Originally Posted by
stone 
I don't think my alcoholism could have been caught earlier because at that stage I was drinking because I wanted to and didn't want to stop. It is only after a line had been crossed and it becomes a problem that a person will want to do anything about it. A person drinks, at first, because they like it and because of this the comparison between drinking and depression or breast cancer doesn't hold up. I do think it would be a good idea for GPs to be more aware of problem drinking and maybe offer help before it is asked for though. Might help?
I wonder about that to because there has to be motivation for change and if it is still working and fun why would you want to? For me I started drinking at 14 and I had these horrible panic attacks daily that set in at 18. I had them every day without warning. The initial panic attack I had was brought on by coming off a bender. Then I stopped drinking for those months because it was aggravating them. I never could understand what those panic attacks were about. Now that I finally am sober, sober I am understanding myself a lot better and realize that they were a sign of a problem and that if I had gotten sober then, by which I mean worked on recovery, I think it would have nipped the problem in the butt. Of course, the SSRIs which finally saved me and allowed me to go back to drinking helped immensely. The other thing is my alcohol consumption started with sexual abuse which I think is all too common. However, what happened is that I was a victim of tons of other sexual abuse and inappropriate behavior over my formative years because of alcohol. That has been extremely damaging. This is something that is so common for people who start drinking young. If someone or better if there was a culture where these consequences of alcohol use were talked about and if a professional had approached me when I was having those daily panic attacks, when I was probably not quite in the deep clutches of attachment to alcohol but I was willing to do ANYTHING to save myself from the panic, and explained to me the serious consequences that the alcohol had taken on my life until then and would take later things might have changed. So I think in a way if there was more education, it could be easier to motivate people before they deepen their attachment to booze too far. It has just been such a painful and lonely journey for the last 4 years trying to finally kick this alcohol thing. And that is relatively a short time— but again who knows if it is over? I wish there were other options for the next generation.
But yeah motivation for change is a difficult issue. However, the deeper in you get probably the more motivation you need. I mean I started crying when I realized I was actually going to have to stop for real. Alcohol was my life. My best friend. It was true. Sad. You probably need less motivation when it is just your acquaintance but then again it might not seem like an issue.