Not everyone who drinks alcohol regularly has a drinking problem, and not all problem drinkers drink every day. Problem drinkers:

• Feel irritable, resentful, or unreasonable when not drinking. They often justify drinking as a way to calm themselves or to forget about their worries or concerns.
• Gulp drinks, and frequently have more than one drink a day. They gradually build up a tolerance, and they need to drink more alcohol to achieve the desired feeling.
• Lie about or try to hide their drinking habits.
• Hurt themselves, or someone else, while drinking.
• Have medical, social, or financial worries because of their drinking.

Source: Stressed Out About Difficult Patients, HCPro Inc., 2007. For more information on this book, click here.