Alcohol

[Sir_psycho]

How long does it take to become physically dependent on alcohol?

 

[keeping]

i'm not sure anyone can fully answer that question, everybody is different

 

[Sir_psycho]

An estimate would be nice. Is it days or weeks?

 

[Relapz]

From personal experience, a long time. not days or weeks. I drank a fifth a day for a year straight and didn't notice any signs of dependence / withdrawals when I stopped. Alcohol is a demon, but to become physically addicted to literally a poison takes some serious effort. My mom drank for 30 years as an alcoholic, 10-12 drinks a night from 5 on and never got the DT's or shakes when she quit a year ago.

I am irish, but its not like with heroin or something. Alcohol dependence likely would take daily drinking for over a year in absurd amounts.

 

[Sir_psycho]

Thanks

 

[Keif' Richards]

There's really no way to tell you OP. It will take weeks of heavy drinking to develop dependence/withdrawal and months of slightly less-severe drinking to develop a similar syndrome. However, years of more moderate intake will lead to a potentially more intense syndrome. Alcohol is so unpredictable, like all drugs to a certain extent. There are many factors at play that determine how quickly you will become addicted and dependent that it would be totally impossible to predict.

I'll leave this open for now, but you will never get an effective answer for your question beyond guessing.