am i problem drinker or a drunk or what?

[mk123xx]

Hey I'm 15, I drink about 2-4 times a week usually I drink about 2-5 drinks, usually alone at home. I have been drinking since January and have made about 4 or 5 attempts to stop, because my friends and family have expressed concern. I have a history of alcoholism and problem drinking in my family. I drink because it relieves depression and anxiety and stress for me, anxiety and depression I suffer from and take medication for and am in therapy in for (I have talked to my therapist about drinking and we talk about it). Since I'm so young and started drinking so recently I don't think I'm a full blown alcoholic (yet), and I think I'm at the stage where I can stop drinking if I want to but just don't want to. What do you think?

[Brokenbutglued]

I'm not a professional but based on what I read I'd say you're an alcoholic and you need help. Alcoholism doesn't go by age, it's a condition and a disease. I think you're heading in the right direction by acknowledging the fact that you know you have a problem, you know your reasons for wanting to drink but I think for whatever reason or excuse you've not been given the appropriate tools to handle this. Please please don't take this as me being a jerk, I'm only saying what I would do if you were my son/daughter...I'd fire the therapist for starters and enlist more proactive help. You are young but based solely on your above post I'd guess that you are fairly mature for your age and very capable of making tough choices.

Deep down you know what you need to do, you know it's wrong and if you feel like you cannot overcome this then be more proactive for yourself and seek out the help yourself. No ammount of therapy, no ammount of pushing from your parents, no ammount of pushing from anyone can force you to stop. This has to be YOUR choice. You CAN do this, you ARE strong enough.

[ibizan]

Since u r under 18 is this therapist engaging ur parents in ur therapy?He/she should be....if not a sin and if ur parents r being kept in the dark or u r not being truthful about ur drinking u r hurting no one but urself!

[sograteful828]

i really feel for you, i started at your age, and really continued down the wrong road my whole life, it ruined my life, school, jobs everything. thats when youknow you have crossed over into an alcoholic. when you are powerless, meaning, you cannot stop on your own, or your life becomes unmanageable......i have to say you have alot of courage and strength to reach out, you should be proud of yourself for taking that step.
i understand what you are saying about being depressed and using alcohol to combat that, what i found out the hard way is it does make you MORE depressed. you just dont know it yet. also, mixing alcohol and antidepressants can be so very dangerous, please understand that.
we are not here to judge, most of us have been there, and i know especially at your age you do not want a lecture, you want answers. if you are using alcohol, especially alone to help you overcome depression you are self-medicating. perhaps your meds arent working for you?? maybe the alcohol is interfereing with your meds being able to work...make sense????  i would talk to your therapist about that.

please, continue reaching out, you are so strong you dont even know it, keep talking and looking for the answers, i wasted my life on drugs and alcohol and would give anything to get that time back

we are here for you...good luck

[rod44]

Determining whether someone is an actual alcoholic or not is really not all that important. If someone's drinking has advanced to the point to where it has become a problem for them and those around them, then it is a problem, period. Your depression and anxiety is treatable but drinking is not helping matters.
When you walk down the street and see a person who is down on her luck, homeless and begging for there next drink keep in mind that this could be you. There is a fine line….

[Delusion]

At first glance kid i would have said there was no problem there because i foolishly think back to when i was using and what i considered to be a lot. Alcoholism isnt so much the amount you drink its more the reasons behind it and the habits themselves. I would say drinking 10 pints a night 3 days a week wouldnt constitute a alcoholic if the person was partying and actually having a good time with friends socially. However when it is solitary and done as a form of self medication then i would class it as alcoholism.

Alcoholism in my experience is chronic and unless it is stopped it gets progressively and exponentially worse and harder and harder to stop. I used to laugh at AA advocates and doctors who would float the line ''recognising your have a problem is the first step towards recovery'' in my mind i just thought ''lol what ever''. But it is very true if you recognise you have a problem it is a step, i know i was in denial for a great many years.

Recognising you have a problem and doing something about it however are very different and the latter is always harder. Booze is a evil vicious circle you get a great buzz but then it amplifies your depression and anxiety afterwards so you simple have another drink so it goes away, it comes back another drink and so on.

What ever the reasons you drink are; and i also guarrante some of them you dont know yourself yet perhaps talking about them on here will help. These forums have helped me through alcoholism, depression and psychosis listening to other peoples stories and experiences is something you can never get from a doctor or therapist.

[bbq33]

If there is a history of Alcoholism somewhere in your family then you might have the disease. I have it as millions of americans do. Some don't get help and die. Others get help and live a healthy happy life. I think your in the healthy happy life group as I am. I was using alcohol as a medicine for anxiety and depression. That's when things went wierd and I could not stop. If I was a diabetic, would I stop taking my medicine? I don't think so. AA is my medicine for my disease. I like the meetings because I find out I'm not alone and there are a lot of friendly happy people there. You have to shop around for a meeting that suits you though. It took me about 7 different meetings to find one that I liked. I found out I was not alone. Millions of people have this disease. The good thing about AA is it only costs a dollar a meeting instead of $400 for a shrink. AA people know more about the disease too because they have had a lot of experience with it. Another nice think is it's like a smorgasborg. Take what you like and leave the rest. Use what works for you. If you drink again it's okay. Just stop and try another part of the program that works for you. Nobody cares who you are at the meetings and what is said and who was there stays in the room. Nip it in the butt before it progresses into real bad problems.
Good luck,
bbq33