On Fri, 27 Oct 2017 20:27:49 -0400, John H
wrote:

To me, the definition of an alcoholic is simple: If alcohol is causing a chronic problem and the
person continues to drink, then the person's an alcoholic.

I know exactly what you mean by 'binge drinker'.

There are several definitions of alcoholic, depending on who you talk
to.
There are 10s of millions of high functioning alcoholics who drink
every day (one of the definitions) but still get to work every day,
perform OK and have no real drama in their life.
These people usually "ration" their intake but it is still a necessary
part of their life.

Another definition is the binge drinker who just can't stop once they
start and that may or may not end well but then they can lay off for
days or even months between binges.

Then you just have those people who let the alcohol drive their life
down (can't make it to work etc) and they are the ones you see
sleeping under bridges.

I have known people in all 3 of those categories and usually other
drugs are involved.