Alcoholism; Am I An Alcoholic? Do I Have A Drinking Problem?

Alcoholism and alcohol abuse

How do we define alcohol abuse, and how is it different from alcoholism and excessive alcohol use? They are all different terms, and you could have one without the other. Here are their definitions:

Excessive alcohol use

It is defined as drinking more alcohol than the maximum of 1 or 2 drinks a day for women and men, respectively. It also includes all types of alcohol drinking in people who shouldn’t use it at all. Excessive alcohol use is further divided into:

• Binge drinking: The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines binge drinking as a pattern of alcohol consumption that increases blood alcohol concentration levels to a minimum of 0.08%. That usually happens when you drink four or more drinks within two hours.
• Heavy drinking: As opposed to binge drinking, heavy drinking is measured weekly and not day by day. It is defined as consuming 15 drinks or more every week for males and eight drinks or more every week for women. It doesn’t matter if that happened in two sessions or seven. As such, even if you engage in moderate drinking, you’re at risk of heavy drinking and its consequences if you do it every day.