Am I an Alcoholic?

According to about.com's alcohol screening quiz, 20 questions, I answered 7 out of 20 questions yes. Since I answered more than 3, I have alcohol dependent tendencies I I need to seek professional help. I don't 100% trust that little quiz so I'm going to take another and see if it agrees.

According to Alcoholics Victorious I also have a drinking problem. I answered YES to only one of their list of questions. I still don't think this is accurate. I'm going to take another quiz.

Wikipedia defines alcoholism : Alcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions. In common and historic usage, alcoholism refers to any condition that results in the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages despite the health problems and negative social consequences it causes. Medical definitions describe alcoholism as a disease which results in a persistent use of alcohol despite negative consequences.

I always thought an alcoholic is someone who is physically addicted to alcohol. But it seems this is not true.*

If I use Wiki's definition then I am an alcoholic and so are most of my friends. Or at least they have been at some point. So I guess I can say I am an alcoholic, but do I need help? Or do I need to stop drinking? I don't think so. I mean I could. Its probably not the best for you anyway but neither are tons of other things that I do. At this point I'm not ready to stop drinking totally, just like I'm not ready to stop eating junk food totally. But I will watch it. I won't get "wasted" any more. But I still don't think there is anything wrong with being a little tipsy every once in a while. Being drunk is in bad taste.

* Since I am going to be doctor one day. I decided to think like a doctor. I looked up the definition of alcoholism in my good old Oxford Medical Dictionary: alcoholism n. the syndrome due to physical dependence on alcohol, such that sudden deprivation may cause withdrawal symptoms-tremor, anxiety, hallucinations, and delusions.

So I was right. Eh I definitely don't suffer from alcohol dependency. Maybe I'm somewhere in the middle. As I previously decided no more getting wasted. But now I know the difference, I don't need to drink I like to drink.

My only concern is that I like to drink alone. I've always heard this is a bad thing but why? I don't really know what that means. Is drinking supposed to only be a social practice. Like oh yea society says you can get tipsy with your friends and that's OK but if you do it alone your an alcoholic. What the hell. I'm so sick of societal standards. Some of them just don't make any damn sense to me. Drinking alone can possibly be sign of some problems lurking in the darkness. But not necessarily. There are always exceptions to the rule. Or maybe I'm just in denial.

The online quizes are made to target those who may possibly have an alcohol dependecy issue so they just try to get the minimum possible. If you look at the quizes any one who has ever gotten drunk one time and then had a hang over the next day would probably be considered an alcoholic. The questions are to vague and subjective.