Expert: Jan Edward Williams - 12/2/2008

Question
QUESTION: I am a recovering alcoholic (5yrs) and there seems to be a debate over how many drinks a person can have every night before that person will drink themselves into alcoholism.  My brother-in-law drinks 6 to 8 beers a night and has done so for at least the past 5 years.  I've heard that 3 or more drinks a day for a period of time will make your body and brain dependent on alcohol.  What do you think?

ANSWER: Hello Melanie,
Congratulations on your 5 years of recovery! There are several issues raised by your question. Quantity of alcohol use is certainly relevant to determining whether a person may develop a problem. In fact, however, there is some research that suggests that for men drinking 2-3 drinks a day may even have health benefits. As suggested in your question, though, drinking 8 beers a night, which usually has the same alcohol content as 8 shots of liquor, is a lot, and may have harmful effects on the liver and brain, and other organs of the body. Unless, however, your brother-in-law drinks throughout the day, he will probably not develop a physical dependence on alcohol in the sense that he would have a serious withdrawal syndrome if he stopped drinking. He would have some minor physical withdrawal symptoms, that may be aggravated by his probable psychological dependence on alcohol. Drinking 8 drinks a night certainly can produce a psychological dependence. You don't say whether his drinking is causing any problems in his life such as negative personality change, tension in his relationship with your sister, legal problems, health problems, etc. A pattern of use in the face of adverse consequences would be a strong indicator of developing alcoholism. Clearly he is drinking excessively, with, I suspect, some negative consequences.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: One adverse affect I can see is that my brother-in-law is gaining too much weight for the National Guard, i suspect the weight gain is from the beer.  The other adverse affect is that he's not going out after hours to work anymore.  I realize both these affects could be attributed to getting older.  I guess i'm wondering what is  "phycological dependence", and is there anything else we could be watching for?  I'm concerned because alcoholism is rampant in his family and his twin brother is a recovering alcoholic.  Thank-you so much for your time, Jan!!

Answer
Hi Melanie,
I agree he is at high risk to become an alcoholic, with his family history (there is a high concordance rate (presence) of alcoholism in twins, assuming they are identical). What I mean by psychological dependence is reliance upon alcohol for reason other than just occasional use with friends, as, for example, needing alcohol in order to socialize, to be intimate, have sex, to avoid problems, etc. Any pattern of adverse consequences in significant life areas due to alcohol use indicates presence of a problem.
Jan Edward Williams, MS, JD, LCADC
www.alcoholdrugsos.com