Alcoholism
 

Just wanted to know peoples thoughts and opinions on this topic. Maybe some of your own personal struggles or great times with alcohol. For some im sure you've seen it become a problem and destroy lives. But at the same time can be make for some amazingly entertaining moments as well. As of late im thinking my drinking is getting out of control. Im going through about four 30 packs a week and only manage a sober day when I absolutley have to.(thats why i havent been on here latley) I love to drink but im starting to think that its just not worth the cost anymore. Its built a wall between me and my friends and family and caused plenty problems elsewhere as well for quite a healthy length of time. If I could keep some discipline about it it would be one thing but I never do. I always eventually progressivley get worse till something happens that wakes me up. Then I realize its time to slack off it for a while. Then fall right back into power drinking again shortly afterwards. Im thinking maybe just calling it quits for good may be the best option at this point. As hard as that is for me to say...then again I may just get wasted and think about it

If you think you may have a problem with alcohol, you have a problem with alcohol.

Talk to a psychologist, not a counselor, and explain your situation. If you've been drinking 18 or so beers a day for an appreciable length of time, you will have developed a chemical dependence on booze; there are some promising therapies & treatments that can help reduce the trouble with the transition.

I'm afraid it sounds like you do have a problem, Boozin (what's in a name).
I'm just wondering why you would drink so much. You can't just drink less without knowing why you have become dependent of alchol.
Hope you'll be fine, man.

Alcoholism is a huge problem in my family. My dad used to be one, I have 5 uncles who are (one has passed), and I think my brother Dan might be. I don't see him enough to know, because he lives in Harrisburg, but judging by what I saw at Christmas and the times we visited him, I'd say it's a definite possibility. My mom has a drinking problem, but I wouldn't say she's a full fledged alcoholic. She could be, but she's not as bad as my stepdad.

Alcoholism has sort of run rampant in my mother's family. Her father, most of his siblings, and all of her grandparents, were all alcoholics at some point in their lives. She also has a younger brother, who was adopted and already had issues with that, who is an alcoholic and majorly ****ed up his life because of it. Her older brother also used to drink heavily. My mom doesn't drink.

In my father's family alcohol is not as much of a problem as illicit drug addiction is. But that's a whole other story right there.

As for me, I drink socially, like when out with friends or at gatherings and parties and whatnot, much to my mother's dismay. I rarely, if ever, drink alone or at home, after once getting drunk enough to pass out in front of my mom. I think it reminded her of some horrible memories.

My uncle (not the adopted one) eventually went to AA and got all the help he needed to stop drinking, but he still had to deal with all the social barriers that he put up when he was drinking, like apologizing to all the people he had hurt and whatever. I like to think that it gets better after getting help.

It's really odd with me regarding alcohol. Nobody in my immediate family or either of my parents relatives drinks much at all apart from one uncle but I have been drinking since I was 16. I usually drink around five nights out of seven but I have never lost a days work because of it, got into any trouble either within a social environment or with the authorities. I very very rarely drink before 9 pm (unless it's a weekend away going to gigs etc) and don't get the urge to drink before then at all.

On the flipside I can barely manage 2 nights in a row without drinking and on nights that I don't have a few drinks I find that I don't sleep well at all. I very rarely buy spirits because I will drink them ASAP and find it impossible to make them last. Oddly again though I cannot just have one or two drinks and leave it at that. I would rather not drink at all and wait until I have more in the house or enough money in my pocket.

Of course I do some dumb crap when I have had a few drinks (who doesn't?) but even though I have been drinking for 23 years I still feel in relative control of my drinking.

Boozin you certainly sound like you have a problem if you are putting that amount away all the time but I am not judging you at all, far from it. I use drinking as a sort of emotional crutch and feel much better having a few drinks (generally) but if you are consuming that amount then something is certainly not right with you.

I hope you get to the root of the problem (if that's how you see it these days) and wish you all the best.

I appreciate all of your comments and thoughts and im not offended with someone viewing my situation as having a problem. I know I have a problem the only issue is taking the steps to fix it. Or continuing to laugh it off as a joke and continuing down a self destructive path. Nobody finds it funny anymore and if I dont change it I know im going to alienate everything else in my life that i love or care about. I dont want to elaborate to much cause I dont want to sound as if im having a pity party...im just realizing that it may be time for change while I can still salvage some of my relationships with loved ones and friends.
To answer your question though Sk the main reason I drink is so as not to feel. Stay as busy as possible..like working all day then coming home and getting trashed. It leaves little time to think about or deal with reality. Problem being it creates even more at the same time. If I get home around 6 in the evening by 10 or 10:30 ive drank 15 or so beers. Get up at 5 in the morning go to work get off then do it all again. Then if I have nothing to do on the weekend I just get flat trashed all day till I pass out.
Again thank you all for your thoughts or concern.

I have a hard time quantifying what exactly constitutes "alcoholism".
Not that I'm trying to escape the label, because I do believe I'm an alcoholic, but a lot of the things that go along with the typical definition simply don't apply to me.
For instance, I have no issues with family, school, work (when I was working, now I'm doing the school thing), friends, relationships, etc... But I do find it very hard to abstain from drinking for even a single day. Keep in mind, I've been drinking pretty regularly for at least 10 years. On weekends, I find it absolutely necessary to have a 12-pack a day. On weekdays, when I have to wake up in the morning, I can get away with a 6-pack in the evening.
But if I have nothing to do, I drink to make menial tasks more interesting, and to cultivate some kind of motivation. In a way, I use alcohol to make the things I'm doing more interesting, or to make me want to do things I'd rather not do. If I'm going to post on the internet, I absolutely need alcohol, otherwise I'll get completely bored. If I'm going to play a game, I need alcohol to make it more interesting, otherwise I'll get completely bored. If I'm going to file taxes, I'll be completely bored either way, but alcohol will make it more bearable.

So, in my mind, alcohol serves as a means to make things interesting. I gotta assume that's alcoholism.

On another note, I'm naturally a socially reserved person when in new situations that I'm not sure of (probably stems from what I think is social anxiety) and alcohol fixes that. It serves as medication. I've never found alcohol to be anything but an enhancement. Certainly never found it to be destructive to my life... yet the fact that I'm more or less dependent on it has to mean the most. The only thing I personally feel worried about regarding my drinking is my physical health.
When you wake up one weekend morning, having drank so much, so often, that you feel like your kidneys are stabbing themselves, you sorta get the idea that you're killing yourself.
The thing about alcoholism, though, is that really isn't enough after you've talked yourself into ignoring it.

The ultimate related rationalizations for me:
"I wasn't going to drink today, but since I have to write this paper, I know I'm more linguistically fluid after a few drinks... so I'll go ahead and drink."

"Wasn't going to drink today, but I have to make this compilation, and I'd never be able to maintain interest if I did it sober."

"Planned on a sober day, but I have to master a track for someone and god knows I'd throw their shitty track in the trash if I wasn't completely obliterated."

"Stuff needs taking care of on MB... Off to the beer store."

See, that's where I see the problem. If you know you're harming yourself.... that sucks. You should go to a Doctor and have that confirmed, quantified, just to see that it's not psychosomatic if nothing else.

But, if we're talking about crappy drinking experiences: I've been jumped by gangsters while drunk, I had a crackhead break into my apartment on a sunday morning when I was extremely hungover, and I've had every bone in my face broken or fractured except one, on account of my being extremely charismatic.

....but all that was more the consequences of being a white kid in a crappy neighborhood than my drinking habits.

Sounds as if your more along the lines of a "funtional alcoholic" I know a lot of people that are able to pull it off. They maintain everything in their life..they just drink every single day no matter what. If its not causing you problems or never has it shouldnt be a concern like you said...other than the whole health issue. If you worry about that sort of thing. Which obviously you should be very concerned with...I can relate cause there are times I wake up and my livers laying next me waving a little white flag I feel like. I just guzzle a couple bottles of water then pour BC powder in a powerade for the cloudy daze im in sometimes. After that a can of NOS energy drink to get me going once on the job site and im good to go. Funny thing is ive gotten to where I only smoke like 1 cigg a day until I drink..then its like a pack in a few hours. Which does help with the raspy sound when im singing and playing. Dont know if you smoke or not but I think everyones cigg intake go's up when their drinking.

It could very well be psychosomatic, but I'm still bothered by it enough to want to change things... which I can only assume is a good thing. But damn if I can't come up with some great rationalizations for maintaining the habit. You know you're a pro when you can schedule a sober day simply to justify the day after.

Sounds about right for me. Except I don't take any kind of medication... hilariously enough... because I don't want to add to the liver damage. lol... But I do hit up the energy drinks. I grab a NOS or [more recently] those UFC sponsored ones, I forget the name... they're sugar free.. those. Down one BEFORE I drink, because we all know that the more you drink, the more it zonks you out earlier.
I ordinarily only smoke about half a pack of ciggs, but when drinking, I smoke a whole pack.
Oh! just remembered.. I ordered one of those e-cigarettes today. It was cheap, so I figure I'd give it a try. Will report back, but hopefully that's able to at least help me cut down.

Damn thats a really ****ty drunk experience...sorry to hear about that. Surely youve had some good ones
Exzactly....well I was sober yesterday so....im entitled...I totaly get it

Hun I would highly recommend you talk to someone professional and at least check out your options. :)

And, whatever you do, don't talk to Pooka.

I second that.

But he said he was a professional? :confused:

I struggle with alcohol to cope with depression to have courage to be social. I was an alcoholic before I hit twenty one. My family has a history. Except their gateway is H. I can not understand why alcohol is served, knowing that it ****s with a person brain and can cause black outs on the streets! I am guilty of it, driving under the massive influence. I think about it all the time, wow, I actually made it from there to here.

I'd wake up after the person I was with went to work in the morning. Make a screwdriver, that simple. I needed it to function. I needed it to keep a smile on my face. I needed it, so I can enhance my love!

Even then, I did not see help. **** that right? No... I lost someone very important to me because I wouldn't get my **** together. Two years ago did I only just started seeing a counselor. Now I have at least four around the clock ****ing weekly.

Except for me, they can work and get paid all they want. The love of my life is gone from me for good, and I don't give a damn, I'm constantly drinking.

If you're braver then I; get help.

I'm assuming that pooka actually is some kind of drug counsellor, but the things she was saying about people who use drugs and/or drink a lot was, in my opinion, a little bit unprofessional. It's as if she was treating it all like a joke or something.

Last year during the month of June I didn't have one drink the whole time! Felt good. I drank Memorial day weekend, and then I wound up drinking 4th of July weekend (go figure). But in between I didn't touch beer, wine, hard alcohol, or anything else. It is awesome to wake up day after day with no hangover. Plus it helps you lose weight to not drink.

I still have that problem myself with treating my alcoholism as a joke. Even though it should be something taken seriously... I tend to find drunken beligerent behavior very comical. Whether its mine or someone elses. Even episodes that shouldnt be in the least bit funny..I convince myself they are as a way to keep from admitting to myself how serious the problem is.
I know what you mean ..after a while you forget what its like to feel normal. Your so use to being somewhat hungover that it becomes the norm for you.

Iv always said if it negatively affects your life on a regular basis then its alcoholism.

One uy drinks a case a day and has no problems, the other three beers and beats his wife because hes drunk. Second one obviously has the problom. Its not how much you drink but ho you drink.

drunk off three beers...man the money I could have saved...lol

Oh hell yeah. In fact starting today I think I am going to go back off the wagon (or is it on the wagon I can never remember lol). I have something important coming up in early June that I want to look good, feel good, and make a good impression for.

Good luck with that man I wish you the best of luck. Let us know how it works out for you..After sleeping on it ive pretty much decided to quit myself for good. Ive been given a ultimatum by someone I have to keep happy by all circumstances. So Boozinbloozin is going on the wagon as well..this is one for the history books...

Listen, I don't know anything about this.
The only thing I know is that when I broke up with my girlfriend my friends noticed my beer crates were emptying quicker.
So I didn't drink anything for months. Just to be sure.

But, correct me if I'm wrong, if you 'just' stop drinking you will see how ****ed up your body and brain reacts to that. Isn't that probably enough to make you realise how serious it is? I know you know how serious it is, but wouldn't that help you feel how bad it actually is?

Again; Just a thought. I'm no professional in any way.

theres really been no reason with enough clout to convince me to quit till now. Health wise or law wise or anything remotley conceivable for the normal person to want to quit. Broken marriages and lost loved ones as ive already mentioned..the list go's on and on. None of that has ever really been incentive enough deep down to want to quit and be serious about it. However the circumstances at hand now which are personal leave me...in my mind..no choice but to quit. Which wouldnt be a bad thing overall...its probally way over due in a lot of folks minds. Its more than worth it in my opinion considering what id be giving up if I dont.

I knew a kid who was about 6.3 250 and he would drink one beer and be noticeably drunk.

one beer and buzzing...lol maybe when I was two years old. Now sometimes I get too much blood in my alcohol content.
6'3 250 pounds...i hope he doesnt get violent

Livin up to your username I see, nice! Lol, no seriously I just figured you were a guy who liked to get bombed, but I didn't realize you were literally drinking to excess like every day. You can do it, just keep your priorities in the front of your mind and man up and do what you gotta do.

I think a problem with a lot of problems of disabilities or whatever is that people start looking at themselves as a victim and it never gets any better cause they feel sorry for themselves and go back to the same bad habit or making excuses. For some reason I can't wrap my head around alcoholism as a disease. I know people get dependant on it and it's bad for them in these insane amounts, but i just can't wrap my head around how it could be that addictive, probably because i consider myself your average college-aged drinker (every weekend, sometimes wednesday or thursday) and i don't consider myself addicted.

Yeah im not sure what to think about the whole its a disease thing either. I mean ive always been told thats what alcoholism is but I dont know. Im not looking for sympathy or using it as an excuse for anything ive done...I just want to get it resolved now and move on. Like I said it was a ultimatum that just may very well be the eye opener I needed to patch up my life. Cause yes Dirty I like to get bombed and have a great story to talk about the next day only sometimes their not always funny and my consumption has gone way up latley. So maybe ill have to change my name to slower&sober or something i dunno..lol.
I like to hear about other people making the change and restoring their relationships and maintaining it through the years. Its inspiring cause in spite of all of my Terrel Owens and Randy Moss admiring...I know its not all about me. I have a reason to straighten up thats more important than any drunken story will ever be worth or good times. Ive had plenty of good times...ill pass the torch on to the next generation of alcohol inspired partiers. Ill just live vicariously through others good times and stories.

My father was an alcoholic (or so I'm told, having only met him a handful of times). I don't believe that alcoholism can be passed down from generation to generation, nor do I believe in any genetic predisposition to it. Everyone makes their own choices. One normally doesn't have a problem with alcoholism until the consumption and craving of alcohol begins to negatively affect the people and things that are important to them.

I personally don't have a notable drinking pattern at the moment. Looking back, I used to be an alcoholic. I would drink before school, before work, basically at every opportunity. My problem was not being able to stop. I would start drinking at a party and end up sh*t-faced in the backyard the next morning. I could not drink socially. If I drank one drink, I may as well have drank a hundred. It was sad that it had to be an all-or-nothing sort of ideology behind my drinking habits.

I went through the 12 step programs and the buddy systems and the YMCA clubs. All of these places are bullsh*t unless you actually WANT to stop drinking. For me, it came to a point where I HAD to stop drinking. I had a wife and a son to think about, so I manned up and became a sober individual. With my wife and son gone, and going through a hellacious divorce, the temptation has been ever present.

Right now, I drink most nights of the week. Either a bottle of red wine or vodka mixed with juices. I consider drinking daily to be a problem, but my current personal situation is not the best, and I am not in the best frame of mind. I may have a problem with alcohol at this specific point and time, but overall I believe that I can cope with it.

This is what happens to your body, it breaks down in defacement. The first day you’re crying, heaving, puking, screaming, and wondering why death just doesn’t finish you off right there. It becomes soundless in your own head and your heart beat goes back and forth between wanting to continue and not. Your skin sears in pain at any touch, it stings and burns that you’re surprised all the blood isn’t bursting through your pores. You can’t move much but all you want to do is desperately crawl out of this agony. You close your eyelids but there is nothing but a million spiders with their long legs rapidly moving towards you. Your body eventually crashes into torpor but you awake ten minutes later. Your body demands for another fix, it won’t hurt, just please, stop this pain. Cry. Beg. Scream. Puke. You don’t know if you’re going to make it, in fact you don’t want to make it. Close your eyes and end it. I’m ready. Except you do not die. You pass out again in writhing anguish. You awake feeling like your entire skeleton was ripped out of your skin, through your muscles, tearing out every organ as all the blood spews in laughter. But it’s not, in fact your sweat glands are working overtime as you lay there soaked in it. You’re suddenly paralyzed with numbness, you scream in misery, you feel your eyebrows draw together and you’re wondering how you’re producing oxygen to your lungs. Well it’s very shallow. Just enough to keep you barely alive. This is what happens to your body.

That's either something from a D.A.R.E. ad, or you just wrote an awesome metal song.

I have had problems with alcohol and substance abuse in the past, nothing severe, but I have overused from time to time. I try to limit myself to drinking 3 nights a week at most, although sometimes I crave beer, I love the taste and the experience of drinking beer.

I don't consider myself an alcoholic, because I can stop drinking whenever I want or need and I have on several occassions for extended periods of time.

But man, sometimes I just need a beer. Like right now.

Sometimes I wish I could lock the door to my room and drown my sorrows in liquor. Probably not the best way of going about my problems, but I guess people just need to get shitfaced every once in awhile to forget things.

Hang in there man and just stay responsible as possible with it if your going to drink. For your kids sake...Maintaining sobriety under those circumstances must be difficult but you dont have to I guess if its not a problem for you. Hope everything works out for you
It always hits at the weirdest moments it seems like. Three nights a week and not getting into any trouble certainly doesnt seem like you have a problem at all. Hope you fixed your sudden craving for a beer.
Usually the number one reason for why I drink is to forget. Only forgetting every once in a while isnt sufficient for me. Im also one of those either im going to drink as much as possible and pass out. Or I wont drink at all cause theres no point. Problems are always there every day waiting their not going anywhere as of yet, and ive drank enough to probally flood the Mississippi...it seems anyway. Point being my memories and problems havent washed away yet from drinking...only other things that were important to me. Hopefully your problems arent as severe as you think and will resolve themselves in due time.

Ehh top of my head sort of thing because that's pretty much what I go through a lot of days. It's lessened quite a bit in the course of three years, so that's something I suppose. I have more control, I can have a few beers and cut myself off, I can drink and not want to get drunk, so that's a pretty big kind of deal.

Alcoholism and addiction in general is rampant in my family. I myself, am a drug addict. I have been clean since July of last year though.

The main thing is, that you realise that you have a problem. As cliche as it sounds, that REALLY is the first step in recovering. I did NA for a while, which of course is similar to Alcoholics Anonymous. I really encourage you to utilise their services and use this
Alcoholics Anonymous :

to find a meeting in your area. If you don't agree with some of the **** they are preaching, nbd. You'll get a great support system, which at this time in your recovery, you'll really, really need. Everyone in the meetings I've been to has been really friendly and genuinely willing to help you if you ask them. So really, don't be afraid to go to a meeting, I would advise going now, since there are meetings everyday of the week.

If you feel that AA is not right for you, maybe consider seeing a psychiatrist or psychologist to get to the underlying reason of why you drink so much. In my case, the reason I did so many pills is because they put me on a level emotional and behavioural plane. I got onto a medication that would do that without taking anything away, and it's been extremely beneficial to living a "normal" life. As I said in the chat before, I went from being a promiscuous little hooligan who took 6 yrs to graduate high school, to getting mostly A's & a B (lol) in college and being a stable, loving, monogamous relationship. And I'm actually happy. I'm not going to lie and say that it wasn't really, really ****ing hard emotionally and mentally to get to where I am now, but if I can do it in the span a little under the year, just imagine what you yourself can accomplish. But you really just have to get out there and try.

Anyway, I'm not a professional, far from it. But this is what I did, and hopefully you can be successful in getting clean too. It is possible.

What I said was kind of ignorant, but sometimes I really just feel like doing that. I do hope things are going better for you, man. I really do thank you for your insight. :)

Smoke.hella.weed.

It will distract you. You are just trading one vice for another, but this one is far more socially acceptable, and it will at least keep you eating and sleeping okay, you also won't feel like **** all the time :)