On my last post i presented a question and got some great responses ( thank you all ) . Today i would like to highlight one of those responses where the person brought up a problem drinker vs an alcoholic . In your honest opinion do you consider yourself a problem drinker or an alcoholic? Also in your own words ( not anythong politcially correct etc ) how would you define a problem drinker and how would you define an alcoholic ?
LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM EVERYONE 
not my own words, just things ive heard at aa which i found true of myselfā¦
normal people change their behaviors to meet their goals, alcoholics change their goals to meet their behaviors.
if your drinking is interfering w your life you might be a problem drinker, if your life is interfering w your drinking you might be an alcoholic.
@Fargesia_murielae i hope i didnt come off like i was trying to engage in THAT, totally not my intent.
i hear you for sure. i guess i like those sayings because i think in some cases a person mind find they identify as an alcoholic and then perhaps give more thought to the severity of their situation which they may not have when considering themselves non alcoholic previously.
i see your point and agree w you also though
The big book refers to it as a hard drinker. A hard drinker given sufficient reason can stop. It may be difficult for him he may even need medical attention. But if a warning from a doctor, threat from a jude, or spouse, boss, becomes operative the hard drinker can stop. The real alcoholic canāt. That is correct, 3rd tradition. The difference becomes relevant when your choosing a sponsor or taking advice. Obviously weāre canāt transmit something we havenāt got. I hear people say just donāt drink. Or I woke up today and chose not to drink. Iām a real alcoholic and for me thatās not a solution. I was only able to recover as a result of working the steps. I had to have a spiritual experience to recover. A hard drinker doesnāt need a spiritual experience.
You can find this at the bottom of page 20 and top of page 21 in the big book
Simply this, if you canāt can drink just one drink you might be an alcoholic.
Iām an alcoholic, have been since my first drink at 12. You donāt have to drink every day to qualify for alcoholism, itās more of an affliction than a behavior. I havenāt has a drink in a year and a half, but if I drank right now, Iām still an alcoholic.
For me, a problem drinker and alcoholic is one in the same, just one is in denial. 
@Vybez315, Is your topic directed only at those who follow and believe in AAs interpretations / guidelines or is it open to all forum members opinions? Just want to be clear. Thanks!
Edited to post to OP, which I forgot to do.
Thatās pretty much my point. I spent 20 years trying to just quit. I was a chronic relapser. Just stopping was not a solution for me. I tried it nearly to death. Iām not degrading what worked for you. It doesnāt work for me. Therefore I wouldnāt ask you to sponsor me, or give me any guidance in my recovery, because your solution is not a solution for me. I could die if I thought that could work one more time. Ive been in NA/AA since I was 19. (Minus the 10 years I was incarcerated, where I couldnāt stay clean from drugs or alcohol either). I never did the steps. Tried to manage on self will. It just didnāt work for me. Thatās my experience. After doing the steps and having a spiritual experience. The obsession was removed and Iāve finally got real sobriety. Again to each there own.
I was born a full blown alcoholic. My disease was triggered when I had my first drink at 10 years old. For the next 22 years the obsession and compulsion to drink consumed me. It spread in to severe drug addiction as well. I was completely defenseless against drugs and alcohol. If it was in front of me I was going to consume it, consequences be damned. Nothing, except my HP and the 12 steps has ever been able to keep me sober. Iāve been arrested, beat up, shot at, robbed, overdosed, suicidal and homeless. None of those dire consequences kept me sober for even a day.
Iām sharing my experience for 2 reasons. 1.Concern for others like me who could die from this fatal progressive illness.
2. Because this is āmy experienceā and therefore itās not debatable.
Itās just facts of my experience with alcohol.
I thought your first comment was pure gold les,I know that the whole subject runs way deeper than that but that was a simple way for someone to identify if they may have a serious issue that they need to try and deal with. The same statement could apply to drugs aswell though nobody should really use drugs at all unless there is a genuine medical reason to. 
Quick question for the AA,era, how long a stretch of continuous sobriety is considered long enough before being suitable to sponsor people or is it when you have completed the steps and have a good understanding of the programme? Iām just curious, thanks.
Once I completed my first run through the steps my sponsor wanted me to start sponsoring others to fulfill my 12th step. I had around 14 months sober when I got my first sponsee. He drank after a few weeks. My second sponsee relapsed almost immediately after leaving rehab. I think my third sponsee is in jail. I have a 100% success rate though, because I stayed sober the whole time.
Hey @anon13078412
Itās not a question of time sober, necessarily, but rather, a matter of working knowledge and the will to see others through the steps. If one has gone through the steps for themselves, and feels that they have achieved success by doing so, they might find themselves naturally trying to help others through the process. AA, as a system of recovery, is an inherently self - perpetuating program. Many sponsors simply find themselves doing it casually and then realize āShit, I should just be a sponsor.ā They simply arrive at it.
Others set out to finish their step work in order to become sponsors. They are eager to sponsor another in order to complete their 12th step and finish the boss level of the game.
In my opinion, these tend to be the hard chargers that need to be of service in order to solidify their own sobriety. Nothing wrong with that, but Iāve heard a lot of stories of sponsors kinda being dependant on their sponsees and that can get real unhealthy, real quick.
The 12th step answers this question on its own.
I see what your getting at here @anon13078412.
Bill Wilson was in the hospital detoxing on day 9 when he did his 9th step. Doctor Bob was sponsoring guys immediately. The 3rd alcoholic is an example of how soon after completing the steps sponsorship took place.
Doctor Bob died roughly 14 years after getting sober. Itās estimated he sponsored ( low estimate ) between 5 and 6 thousand people. He was working steps with people almost daily if you do the math. When a person has completed the steps " had a spiritual experience as the result of working the steps" they are ready to sponsor.
A sponsor is just a guide to take someone through the steps. Each person taking the 12 steps will have their own experience with their higher power and the sponsor does not get them clean. God does. Therefore the only requirement is that they have been through the steps. Most people in early AA were sponsoring after a month to two months of sobriety.
Additionally the big book does not say there is a required time.
Additionally I have 145 days sober and I have several sponsees. Iām sure this is ultimately what youāre alluding to.
No I wasnāt alluding to that at all mate I was just generally curious, Iām in NA so all I know if AA is what Iāve read on here. I read a lot of the old threads from years past and have come across the odd snooty comment regarding sober time and sponsoring so have wondered this for some time now. I would think that someone who knows the programme inside out like yourself would be a great sponsor. I would have just asked you straight out if I was asking in terms of you sponsoring.
5 to 6000 is a lot of sponsees, those guys have saved a lot of lives, do you think they had any idea just how big the programme would get when they founded it.
@MrCade I sorry if figured that would be the case Iāve just seen the odd snooty comment regarding sponsoring and sober time.
@Englishd thatās a bit gutting, ultimately not everyone is going to be saved I suppose. Are you in contact with Ray outside of the forum I have seen anything of him for quite a while.
I made an assumption based on a comment on a different thread that then disappeared.
That was wrong of me too do. You deserve to be heard for what you say not what I think your alluding to. I make mistakes. Iāll work on that moving forward. Thank you for your response
I think I have Rays email in an old thread. Iāll dig it up
Itās been about a month since we spoke. Iāll have to send him an email
About sums it up for me.
The whole thread reminds me of the quote ripped from a former member. āIād rather be sober wondering if Iām an alcoholic than drunk wondering if I can get sober.ā
Whether or not the word sits right with me, or however unsure I may be where my drinking might have (and may still) lead me, I cannot deny (now) that sober is the easier, more peaceful and less doubt-filled way to live.