Most people can tell you how much they drink. Two glasses of wine with dinner. A few beers on Friday night. Cocktails when they're out with friends.
But ask someone why they drink, and the answers get vaguer. "To relax." "Because everyone else is." "I don't know, I just do."
Understanding why you drink is often more useful than knowing how much you drink. The why tells you what role alcohol is playing in your life - and whether that role is one you actually chose, or one that just... happened.
This assessment is different from clinical tools like the AUDIT or CAGE. Those measure risk and identify problems. This one is more exploratory. It's not asking "do you have a drinking problem?" It's asking: "what kind of drinker are you?"
Why Your Drinking Type Matters
Two people can drink the same amount and have completely different relationships with alcohol.
One person might have three drinks every evening out of pure habit - they're not stressed, they're not celebrating, they just always have a drink at 7pm because that's what they do.
Another person might have a few drinks on Friday night to decompress after an intense week at work - alcohol is their main stress management tool.
Same quantity, completely different function.
And that function matters because it tells you what you'd need to address if you wanted to change your drinking. The habit drinker needs to disrupt routines. The stress drinker needs alternative coping mechanisms. They need different strategies because they're drinking for different reasons.
Most people have never examined their drinking pattern. They just drink. But once you understand your type, you can make more intentional choices about whether this is how you actually want to be using alcohol.
The Seven Drinking Types
Through working with hundreds of people on their relationship with alcohol, I've noticed distinct patterns in why people drink:
The Social Drinker drinks primarily in social settings. Alcohol is tied to connection and belonging.
The Stress Reliever uses alcohol to manage tension and decompress. It's a functional tool for emotional regulation.
The Habit Drinker drinks on autopilot. Same time, same place, same ritual - whether they actually want to or not.
The Celebration Drinker uses alcohol to mark special occasions and enhance good times.
The Boredom Drinker drinks to fill empty time and escape monotony.
The Performance Enhancer drinks to feel more confident, outgoing, or socially capable.
The Numbing Drinker uses alcohol to avoid difficult feelings, memories, or thoughts.
Most people lean heavily toward one type, though you might recognise elements of several. The assessment below is just a bit of fun but will help you identify your primary drinking pattern.
What This Assessment Does (And Doesn't Do)
This isn't a clinical diagnostic tool. It won't tell you if you're drinking too much or if you need to stop. If you want that kind of assessment, take the AUDIT or CAGE instead.
This assessment is more about self-awareness than risk assessment. It helps you understand the role alcohol plays in your life so you can decide - from a place of clarity rather than confusion - whether that role is one you're actually happy with.
You might discover you're drinking for reasons you hadn't consciously acknowledged. You might realise your drinking pattern doesn't align with who you think you are. Or you might find that your type makes complete sense and doesn't particularly bother you.
All of those are useful pieces of information.
Take the Assessment
Six questions. About two minutes. Answer honestly - nobody sees your responses but you.
After You Get Your Type
Remember, your drinking type isn't a diagnosis or a label you're stuck with. It's just a description of your current pattern.
Patterns can change. The social drinker can become a habit drinker. The stress reliever can become a numbing drinker. People often shift between types as their life circumstances change and their relationship with alcohol evolves.
The value in knowing your type is that it gives you language to describe what's actually happening, rather than just vaguely feeling like "maybe I'm drinking too much" without understanding why or what it would take to change.
If your type resonates with you and makes you realise something about your drinking that you hadn't seen before, that's the point. Awareness is the first step toward intentional change - if change is what you want.
What To Do With This Information
Knowing your drinking type opens up questions worth sitting with:
Is this how you want to be using alcohol? Is it serving you, or is it just... what you do? If you're drinking to fill a need (stress relief, confidence, time-filling, emotional avoidance), are there better ways to meet that need?
And perhaps most importantly: if you changed your drinking, what would actually need to change in your life for that to work?
The social drinker needs to reimagine their social life. The stress reliever needs new coping tools. The habit drinker needs to disrupt routines. The numbing drinker probably needs professional support to address what they're avoiding.
Understanding your type doesn't make change automatic, but it does make it clearer what change would actually require.
If you're curious about exploring that change, I can help you transform your relationship with alcohol in a way that's specific to your pattern and circumstances - not a one-size-fits-all approach.
But first: understand your type. The rest can come later.
Which drinking type did you get, and did it surprise you?
Book a free discovery call. We'll talk honestly about where you are and whether my approach fits what you need.
If we're a good match, we'll work together. If not, we'll know and maybe I can point you toward someone or something else.
Either way, you'll have clarity about your next step.
