ScottFromWI

Welcome Mike, lots of good advice here already. Re-examine your statement above - lots of circular logic going on there, which is very common for those of us with "a problem with alcohol". It doesn't really matter what you call it to be honest - a problem with alcohol is a problem with alcohol. And the solution ( initially ) is to remove alcohol from our lives. After that is where it gets difficult - and I think you realize that the drinking is merely a symptom of a larger problem. The solution to that problem is to find a way to live with life on it's own terms - because "self-medicating" is really just another way of saying "running away/hiding from my problems".

There are may ways to go about it - Meetings, therapy, rehab, detox, self help programs, etc. And many of them involve working on things that really have nothing to do with alcohol....they have to do with learning to fade and deal with life. That might include addressing underlying issues like depression/anxiety/etc. It might include improving your health.

But at the end of the day, none of them will work until you are ready to admit that you need them. And i don't mean standing up and saying "I am an alcholic" - I mean really accepting for yourself that alcohol IS the problem, and that getting rid of it is the only possible solution. You'll find a lot of resources to do just that here if you choose.