Recovering from alcoholism - Page 2
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tonight
United States11130 Posts
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AtlaS
United States1001 Posts
On January 04 2010 17:36 Mora wrote: i dont know if i believe this whole "once an alcoholic, always an an alcoholic". Alcoholism runs in my family, and they certainly haven't been able to practice consistent control over their drinking, but i've found myself with a little more tenacity and a lot more success. I don't know what technically defines you as an alcoholic, but my 'homespun' definition is: when you drink to a point where you are unable to control how much more you drink. This was definitely the case for me about 2 years ago. When i would start drinking i wouldn't stop until passing out. I was blacking out for 1-2 hours a night, 3 nights a week. I had a few nasty experiences that woke me the fuck up. I came home one time covered in bruises, clothes torn, and a fair bit of blood on me, and didn't remember a single thing from the night before; 'had a few run-ins with other drugs while drunk; etc. In anycase, i drink nearly as often as i did 2 years ago, but now i retain control almost always. Once i start to feel 'drunk' i switch to singles (instead of doubles) if i begin to feel more drunk i completely switch to water. I think i've had like 1 blackout in last 9 months or so? I mean, i drink almost every day of the week. Usually stick to vodka w/ soda to try to be a bit healthier? haha Perhaps now that i have control over my mental state while drunk i should start considering my liver. lol Though I am not an alcoholic myself, I have quite a few people who are very close to me that are in the AA program and I, myself, have become quite involved in the program myself and even wrote an article regarding AA for a college class where my article was selected out of about 150 articles to represent our school in a State competition. I ended up transferring after the semester was over so I have no idea what became of that but I'm guessing it didn't go any further. The reason I'm telling you this is because I don't want you to think I'm talking out of my ass. While it is possible for some people who are mildly dependent on alcohol to exercise self-control and keep their drinking under control, the majority of alcoholics are completely unable to exercise self-control in self-moderation and are better left if they abstain from alcohol altogether. Though it may sound cheesy and cliche-like, but one drop of alcohol really does have the potential to completely undo everything you've done towards your sobriety in an instant. You say that you saw yourself falling into trouble from you 3 blackouts per week binge and you were able to recognize that as a problem and adjust/moderate it so that you would no longer have that problem. That's good, I'm happy to hear that from you. But most of the alcoholics and addicts that I know don't recognize that problem. Come to think of it, after being involved in the program for almost 5 years now, I have never personally known or heard of somebody relapsing and everything turning all right for them. The truth of the matter is that the vast majority of those people who relapse and go back into the habit of using/abusing will generally end up on the street, in prison, or dead, All of which I have unfortunately had the experience of having people close to me end up in each of those situations. Alcoholics and addicts distort and blur reality to live in a world where they find their drug of choice to be more important than air. The first step of the program pretty much says it all. They really are completely powerless to their addiction. | ||
WheelOfTime
Canada331 Posts
On January 04 2010 17:36 Mora wrote: i dont know if i believe this whole "once an alcoholic, always an an alcoholic". Alcoholism runs in my family, and they certainly haven't been able to practice consistent control over their drinking, but i've found myself with a little more tenacity and a lot more success. I don't know what technically defines you as an alcoholic, but my 'homespun' definition is: when you drink to a point where you are unable to control how much more you drink. This was definitely the case for me about 2 years ago. When i would start drinking i wouldn't stop until passing out. I was blacking out for 1-2 hours a night, 3 nights a week. I had a few nasty experiences that woke me the fuck up. I came home one time covered in bruises, clothes torn, and a fair bit of blood on me, and didn't remember a single thing from the night before; 'had a few run-ins with other drugs while drunk; etc. In anycase, i drink nearly as often as i did 2 years ago, but now i retain control almost always. Once i start to feel 'drunk' i switch to singles (instead of doubles) if i begin to feel more drunk i completely switch to water. I think i've had like 1 blackout in last 9 months or so? I mean, i drink almost every day of the week. Usually stick to vodka w/ soda to try to be a bit healthier? haha Perhaps now that i have control over my mental state while drunk i should start considering my liver. lol wow, good for you for putting in the effort to stop, in comparison I'm tons better in terms of my degree of alcoholism. I think you're right though, I have absolutely no intention of quitting forever, I'm simply waiting for my physical reliance on alcohol to die down, after which I'll still drink socially less often (1-2 times a week) only in the company of others. But yes, your poor liver. DO do something about it. Good luck:D | ||
Rekrul
Korea (South)17174 Posts
wussup w/ that | ||
tonight
United States11130 Posts
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pubbanana
United States3063 Posts
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Boblion
France8043 Posts
é_à | ||
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