I have been struggling with my relationship with alcohol for about a year now but has gotten worse over the past 5 months. I don’t know how to really identify if I am an alcoholic. However I CLEARLY know it is an unhealthy relationship in which I use (used) alcohol to avoid and numb my emotions. I have taken a step back and decided to not drink. This is my confusion…for how long? Forever? Temporarily and just take it day by day? Do I have to go to meetings? I am currently working on asking for help from a sober friend of mine. I guess don’t know where to start, but I knew I needed support in some way….
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It doesn't matter if you choose to label yourself as an alcoholic or not. You want to change your relationship with alcohol, and you can do it. You don't have to go to meetings, but it is important to find support, whether it's reading books about sobriety, talking to a friend, getting a therapist, finding new creative outlets, or something else. This is your journey, and you can decide what is best for you. Even if that is not making a decision about long-term sobriety right now.
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I like what Julie said! Plus, just take it a day at a time. Don’t think about forever.
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Annie graces 30 day alcohol experiment could be a place to start. I really liked the Holly whitaker book quit like a woman as well.
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Just know where all here because of alcohol or.somethin. Just know if it hasn't gotten you yet it will. Just take time off and think about your responsibility. Promise you are better without it
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You just took the first step towards recovery. A friend used to tell me a problem with alcohol is how you I define it. You seem to find your relationship with alcohol troubling. That’s why you’re here. I struggled for quite a few years before I admitted to myself that alcohol controlled my life. I broke my promise not to get drunk over and over and over again and kept finding myself in bad positions due to my drinking. Driving while drunk, falling asleep on the couch drunk while I was supposedly watching over my toddler child. Blacking out and not remembering what I did while drunk. Saying I wasn’t going to drink and then getting drunk over and over again.
I finally asked myself how long would this keep happening before it ended in tragedy?
How you decide to handle your recovery is your choice. I had a friend in recovery that I worked with and called when I got weak and wanted to drink. A lot of people go to meetings. This app helps me stay sober. I’m 13 years sober. Good luck to you. Stay close, stay strong.
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If alcohol ever produces results that leave you feeling out of control, emotionally unavailable, unreliable or just generally feeling like you're doing things that you're not proud of... That's an alcohol problem. If you did all these things after eating chocolate, you'd have a chocolate problem. I try to tell folks not to split hairs so much in trying to omit denial.... If you do things you're not happy with, regardless of the substance or symptoms, then it's clearly a problem. Regarding how long you should stay sober. Well, how long are you looking to be without the problems you encounter when you drink? I can only speak for myself here, but I'm never actively freeing up room to entertain unnecessary strain in my life. Which is why I don't drink. If my life was better with booze. I'd go back to drinking. But it's not. And I appreciate having control over my emotions every day. So I just wake up and keep giving it one more try. So far that's led me to a path of almost nine years. I've endured a lot of heartache in those 8+ years, but none of them would be any better by getting drunk. So I keep working with what works.
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One day at a time. If you drink again and problems come back or they are worse then you know.
AA is where I get all my answers for drinking and a whole lot more
There’s so much to share about this, but I’m going to try to not write a novel here. I just don’t see somebody sharing what help me and so I’m going to share in case it helps.
I’ve only been sober for four months, so take this advice as a newbie information. 
realizing that I categorize myself as an addict that needs help with recovery came from googling Reddit forums on “what is addiction”and “how do you know if you’re an addict.”( I don’t recall exactly what I googled.) I would suggest that doing the same thing would help people make up their own mind and how serious their situation is, and what to do.
Here’s a few things that really opened my eyes from being on this app, meetings, and reddit:
 -the longer you wait to get your addiction under control is the harder recovery will be. Recovery is not final and will likely last the rest of your life.
- You don’t have to be chemically/physically addicted to a drug to be considered an addict or have a problem that needs to be fixed.
- Lastly and maybe most important thing I learned, addiction will come from so many different things, like physically, socially economically, influence,  forced etc. This means the problem is bigger than you, and you may not be able to fix it without help and you’re capable of tricking your own self subconsciously( if that makes sense.)  the best example I can give for this comes from the fact that I am convinced I could go back to my drug of choice and society says it’s ok because everyone does it and I could control it by use of an app or change my friends and I’ll be fine to be able to use it and still remain high functioning. FALSE  I truly believe this, but I’ve been able to understand that this comes from a lot of different things.
Like others have said, just for today.
Don't "work" on asking your sober support! You have to surrender! Read some of the things in the Big Book, then decide if you want to go to meetings.
Are you drinking to get up in the morning?
Are you closing yourself off?
These are things you need to ask yourself.
I had to go to a residential rehab center, because I tried on my own to stop drinking, I thought I could do it, "I'm strong, smart, in control, my disease laughed at my efforts!" I learned no matter what my disease was smarter and stronger than I!
Therefore I had to surrender and check myself into rehab!
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Just for today! Keep coming back, it works if you work it!
The other thing I learned, "This is my recovery, there are many like it, but this one is mine"!!
You can do this! You have done the first thing and that is reaching out to others!
Don’t think about forever or sit in the world of what ifs: it’s like running - if you can’t possibly fathom running a mile, just run to the end of the block. If you can’t deal with running to the end of the block, just walk. The same can be said for handling drinking.
Just focus on the day, and don’t think about not drinking, think about what positive stress relief you are going to fill that time with as opposed to drinking. I.E. I normally would drink to escape boredom, so instead of drinking, I’ve gotten into reading nonfiction inspirational books and physical exercise (going for a 45 minute walk in a nearby park, knocking out some calisthenics, deep breathing, etc).
Someone here told me to read dopamine nation, its a great book focusing on the science, it helped me see the broader context of society’s relationships with drugs and alcohol and my choices became more like choosing to go to the gym and be healthy than having to choose to loose something. That helped me a lot to see the positive side of the choice.
Among other things, addicts and alcoholics have two main things in common. But don't think there are hard absolutes, bc there aren't. These are just general ideas, so they are unique to each person. 1. You suffer from a mental obsession to use. 2. Once you start using, you can't stop. That's it. Do those two things happen to you? Think broadly and over significant periods of time. Those two things dont have to be true ALL the time to still be an addict/alcoholic. Also remember that addiction is a progressive disease. It will get worse, more prominent in your life over time.
That makes sense 
Thank you, my sober friend said something very similar yesterday to me
Probably, the second best advice I got was the first time you think about quitting, it's time to quit. It's hard at first, because part of addiction is not wanting to stop. There's no set answer for how long to quit or what path to take. That is entirely up to you and what you find works best. The best advice I got was, "Don't say I'm never going to drink again. Say I'm not going to drink today." If you start thinking about the future, it's easy to get overwhelmed and feel like you're going to be depriving yourself of something. Take it one day at a time, one step at a time. I think it helps to identify why you drink and what you get out of it. If possible, try to find something you can do sober to replicate the enjoyment or relief you receive from drinking. In the end, you might find you don't miss drinking. Everyone's journey is different though, and nobody's journey is the same. Do what's best for you.
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Well Said Renee.
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