Drinking All Day Long - What's Going On?

by Connie
(PA)

A male, 69 years old wakes up and drinks a beer, then a glass of wine - he rarely has breakfast or lunch. He will sleep, then have another beer and wine, and then a martini with his coffee. What is going on?

Reply

This man you write of most definitely has a drinking problem and may well be alcohol dependent. It seems that he has to drink throughout the day in order to maintain his blood alcohol level. If he were to allow his alcohol levels to fall too low he would start to go into alcohol withdrawal. This is why he is constantly drinking albeit slowly.

Just because he never gets visibly drunk (assuming he doesn't) does not mean he is not an alcoholic. Food has become of secondary importance to him as alcohol is his number one need. On top of this alcohol on an empty stomach is far more 'effective' than on a full one.

He is doing a lot of damage to his health by drinking like this and not eating. Please take a look at (or even better get him to look at it) alcohol abuse effects to get an idea of what it is he is doing to himself.

What can you do about his drinking? Not a lot. If this person does not want to stop drinking then there isn't a lot you can do bar an intervention. If he does then point him in the direction of this site so he can look at some of the options open to him.

All the best,

Charles