Originally Posted by
Dee74 
Hi BelfastBhoy
Welcome to SR. You'll find a lot of support here
I'm a big advocate of people being the best judge of their own situations, but to be honest, the waiting for it's 'time' to drink, and the drinking alone (especially after going out and drinking beforehand) remind me an awful lot of myself. and how I got 'started'. I also liked hanging out with big drinkers - they made me look better. And there was a lot of shame and guilt - which I then drank away to reassure myself...
None of my friends or family thought I was an alcoholic either...but in my case they were all dead wrong.
Would you consider a period of abstinence - a month or two? It's a good way to learn pretty definitively just how big a role alcohol plays in your life, I think.
D
Hey, thanks for taking the time to reply! Just to clear one point up, i don't actually drink alone after a night out, i just quite often drink by myself for the evening. Not necessarily very much, maybe a 6pack of beers, but i often have a real craving to drink, even if it isn't usually to get drunk.
Good point about the abstinence. I decided to give up the drink for Lent last year, went two weeks quite happily but it was then a close mate's birthday and i decided what heck, i done 2 weeks with no bother i think that's enough to show i don't neeed booze, and so partied at my friends birthday, earlier than the month the i initially intended to abstain from. However, the motivation behind it wasn't "i can't take this, i really really need beer", but rather "yeah that 2 weeks was easy, i'm 20, my pals party, why the hell not party down". Wether that's a problematic attitude or not, i'm not sure, but hoprefully you guys can offer some advice.
Originally Posted by
OZboy ..well you sound very caring and thoughtful..
..it always(if in doubt)is a good idea to challenge your direction because
a lot of us here never did..
..I'm sure many others will be pleased to share with you..
..take care ..to be sure..Ozy..
Thanks Oz, and you're right, i'm here to directly challenge my thoughts, i do have worries about alcohol and basically i'm hoping to either dispell these as mere overthetop anxiety or address them as a real issue that should be nipped in the bud ASAP.