beer

[kis]

My husband drinks about six beers every night. I dont know if that makes him an alcoholic or not. But I know it cant be healthy and am worried about it. Can anyone tell me?

[USMCHokie]

I can certainly see it making him slightly more rotund...alcoholism usually equates to a chemical dependency on alcohol...if you take it away from him, will he be sad?

[Devil Inside]

My husband drinks about six beers every night. I dont know if that makes him an alcoholic or not. But I know it cant be healthy and am worried about it. Can anyone tell me?

 

Six beers a night does seem excessive to me...but I am not a big drinker. I can see why you are concerned. It especially seems like a lot to drink every single night. He must have a decent tolerance.

 

In order for you to better assess if this is an issue you would need to realistically look at how his beer drinking affects the other areas of his life. Do his drinking habits in any way limit, impair or alter his work, relationships, health, or other parts of his life. If the answer is yes...and he knows this and will not or cannot stop...then it is a problem behavior.

 

Most likely, he has gotten used to the effects that his nightly beer gives him, and he uses it as a coping mechanism for the stress of life.

[Tayla]

Medically- It is unhealthy. ALcohol impedes brain cells maturing and once they die, they do not regenerate. Liver condition slowly declines. Kidneys fail. Heart palpitations increase (irregular heart beats). So from that stance, no its not healthy for him. IS he an alcoholic, none here is a physician to make such a diagnosis, an exam would need to ensue to correctly determine. His behavior and attitude can indeed be indicators though when he is imbibing. There are stages to it as well. Black outs are usually experienced towards the laten stage...along with liver failure....

[Meaplus3]

My husband drinks about six beers every night. I dont know if that makes him an alcoholic or not. But I know it cant be healthy and am worried about it. Can anyone tell me?

 

A six pack per night is a bit much.. and not very healthy. I've read that for a female drinking in moderation is one drink per day and for a male 2 drinks per day. I'd keep an eye on this, and perhaps ask him if he is willing to cut back.

 

Mea:)

[amerikajin]

It's too much. I drink, on average, about one to 1.5 beers a night. So some nights I might have two; others I might have one. Once in a while I might have none; once in another while I might have four or five. I love beer, and I guess I like wine, too.

 

But six is too much.

[Clep]

It was explained to me that the amount of alcohol or frequency consumed does not determine if someone is an alcoholic, but what happens to them when they drink.

[skydiveaddict]

My husband drinks about six beers every night. I dont know if that makes him an alcoholic or not. But I know it cant be healthy and am worried about it. Can anyone tell me?

 

Clep has a very good point

 

Does his personality change? I mean does he become angry/rude/lazy after six beers? Those are the types of things I would be concerned about. Not necessarily how much he drinks, but it's affect on him, more importantly its effect on you/family/friends etc.

Personally, I can slam six beers a night no problem. I dont do it very often as I'm usually working out, skydiving, riding motorcycles etc. But if it concerns you, you have every right to tell him that

Edited February 7, 2010 by skydiveaddict

[amerikajin]

You could probably come up with a number of definitions for the term 'alcoholic'. There are two main stages of alcoholism, though: psychological dependence and chemical dependence.

 

People can be physically able to stop drinking but so consumed with the urge to drink that they make it a part of their daily habit. In a very strict sense, depending on how you want to define it, someone who drinks even one beer a night could, in some sense, be considered psychologically dependent on the alcohol. If it's so much a part of your routine that you can't buck it so easily, then you might be an alcoholic, though you might not be dysfunctional -- yet.

 

There is another and more extreme stage of psychological dependence, though. When someone becomes dependent not just on beer but on beer binges, then that's raising the stakes. Again, it could still be that someone is more mentally dependent on alcohol as opposed to chemically dependent. This means that, even though his drinking behavior is potentially dangerous, he might still be able to quit if he hasn't become chemically dependent on alcohol at this point.

 

A more extreme phase of problem drinking is when someone is simply no longer able to stop. In this stage, the person is chemically addicted to the substance. Their body chemistry has been altered by alcohol to the point where it depends on it in order to function properly. In fact, this is why they say alcohol isn't just a social disorder; it's an actual medical problem. Someone who tries to cut cold turkey is putting their life in danger because they could go into shock.

 

Whether the OP is chemically dependent or not nobody can know. But six beers a night is bad for the liver in the long term, and it's putting someone at increased risk for being chemically dependent.