Does getting drunk once in a while mean alcoholism? Maybe. Is it okay to party-hardy in college or at an Halloween bash and not be an alcoholic? Maybe. There are popularized cases where people drink heavily all their lives, lived a long time, and were productive members of society. See this article on Winston Churchill for example, or this site listing others, such as Ulysses S. Grant. These famous people supposedly drank more than their share, yet accomplished some level of historic recognition. It will take the expertise of forensic historians, however, to determine what they really felt inside and how much alcohol induced damage they left in their wake. Perhaps their accomplishments would have been even greater but for their full potential tempered by alcohol abuse and dependence.
To minimize the potential for alcohol abuse or dependence tempering or sabotaging everyday life and accomplishment consider these resources to evaluate drinking patterns:
Boston University School of Public Health – This is an useful, professional online self-assessment questionnaire. It also contains an zip code look-up for treatment options. The look-up for one San Jose zip code resulted in over 400 contacts with phone numbers, addresses, and websites within a fifty mile radius.
More formal evaluations of substance abuse patterns include the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM-IV)for Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Dependence. One website to check is Family Practice Notebook.
Alcoholics Anonymous‘ self-evaluation website has a series of questions relating to the consequences of drinking patterns.
T hey offer a Spanish language version as well, ALCOHOLICOS ANONIMOS.
Services are available for younger people too. The San José State University Student Health Center, for example, offers students assessments and evaluation services.
Wherever you are, no matter how young or old, if alcohol might be a problem, take a self-assessment exam, but always seek the help of others in the evaluation — be they members of the various self-help groups, trained alcohol and drug counselors, or your doctor. Many successful recoveries included all of those resources. Learn from the experience of others.
Go To Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/x-17175-San-Jose-Alchoholism-Examiner
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