Welcome to the community!
Alcoholism is a progressive disease, much like, say cancer. It often starts off slow and speeds up over time.
Early Alcoholism isn’t always obvious. Usually, many people start off as binge drinkers. They drink infrequently, but drink a lot when they do. There is often an illusion of control early on.
There are some professionals that say there are 2 requirements for one to have Alcoholism:
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a genetic predisposition for addiction (not being able to stop when you start) and
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Some sort of trauma; big T or little t trauma.
Occasionally drinking to memory loss isn’t necessarily a sign of Alcoholism as that is a biological reaction to too much alcohol, but when it continues to occur, then it’s something to be of concern.
The only cure of Alcoholism is to not drink.
Maybe you meet the criteria, maybe you don’t, but the truth is, not drinking is the only way to be safe, and it’s free and freeing!
I’d recommend giving this a read:
Change your Relationship with Alcohol
Edit: I just realized I linked to the wrong post, this is reason #341 that I should wear my glasses. Ive linked to the correct post.