Hi Liza,

I think its a bit of a fine line myself, in that you get people who are against alcohol altogether, and those that are nothing more than drunks. When you have PTSD, alcohol becomes a method to suppress trauma, which is why it generally is off no real value. Is it wrong to drink? I don't think so... hell, who wants to die from boredom? People have to make their own decisions, and it generally differs across age groups, in that the younger you are, generally the more suceptible to drinking you are, with peer group pressure. As you get older, most tend to settle down a bit more, and drink less. If you drunk before PTSD, then the problem generally gets worse with PTSD.

The problem with drinking in excess with PTSD, is alcohol is a depressant, so if your hit hard by depression and depresive thoughts, suicide, etc etc, then alcohol must be taken out of your social calender. If not, then I see no reason why a person can't have a social drink. Use, Abuse, Dependence! Use is fine, Abuse is binge drinking, which just isn't healthy, and dependence generally equates to use and abuse, and you can't make it through the day without alcohol, whether a person realizes it or not.