alcoholism thread

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So your saying I have to hit rock bottom first before I can be helped. Again I disagree with that, people decide to quit/moderate/reduce usage at all points of an addiction/habit.

Don't get me wrong, the 12 steps work great for some. I am so glad that they have worked for you. For me they don't. I've been to over 60 meetings (forced by rehab) and felt like I was trapped in a cult metting the whole time, I found very little of value besides listening to the stories.

The thing that really pisses me off is the federal/state support of AA/NA. The US is the only country that forces people to go to meetings. AA is making a killing off of this. We need to take a rational approach to recovery. AA is not rational for everybody. Frankly, the fact that people would tell me if I had a drink again I would die pissed me off and sounded so childish. I was drinking to much, I needed to take a break and get my head straight and learn to moderate my usage which I have. Do I fuck up once and awhile? Sure, but so does everyone else.

Hopefully soon we begin to adopt a model based on the European response to addiction.

Anyways this thread is about Alcoholism, not the 12 steps. Lets get back on topic.
 
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B9 said:
This will sound incredibly simplistic, the addictive drugs I quit I did by stopping taking them...that's it ...nothing else. :)



Avoiding relapse is another matter all together though :!

Thats pretty much it. Its totally possible to quit drugs on your own. I've done it several times. Relapse is part of the process... eventually the relapses become less and less frequent.

Its called maturing out.

Think about how many people quit drugs on their own. Drug Abuse is very underreported. If a person quit using on their own then why even bring it up/report it.

Sorry I'm taking a social science research class right now and we always talk about this kind of stuff (reporting, honesty in surveys etc)
 
hazmat said:
Not to sound like a dick or anything but if you have to wonder or you aren't sure if you're an alcoholic or addict then you probably are, "normal" people don't have to think about it they just know they aren't. I myself have been struggling with alcoholism for years and it's the hardest addiction to beat in my opinion. When you walk into almost any store its in your face, god this shit sucks...

I know what you mean, but it depends how you define addiction. For example, a lot of people I know would find it very hard to give up drinking completely, yet their drinking is not really causing them problems in their lives, for example they do not drink every day, they don't blackout, they aren't really drinking enough to damage the liver etc. Are they addicted? I think addiction is a matter of degrees, relating to how important a role a substance plays in one's life. You can be more or less addicted than others. Anyone who enjoys a substance and finds it even slightly hard to go without it in a particular situation could be said to be a little bit addicted. It's not a clear cut, black and white thing, in my opinion. Anyway, this is going off thread a bit, so I'll stop rambling.
 
phactor .. what in the world gave you the idea that I was sober, in AA, supported AA and/or it has "worked for me"? LOL sheesh -- listen to yourself!
Stop presuming! ;) g,night.
 
im forced to go to AA to get my drivers license. nevertheless, alcohol is something i dont want to do. its just that its the only legal 'drug' out here (and socially approved) so thats why i take it.

lately ive been drinking WAY too much. i dont know how to stop.
 
Good to see you fiesty, Phactor.

Since I last talked to you I've hit some walls. Bad times are never far behind, no?
 
I switched to ghb wich is not neurotoxic and doesnt damage the liver.

"do you want a beer"

"no I dont drink, I use ghb instead"

"why , drugs are bad"

"alcohol is worse"

"yeah right , junkie"
 
this kind of shit depends on how the person acts after a few drinks.
some people can drink and while its obvious they are wasted they can still control what the fuck COMES OUT THEIR MOUTH. tact disappears after a few drinks for many.

signs of a bad drunk are the slurring words .. and uncomfortably loud talking. the trick is to remind yourself of these things. and discipline yourself to not "look" like a bad drunk. you know you're wobblin and walking funny like youre about to fall so just sit the fuck down instead.

if you enjoy the alcohol you can either discipline yourself to be a cute drunk or embrace being a sloppy drunk .. its cool either way ..

alcohol is legal and socially acceptable .. drinking in a bar (even daily) is better than alone in your kitchen .. the pros are you're out the house, social, and getting laid (i hope for you)

i'd take alcoholism over stimulant addiction or any drug for that matter
 
i have a question for the alcohol-experienced out there.

after a year of freshmen year partying in college, i basically swore off alcohol as a shitty drug (no offense) and didn't drink for about two years. then this summer, i randomly decided to have a glass of wine, and it felt GREAT....pretty euphoric. well, needless to say, i picked up an alcohol habit from august through to around mid-november, been alcohol-free since then.

pretty quickly, i was unable to reach that euphoric state, not matter how much i drank. i'm experienced with substance abuse, but i am wondering why increasing the alcohol dose doesn't bring the good feelings back. has that been the experience of the rest of you? do you achieve pleasant feelings when you drink or not?

i'm pretty sure i'm going to be able to leave alcohol behind for the most part from now on because once i made the decision to stop my (albeit short though heavy) alcohol consumption, i haven't craved it much, but if i occasionally have a couple drinks, will that euphoric state return? i plan to wait awhile before i attempt this, just in case.
 
^its probably just being away from it for so long.
you go awhile w/o it and that first time back is just amazing.
after that, its back to the same ol routine.
 
^Yeah, I really get little euphoria at all from drinking. I just get impaired but am so use to it I still function almost perfectly normal until I get a BAC of at least .15. I have called people up and not remebered many times and the next day when I talk to them sober they mention the fact I talked to them the night before and didn't even realize I was drunk. This happened recently with a friend in my major and he said we had a good conversation about economics, he didn't even have a clue I was drunk when talking to him even though I don't even remember it.
 
I was thinking about the whole "moment of clarity" phenomenon recently. I'm a little skeptical about it and right it off as BS for the most part. But it did get me thinking about a time about a year ago when I was drinking (as always) and ate some Shrooms. There was this certain point when I was standing outside smoking a cig when I could suddenly strongly smell the booze on my own breath and just though what the fuck am I doing? I am a drunk. Do Ismell like this all the time? Tripping it was weird how intensely I could smell the alcohol emanating from my pores and how gross it seemed. It was like I saw myself from someone elses perspective. Not really a "moment of clarity" but more of a tripping realization about what a drunk fool I must be to sober people. I guess psychedalics can have some benefical introspective properties sometimes which stay with you for the rest of your life.
 
Question for people who have been alcoholics and stopped for prolonged periods in their lives. After stopping for say 6 months or 1 year does it become easier to refrain from drinking or is it always a constant battle? I'm not even attempting to stop at this point, I want to finish up with college first seeing as my grades are doing more than better while drinking. After college I am pondering a lot of differant things including grad school. I am thinking of joining something like the peace core as well where I most likely wouldnt see alcohol for 2 years. Being isolated from it from that long upon return of being around it constantly would it even make a differance? Would a person most likely just start drinking again?
 
Some people [including the AA crowd] preach the moniker "once an addict, always an addict."
Just a meaningless slogan, IMO ... the longer you go without something, the less a hold it has on you. In my past battles [alcohol and otherwise], progress is always exponential. It's always the first day that is impossible, the first week insurmountable.

Obviously, if you have no access for a long time, then suddenly find it available, you'll have to battle your old memories and reason - knowing you're no longer addicted, but certainly have the propensity. Start up again and you might not stop .... but the competing emotions won't be anything like they are when you're trying to quit for the first time.
If you drop something for a long time, it no longer has a hold on you ... can only blame yourself if you make the choice to use again, knowing the dangers.

For me .. everything I was abusing [mdma / OC at different points] got the best of me, but i have managed a few isolated, non-repeated uses since getting control of myself through long periods of abstinence after burnout.
My usual vices, tho [canni + beer] .. I only quit one long enough to grab the other :p
 
Yeah. The only drug I abuse is alcohol though. I've done every drug before and been a "drug addict". But these days the only thing I have a problem with is booze. Mostly I think it because I was a "drug addict" in the past. I'm just saying, if your away from it for years is it any easier to stop drinking it or is it irrelevant? Assuming one doesn't have a preference either way.
 
So I got distressed phone call today. It was my mother. Apparently an old friend phoned my parents. Someone had voiced an opinion I abused alcohol in a way which wasn't "sociable".
 
It's been about 5 months since I "went back out" (left AA and went back to drinking) and so far I'm loving it. :)

I have no plans of going back there, but don't regret the time I spent there. Sometimes you need to stop for a while and get a much needed perspective change.
 
mentaldentrising said:
Since I last talked to you I've hit some walls. Bad times are never far behind, no?

Sorry to hear that buddy. I'll hit you up with a PM soon, but I'm off to an xmas party for an hour before I come back for a dinner.


Right now my biggest challenge is to keep my alcohol consumption down before I leave for a family vacation in Riveria Maya/Playa Del Carmen area of Mexico. My relatives are all big drinkers so its not a huge deal, I just don't want to go down with a massive tolerance.

I'm still keeping it around 2 to 4. I'm avoiding the bars because my city has no public transportation (its too poor) so I'd have to drive. Plus I'm trying to quit smoking cigs with a good amount of success.

I have a feeling that I'll be smoking a decent amount in Mexico though.
 
trancedeviate said:
Sometimes you need to stop for a while and get a much needed perspective change.

So true, one of my major issues with AA is the belief that it is not possible to restrict/moderate your use. Because I've seen many examples that prove the total opposite. I'm not saying that some simply cannot control themselves though, because I know people that can't. But blanket statements are never good and the 12 step process is full of them.

I'll never forget being told I was going to die if I had a drink again. Sure I may, but I can also die from many different things. I'm not going to live my life fearing booze and drugs, its more important for me to realize that I have limits that I cannot exceed.

Plan9 sorry for presuming, but what exactly were you getting at?
 
i think another problem is that the local alanon club here...the regulars tend to use it to vent whatever is on their mind and then add in "but i'm not going to drink over it"
it defeats the purpose of AA i think. iunno, the older ppl get off on seeing youger ppl there and blah blah. it just made me smoke more cigarettes and drink more coffee.

ironically, the AA club here used to be a bar.
 
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