I wouldn't consider you as an alcoholic, fadingaway22. If drinking 12 beers once a week, passing out and losing memory of the night is considered alcholism, I think me and 60% of my fellow Finns would be alcoholics. Also, I don't think it's smart to stop it altogether, since that will make it a forbidden substance in your mind for which your craving will rise (we all love the forbidden fruit don't we). Drinking is a wonderful way to socialize, have fun and let your mind rest. And hey, imagine you're on a business meeting and have to take your guests to have a drink and you either a) drink soda or b) get wasted very quickly because you don't have any tolerance left. How would they think of that?
Some simple tips on 'controlled drinking' based on empirical study (keep in mind: don't do like I do - do like I tell you to do);
1. Avoid doing several shots. Especially machine gunning, where you drink X amount of shots one after another in very short time. This results in an imaginary peak, where a little after drinking you get drunk quickly, stay there for a while, and come crashing down. I sometimes happen to do this when I'm pissed off and want to get drunk fast and hard, end up getting beat up and passed out on the sidewalk.
2. Don't mix too many different drinks. Sometimes I start with beer, cider, some shots at home, then in the bar I get cider, long drink, some more shots, etc etc and usually this leads in me feeling quite sick and wasted way too hard. Especially starting with hard booze and continuing with mild stuff is known and proved to be destructive (brrr...).
3. Sometimes mixing pot and alcohol may result in uncomfortable situations.
4. Try to have a maximum two drunk days per week. Any more and it begins to affect your normal life.
5. Every once in a while it may seem like going back to reality may seem too scary. Hangover, school day, perhaps something you did the night before which you know you'll be embarrassed about. You may want to continue drinking, I totally understand that and have been guilty of doing it myself. But the problems won't go away. It is only a temporary solution. It sucks, but what can you do.
6. Don't drink and drive. Even if you have drunk only a beer. The risk of drunk driving will grow suddenly when you understand that hey, I can drive this car even though I've had a couple of drinks. You'll think of drunkg driving as nothing special. This is how I lost my driver's license. I had had a few drinks before and driven, then one night when I was really drunk I thought what the hell I'll drive. Thank God no one got killed, now I have to lead a second life secret from my parents and friends to hide my crime record.
If you follow steps 1 & 2, you probably won't get too drunk too fast, and will probably avoid starting fights, barfing around the dancefloor and so on. The rest of the steps are more like a drinking life philosophy. Don't rid yourself of the fun of drinking buddy, especially if you don't have serious health issues.
And definitely don't think of yourself as an alcoholic, which you are not. I will keep posting more tips as they come to mind.
