody with a sweet tooth craves Ding Dongs. The need to seek out alcohol does not become a all-consuming imperative with Person B as it does with Person A. The bottom line here is, I believe that alcoholism does not have to do with the quantity of drinking, but how it affects the personality and behavior of the person drinking.

By the way, lest you think that Person B only still looks fairly good because he or she is still young, I would like to point out that – in all likelihood - all of the three have fewer days ahead than behind.

Granted, I am not a doctor and, as such, I have obviously not studied the chemistry of each subject's blood under a microscope. I know each of these people and only know what I see. You are more than welcome to inform me how wrong I am; I am only telling you what I believe, observations from the information I, personally, have gathered. I suspect most of you have known at least one person like each of them and may know exactly what I am talking about. I wrote this for that reason, because I believe most people can relate to it. Also, this node was severely lacking, given the state of the other short write-ups in it.

If you feel I am in error anywhere, please /msg me. I will add any comments of refutation or praise, if you want me to, to the bottom of this write up.

Thank you.

DIABETES AND ALCOHOLISM RANT

Diabetics sometimes do not take care of themselves much like alcoholics do not take care of themselves. Diabetics often eat sugary foods when they shouldn’t. But:
Diabetics rarely neglect their whole lives in favor of eating ice cream.
Diabetics usually do not substitute illegal street-drugs for sugar when they feel like binging and sugar is not available.
Diabetics usually do not assault their loved ones when they’ve had too much candy.
Diabetics usually do not lose their jobs over eating too many donuts.
Diabetics usually do not fall into financial ruin from their chocolate binges.
Diabetics usually do not alienate their whole families over their inability to resist Coke or Pepsi.
Diabetics usually do not have their spouses leave them because they eat too much cake.
Diabetics usually do not steal money or property from their loved ones to support their sugar addiction.
Diabetics usually do not try to commit suicide when they come down off of sugar, even though they might feel terrible physically.
Diabetics usually do not come home from a sugar binge to find that their spouse or parents or children have locked them out of their home.
Diabetics usually do not cause their loved one to commit suicide.
Diabetics can get treatment for their disease if they have most kinds of health insurance. Diabetics are usually not ashamed of having a treatable disease.
Diabetics do sometimes die earlier than necessary because of neglecting to take care of themselves.
When we compare diabetes and alcoholism, we are really comparing apples and oranges. Diabetics rarely acquire personality changes from sugar ingestion and acquireorganic brain damage that incapacitates them. Diabetes is a physical disease. Alcoholism is a physical disease; an emotional disease; a mental disease; and a social disease. So, may we surmise that alcoholism is not like diabetes at all, more like heroine addiction; cocaine addiction; or methamphetamine addiction?
Even though I have gained a lot of insight into my own emotional disabilities, I fear that his disease is going to cause my death, sooner, not later. This is the most fearful thing in my life right now, and I am not sure how to get resolution for this fear. My guts are telling me to run! Run far, far away and tell no one. Cut all ties to my children, and only communicate through a third party, like the police. If I have learned one thing in my life, is to listen to my guts. My guts have never lied to me, but I have often lied to my guts to try to make things straight in my mind. The one drawback about my plan is that I will lose the only friend I have left. I do not want to live without friendship. Sometimes, I wonder if I even want to live any more.

A Short Essay on Janet, Early 2002

"Started to realise a lot of shit. Late & Sad"

Amongst Janet's final scrawlings ripped from a A4 pad.

The letter, with Janet's usual preamble of how mad she was and how everything was a shambles. Two years earlier, in London Town, she'd realised that my body was shutting down - it wasn't "just a bug" I wouldn't "be alright" Her and Christine rang 999 I walked to the ambulance in body, not mind. My kidneys had stopped and the rest were heaving ho - so Janet rode along and to Hospital we did go.She sat there for what seemed like fucking hours "re-assuring" me of our families amazing recuperative powers...

Two years later, sat together in an almost empty flat.

Shelly wouldn't have her in the house, simple as that. But we had a mattress (clean) and some covers (ditto) plenty of flat cider (the fizzy stuff fucked up her stomach) a pen and a pad and letters to write to lovers mixing fiction and addiction with dreams and ripped seams. I had to lock her in that night,so worryingly I had to leave her squinting and swigging by candlelight.

Shit. Let's hope the (almost) inevitable fire doesn't happen.

She sat, no - squatted, in the corner - Janet to a tee. I was on my haunches also, just behind the door. I'd listened to her stock bullshit for maybe an hour or more.

Shelly (my ex-wife) felt guilty about banishing Janet so I could stay for hours more.

She'd given me the top and tail, the normal shit you got mixing our Janet and ale. The Oratory (for indeed it was, with no input yet required from little Bruv) slowed to a stop as the act was getting tired.Squatting still, she looked at me,and I straight back at her, as if by mutual glances we could somehow psychically confer perhaps we could, because I swear, the facade just dropped, and Our Janet sat there. Left bare. Rabbit in the glare - she'd had a scare. I'd listened to the drivel for well over an hour, and now you could physically sense the transfer of power.

"Why do you do this shit in front of me?"(Full of amphetamines but speeding in no hurry), "You don't need to. I know you're all right, you don't have to do the 'I'M A MAD PISS-HEAD, ME.' You can go through all your characters Jan, but it's still you that I see."

"Looking," I added a bit unnecessarily, "a bit fucking stupid and silly."

If only foresight had let me glimpse what the half year would bring for me, slashed wrists, family ripped, OH how I tripped....

She looked straight back at me. I didn't realise how long thirty seconds could be, given the right climate, a slow clock and a watched pot.

"You Bastard," she Smiled then beamed, "I could never fool you, could I?"

"When I was five," I said, "but I've not been five for a long time."

"I love you, you little bastard" she said, in her weird Yorkshire/Derbyshire hybrid dialect.

"Well, stop taking the piss then," I replied with a quarter of speed coursing through my insides.

"You don't take that shit anymore do you?" she asked "No, Jan, I should be on what you're on, it's doing you a WORLD of good." She just laughed. "Feels like Prisoner Cell Block 'H'" I said, locking the gate after the obligatory kiss and a hug.

Wish I'd held on just a little bit longer.

I returned, early next morning, she was back to being mad, like never acknowledging the epiphany we'd had.

Our Janet.

You couldn't make it up.

(Thanks to karma debt for reformatting help.)

Al`co*hol"ic (#), a. [Cf. F. alcolique.]

Of or pertaining to alcohol, or partaking of its qualities; derived from, or caused by, alcohol; containing alcohol; as, alcoholic mixtures; alcoholic gastritis; alcoholic odor.

 

© Webster 1913.


Al`co*hol"ic, n.

1.

A person given to the use of alcoholic liquors.

2. pl.

Alcoholic liquors.

 

© Webster 1913.

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