I've been with my girlfriend for about a year and a half. When I first met
her, I knew she liked to party and drink but didn't think much of it. After
about six months I started to question her drinking habits and after a year
I think she might be in the early stages of having a problem.

Here are some of the things that I notice and that make me worry the most:

Once she starts drinking, she can't stop, even if she just goes out to have
one or two.

When she drinks, she just becomes a different person and turns into a
monster, big time verbally and physically abusive. The smallest things set
her off, and she has torn my clothes and broken my stuff as a result.

All her friends are heavy drinkers, and she never does anything that normal
girls do, like shopping or movies, just gets drunk with her friends.

I think she craves alcohol. Says stuff like "I can't wait to get drunk
tomorrow" or "I'm really in the mood to get drunk right now" and stuff along
those lines.

Drinks alone, like if she has a bad day.

Drinks to the point where she can't remember what happened during part of
the night, drinks and drives (has an underage drinking and driving ticket)
and is generally irresponsible while drunk.

Seems like drinking is always on her mind and she just waits for a chance to
get drunk.

I tried to talk to her about it tonight and hopefully make her realize that
she had a problem. Denial and excuses of course. Her excuse is that she
doesn't drink all the time, maybe just a few times a month now (maybe once a
week when we first met?). But I tried to explain that it doesn't matter how
often, just how you behave when you do. Am I correct, and how bad do you
think she is for a girl in her early twenties?

I really want to help her. She's a wonderful person when she doesn't drink,
and I don't want to sit around and watch her throw her life away. I
understand that it's very hard to help someone who doesn't want to help
themselves, but there must at least be a place to start. I'd appreciate any
advice I can get.