If you are having doubts whether your drinking is excessive, it probably is. You can deny it, but it's well to listen to those nagging doubts. Why risk having an increasingly miserable life as you grow older? Here's some pertinent information on the subject.

If You Are Questioning Your Drinking Habits

If you have gotten to the point of questioning whether or not you have a drinking problem you are probably at the point where you actually do. More than that, if the people around you have been commenting on the amount of alcohol you drink then you may want to listen up. You do have a drinking problem if you are at the point where alcohol is negatively affecting your life and you are continuing to drink.

While there may not seem to be any silver linings in this cloud I can say with authority that there is a silver lining - the majority of people who wish to stop drinking can do so with nothing more than willpower. It is not uncommon for many people who drink on a regular basis to reach a point where they simply decide to quit, whether it is for medical reasons or social.

Regrettably there are many out there who simply do not have the inner fortitude to follow through and quit cold turkey. If you have decided to quit but find yourself continuing to reach for a drink then the problem becomes one of dependency and even alcohol abuse. Alcoholism is reached when this behavior becomes normal.

If you and your family have been affected by your drinking habits there is help available. Your first stop should be your physician who can advise you regarding whether medication will be necessary as well as which care centers can assist you in quitting. Alcoholics Anonymous is another option for those who are looking for group and one on one support.

The largest library in the world, the internet, is another option for finding groups that can support you in your efforts to live a life free from the reliance on alcohol. Talking with others who are on the same path as you and who understand what you are going through is important for your success in this battle.

The word alcoholism itself was not actually recognized in the US until the late 1930s, through the formation of the alcohol support group known as Alcoholics Anonymous or AA as it is sometimes referred to. AA does not actually give alcoholism a concrete definition, but recognizes it as something between an allergy and an illness with a team support method of accountability and responsibility being a way to control alcoholism.

It wasn't until Doctor E. Morton Jellinek from New England came along that problems being experienced by chronic alcoholics were actually first classified. He defined the problem as a person through excessive alcohol consumption developed serious health conditions both physically and mentally. An alcoholic would also encounter both domestic and economical problems as a result of persistent alcohol abuse.

They therefore need treatment. This definition has seen many changes over the years by different medical affiliations. The American Medical Association currently uses the word alcoholism to refer to a particular chronic primary disease.

Some minorities in the medical field, such as Herbert Fingarette and Stanton Peele, argue against alcoholism being considered a disease. But, critics of the disease theory acknowledge that the word alcoholism; refers to a disease, and use the term heavy drinking; when discussing the harmful effects of alcohol consumption.

With alcoholism's uncertain definition, the disease is often hard to accurately detect. There is no physical or mental difference between someone who drinks habitually and an alcoholic. To get more up to date information regarding alcoholism you should definitely take a look at the blog over at stopdrinking.org as it is a real eye opener.