I remember when I split hairs between the definition of a heavy drinker and an alcoholic; I wasn’t an alcoholic because:

“I socialized when I was drinking.”
“I didn’t drink in the morning (except on weekends when I had Bloody Marys with brunch).”
“Who didn’t drink a lot sometimes?”
“I forgot to eat dinner and drank on an empty stomach; that’s why I got sick.”

The research keeps trying to break the denial:

Heavy Drinkers don’t become normal drinkers on their own