I have had either of these two major symptoms most of my life.

1. Unhealthy amount: not being able to stop as long as there is alcohol left, staying out til closing, often getting blackout drunk, emptying the glass before going to bed instead of into the sink. This I’ve had most of my life.

2. Unhealthy frequency: drinking before or during social events, party every weekend, “unwinding” after work, drinking as a fix to something (like making boring tasks fun or improving my mood or to fall asleep or get energized), thinkig about it a lot, unable to resist whenever its available or offered. This slowly turned into a more and more frequent habit, until I was literally drinking at work.

I guess there is also the final sign:

3. Not being able to quit: this includes not even trying. I was never able to quit because I never really wanted to. Not wanting to quit is part of addiction, even when you need to. Once I tried to get in control of my drinking, I always found reason to drink pretty much as much as usual. This is when I finally realised that I was an addict. It’s easy to ignore if you never try to quit, but once you try and fail to quit (several times), it’s pretty obvious.