Regular binge drinking

[morgan3]

I see a neighbour 3 times a week to encourage him to run. About every 3 weeks he cannot turn up because he is drinking so much over up to 5 days that he cannot make it. He makes an excuse that I know is not true. His wife says he suddenly stops and is remorseful and embarrassed. He does not need to drink every day while running and I don't think he is drinking at all then. This behaviour has been going on for at least 7 years before we started running. Please confirm that he is definitely an alcoholic as we are so surprised that he functions so well in the periods between the binges.
Thanks morgan3

[PaigeB]

Get him a copy of our book Alcoholic Anonymous.
http://www.aa.org/pages/en_US/aa-literature

Only your friend can decide for himself, but it is possible is he is one of no matter how often he drinks. Read the Doctor's Opinion in the front of the book. Then our "basic text" is only 164 pages long. See also

BB There Is A Solution, p.26
He seemed quite rational and well-balanced with respect to other problems.

and

BB More About Alcoholism, p.40
I reasoned I was not so far advanced as most of you fellows, that I had been usually successful in licking my other personal problems...

[Brock]

It is nice of you to inquire on behalf of your running pardner. As Paige indicated we don't ever say this one or that is an alcoholic, it's entirely up to the individual to admit that to themselves. It's also part of the process for any person seeking to recover, they need to admit powerlessness over alcohol, and also that their lives have become unmanageable.

In our main book you may also look at the chapter “There Is A Solution,” which gives some description of what the “real alcoholic” that AA attracts and helps is like, you will find it between pages 20 & 22 here -
http://www.aa.org/assets/en_US/en_bigbook_chapt2.pdf

Please keep in mind that we quite often get people attending AA before the onset of all of these difficulties, and a binge drinker like this may well benefit from the program. I would say that being remorseful is a start in the right direction, but the person really should decide for themselves when they are at a point where they seek help. Best of luck to you and your running pardner.

[morgan3]

Many thanks to all who have replied. I don't have a copy of the book but I know somebody who has. I should have said that he drinks so much in one go that his wife says he only stops when she thinks his body says " enough". I suspect that at that stage he is suffering from alcoholic poisoning....
Regards Morgan 3
Apologies, have just noticed the link to the book!