When is a few drinks too much?

A friend of mine from my hockey team came around today and a couple of times made comments about my drinking habits - it's the first time somebody outside of the family has made a note on it. I don't think I have a major drink problem - it just helps to numb the pain a bit, and that helps me to sleep ergo, it helps me. When you spend all day just pottering about doing nothing, seeing no-one, you need something... anything to make life a little more bearable - for me, it's going out and getting drunk - is that so wrong?