“Alcohol was way too big a focus for me,” says 20-something “Lisa” (whose name has been changed to protect her identity), describing her life as an undergrad at James Madison University in Virginia.

Now a grad student who claims to have neither the time nor the stamina to maintain her old habits, Lisa says that the night before classes began this semester, she went out with some friends visiting from out of town. “I went to class the next day so hung-over, I wanted to die!”

And just a few months ago, she was hanging out and drinking with a couple of male friends: “They kept asking me if I was okay, but I was so drunk, I couldn’t talk. They finally had to walk me back to my place. I spent the next day throwing up.”

“But I wouldn’t say I have a drinking problem,” Lisa continues. “I have a way bigger problem with food because I obsess about it and it interferes with my life and my happiness. That’s not the case with alcohol. I don’t feel addicted. When I don’t want to drink, I don’t drink. I have been severely drunk several times, but I’m not a binge drinker.”