Alcohol addiction in simple words can be excessive drinking of alcohol which causes significant problems to mental and physical health of a person and disturbances in their social life. For certain individuals the problems can get so severe that one need to seek treatment for alcohol addiction.
Casual drinking is when an individual has few drinks with friends or on any special occasion once in a while or socially. But problem arises when the individual is unable to keep their drinking in check and let alcohol affect their behaviour or drinks frequently and too much.
Think about your life experiences of the past year and look at the following signs.
No matter the severity any addiction can be treated and help should be sought out at any stage.
If you have experienced at least 2 of these signs in the past year you have mild alcohol addiction. If- you have experienced 3 or 4 of these you have moderate alcohol addiction and if its more than 4 then it is severe in nature and you should seek immediate treatment for alcohol addiction. Or you can refer to this site and use the free alcohol dependence TEST and get a score.