When does drinking become alcoholism?

sampras

i lived at los ba?os for 5 years(for school)and people there drink all the time. i even know some who drink early in the day, in the afternoon, and especially at night.I used to see my father with a beer in his hands all day.he has this big belly(its hard)and his eyes always seem to be sleepy or red.Is he an alcoholic? So, how will you know if a person is already an alcoholic?

Ira

The working definition of alcoholism is that it's a chronic, progressive treatable disease in which a person has lost control over her or his drinking so that it is interfering with some vital area of her or his life, such as family and friends or job and school or health. It is characterized by continuous or periodic impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial.

It's not possible to know whether your dad is alcoholic or not based on what you said. If he can't function in his day-to-day living anymore because he's chronically drunk, then it's time to seek professional psychiatric help for him.