sudsmonkey said:
My mother in law thinks anyone who drinks is an alcoholic. I brought this point up to my father in law once ( they're divorced). He said, " You may be, but WTF, everybody needs a hobby!"
I agree on the point of your friends needing to kick in on the ingredients/ labor.
Remember that the liver is a highly overrated organ. You can actually live without it for a short time. Use yours to its best advantage.
The organ that does most of the metabolism work of your body is over-rated, and you can live without one? Thank you for the wisdom, now go educate your doctor, I'm sure he/she will appreciate learning this new fact.
To the OP: The comment another made about 'if you need to ask...' is a pretty good gauge, actually. The primary screening device for alcoholism is called the CAGE questionaire. I think if you're asking this question, it would be worthwhile to answer the questions (there are only 4) and mention the results to your physician next time you're there. In case google is broken, the questions are:
Have you ever felt you should cut down on your drinking?
Have people annoyed you by criticizing your drinking?
Have you ever felt bad or guilty about your drinking?
Have you ever had a drink first thing in the morning (an eye-opener) to steady your nerves or get rid of a hangover?
If you (or anyone else) is concerned about their drinking, get some help with it. I'm not convinced, personally, that the only answer to alcoholism is abstinence, but getting help, cutting back, or quitting drinking altogether is a much better option than drinking your liver cirrhotic and waiting for someone to have a car wreck so you can get a new one. Not to mention all the other organs that can be damaged!
That said... think I'll go have a beer