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Is This Alcoholism?

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Michael_25

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 19, 2009
Messages
703
Hey all,

I may have a "drinking problem", but I'm not sure whether it constitutes alcoholism. I can go for over a week without booze, but when I do drink, I have a problem stopping. I stop because of either of these following three reasons: 1) I run out of money to buy more booze; 2) I get kicked out of clubs for being too drunk (according to security); 3) I pass out.

Would this constitute alcoholism, or just a "drinking problem". I don't believe things are black and white. Instead, I thinking drinking problems belong on a spectrum -- from teetotaler to severe alcoholic. I'm interested in BLers' opinions. Thank you.
 
Michael_25 said:
Would this constitute alcoholism, or just a "drinking problem".
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I hate to tell you bro, but you have the most severe alcoholism that exists because of how much damage that can and will be done to yourself and those around you during even a single drunken episode. I have this kind of alcoholism too, and I kept trying to drink the various stresses of life away all the way till I was 33. After I started trying to kill myself during blackouts I finally accepted that this was the progression of binge-type alcoholism. Look on the bright side, you don't have a physical dependence to deal with like the chronic-type.
 
AA has pros and cons, but every alcoholic deserves to put in a year of regular meetings. You will learn all the tricks of the alcoholic mind.
 
Yea it's most definitely a drinking a problem: It's called binge drinking.

Don't know if I would personally call you an alcoholic but I definitely think a pattern of binge drinking could lead to dependency.
 
CfZrx said:
I hate to tell you bro, but you have the most severe alcoholism that exists because of how much damage that can and will be done to yourself and those around you during even a single drunken episode. I have this kind of alcoholism too, and I kept trying to drink the various stresses of life away all the way till I was 33. After I started trying to kill myself during blackouts I finally accepted that this was the progression of binge-type alcoholism. Look on the bright side, you don't have a physical dependence to deal with like the chronic-type.
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This is true. I have no physical dependency ... yet. I'm 33 years old too. And I have been binging hard for about a decade, 25 to 30 standard drinks a weekend. I had a LFT and ultrasound done on my liver two weeks ago, and some enzymes in my LFT were raised but my ultrasound came back good -- not even a fatty liver.
 
OP, find an online assessment for alcohol use disorder and take that if you want to determine what kind of issue you have. Clearly there is an issue, but as you point out you seem to be concerned how much of an issue it is.
https://www.drugabuse.gov/sites/default/files/files/AUDIT.pdf

But the risks with what you described are enough for you to consider your issue serious. It may not be the most extreme case of alcohol use disorder, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t/won’t cause you tremendous harm.

Does AA work? Frustratingly, it only works when it works. It doesn’t seem to work for the majority, but there are a lot of people it does work for.

Is it your only option? Hell no. Lots and lots of ways to ger sober. AA doesn’t have a monopoly on recovery, thank heavens.

The good news is that you’re at an awesome place to get sober. Many many many people begin aging out in their late 20s/early 30s. So your thinking about this is good sign.

Think of it like investing in yourself. The more effort and resources you devote to your recovery, the more likely you’ll make it stick. It will probably take some time to figure out how to skillfully meet your own needs, but that just means you need to invest more in terms of exploring various options in your recovery.

There is...

Pharmacological support: naltrexone, baclofen, antidepressants, etc
Peer support groups: 12 step stuff, SMART recovery, Refuge Recovery, and many other choices
Professional therapy: CBT, relapse prevention, trauma therapy, EMDR, etc
Professional mindfulness based interventions (which seem more effective than their traditional counterparts): mindfulness based stress reduction, mindfulness based cognitive therapy, mindfulness based relapse prevention, DBT, etc

Those strategies can be mixed and matches. No reason you only have to stick to one or another. You can go to AA and take naltrexone and do CBT and MBSR. In fact, the more of these you integrate into your strategy the better chances you’ll have for success.

A lot of people also gain lasting recovery just blazing their own trail. If you find you’re struggling with that, you always have more formal options.

OD->SL
 
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"Once I start, I can't stop myself" = basically the hallmark of problematic drug use.

I only felt this way with buprenorphine and heroin.
 
I was a binge drinker for 17 years until it became late stage alcoholism - drinking all day every day. You'll hear that alcoholism is a "progressive" disease. I can assure you that is most certainly the case. Things will eventually get to the point where you feel so bad in the morning that you have to take a drink just to alleviate the shakes and brain fog. You puke the first one back up, but the second...thank God (well not really) you can keep the second down so you can function. Kinda sorta. Just relating my experience to you.

I'm not going to mince words on this, but I've been around SL for a few years and I've heard a lot of people talk about why they hate AA/NA. Those people tend not to stay sober (with a few, very few exceptions). Because it comes down to one thing: everyone who stays sober has found something else in their lives that gives it meaning and purpose. A lot of us don't want to change our lives except the part about drinking and drugging. I've found out through firsthand experience that doesn't work either. I decided about 2-3 months into my first period of extended sobriety, after an unpleasant interaction with someone at AA, that everyone at AA is an asshole and I didn't need to subject myself to that kind of abuse. I threw myself into hobbies I had long neglected, which isn't a bad thing in and of itself, but it was nothing more than a distraction from my addiction. My life was still a chaotic mess and my living space reflected that.

A few days ago, my ex and I went to Kennedy Space Center so I could use my annual pass one final time before it expired and on the drive there, she asked me how I felt. I told her things were different, but it's difficult to quantify into words why. I don't have to always be out doing something and am perfectly content to spend time alone at home with the television or a movie or a book with the dog next to me. I can't stand living in chaos anymore. I clean regularly. I would go months without vacuuming before, and now it's a weekly chore. Dishes are always washed and stored away and laundry is always done before it reaches critical mass. She just pithily quipped, "Congratulations, you're living like an adult."

I'm not a AA evangelist. In fact, some of the worst people I've met in recovery was in AA and it's because they haven't truly recovered themselves. They managed to stop the drinking and drugging but changed little else in their lives. Now, I have the best sponsor I've ever had (a person I trust implicitly, and can relate to on a very fundamental level), I go to 1-2 meetings a week and contribute in small ways such as setting up and making coffee and chairing a Saturday evening meeting. I'm not one of those people that goes to 3-4 meetings, smokes three and a half packs and drinks 10 gallons of coffee a day while loudly pontificating about the Big Book or the NA Basic Text.

Far be it from me to tell anyone that AA/NA is the only way to stay clean, but everyone who is staying clean is working some type of program, whether it is 12 step, Refuge Recovery or something they came up with completely on their own. For me it's been a combination of AA, Refuge Recovery, meditation, yoga, meaningful psychotherapy and seeing a psychiatrist regularly.
 
trying to decide if you?re an alcoholic is a waste of thought. there are two paths. on one you drink, however it may be that you drink. on the other you don?t. pick whichever you think will create a better quality of life.

then struggle like crazy to stick with it.
 
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