Is 'Almost Alcoholic' a Useful Concept?
There is a tradition in America of expanding a problem further down the spectrum, a name for which is "problem inflation."  One way this is done is to link any signs that people have an incipient problem with the cases of people who suffer the worst forms of that problem.
alcoholic useful concept tradition america expand problem spectrum problem inflation   way link sign people incipient problem case people suffer bad form problem