deadontheisle

These are probably a worthless questions but...why exactly does alcohol work the way it does for us?

I mean really, is there anything else out there that will give us 'Alcoholics' the same satisfaction, the same immediate gratification, the same self-confidence, the same euphoria, the same comfort, or anything similar, other than alcohol?

I've only been sober 4 months tomorrow, but I feel as if alcohol is the only thing that has filled that 'void'. It's as if I was born missing an important part of a normal human psyche; alcohol seems to throw whatever I am missing at the moment into me. The only way to describe what I feel like, and what I assume any alcoholic feels like is: Alcohol simply makes me feel normal; emotive, relaxed, happy, content, rewarded, etc...the list goes on.

Sorry about this rant, but does anyone else on here actually, honestly, feel better sober, than when they were intoxicated?

I ask this because I heard at a meeting a few weeks ago, "If alcohol didn't stop working for you, and you think you can drink, then go drink!"...and so I'm considering drinking again because the benefits seem to far outweigh the consequences. I feel like **** all the time anyway, so why not allow myself at least one night a week of feeling OK?

...or maybe psychiatric help is necessary...

CarolD

Before you drink please consider this...

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...influence.html

Blessings

raerae6

I would say that for me anyway, there are things that make me feel great like you are describing...sex for one thing...and physical exersize...and doing a creative activity.

It could be that you are suffering from depression...?

barb dwyer

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...influence.html

yes.
better, even.
a deep connection to the Infinite.

And we all know what's on that list, hon.
Someone wrote me last night and said something I think is so very profound:

Alcoholics are the children who miss God the most.

Think about that.

Yes.
I can.
actually.
honestly.

My best day sober doesn't touch my worst day in recovery.
That is no lie.

I can take all the drunks, all the highs, all the great sex, and put it into one single moment's experience ...and it doesn't come anywhere NEAR the feeling -
of knowing - KNOWING - you are loved.
Knowing ... the The Infinite Mystery .. The Great Whatever ... God ... has smiled on you. And Given you another chance at life.

those artificial highs pale like cheap Vegas light shows
when placed before the stars.

I'm truly sorry you've not known this before.
I'm truly sorry for anyone who hasn't had this feeling.
This knowing.

I wish I had an easier answer.

But when it comes - it is SO worth the time.

Spiritual Seeker

Alcoholism is progressive. Beat it before it beats you.

BP44

Okay, easy does it. If I had been feeling relaxed, happy, content and rewarded in the end, I would not have come to AA. No way, no how. I did in the end have to drink to feel "normal". Because whenever I abruptly stopped I crashed. In the end, alcohol robbed me of emotion. I was blank..... zombied. My wife can attest to this. I was certainly not content. Every waking moment was consumed by alcohol, when I was gonna drink it, when and how long, and how would I avoid consequences. The Big Book talks about us trying to chase down the old days, when in the beginning it may not have been as bad, that somehow we will be able to relive those days the next time we pick up a drink. For me this fantasy had to be smashed. It took a vigorous and honest first step looking at loss of control and total unmanageability. If you are having trouble with this , may I suggest getting with your sponsor and digging into the first step. Afterward, you may come to believe that drinking is not an option. When I still had alcohol as a way out, relapse was inevitable. Why is it that I was so patient with the drunk. I mean honestly, I was never in a hurry for a binge to end, but when it comes to recovery, I want to hurry up and get there?

BP44

Also, feelings are not facts. Do you want to feel better or get better? Feeling good and feeling bad is temporary. Getting better is more long lasting. I have spent a lifetime reacting and making decisions based on how I feel. And as long as I do that, I stay in alcoholic behavior and alcoholic thinking.

GlassPrisoner

Sure there is. It's called serenity.

Peter

There was a time long ago when alcohol did make me feel good but that all changed.

The pain of drinking had become greater than the pleasure or drinking but by this time I had developed an addiction and an entire lifestyle which revolved around drinking.

The great paradox that is alcoholism had taken root.....I could not live with it and I feared living without it.

You asked; "I mean really, is there anything else out there that will give us 'Alcoholics' the same satisfaction, the same immediate gratification, the same self-confidence, the same euphoria, the same comfort, or anything similar, other than alcohol?"

I happen to understand from my own physiology that if alcohol never existed I would probably have found some other substance to make me feel good about myself.

You also asked; " does anyone else on here actually, honestly, feel better sober, than when they were intoxicated?"

And my response to you is; Yes, I do actually and honestly feel better sober.

If you still believe alcohol has more "benefits than consequences" then I won't try to convince you otherwise, alcohol itself will have to be your persuader.

One thing I will tell you though is that alcoholim is a progressive condition and that one day you will have to deal with the "consequences" that you have thus far eluded.

I am not saying this to frighten you, but for people like you and me who feel the need for alcohol to "feel good about ourselves" the odds are already against us.

nan07

Well, you've been sober for four months, so I'm going to ask you why you quit in the first place? People don't tend to quit doing something that's going really well and being a genuine benefit, so I'm guessing you were running into problems. Drinking was fun for me in the beginning, but things took a major downward turn and I became miserable while drinking, towards the end. I knew I was destroying my health and becoming enslaved by it, I felt like I HAD to drink. It was a genuinely crappy feeling. I hope you re-think things a bit...
Take care...

Sugah

My suggestion? Get a sponsor, start intensive step work and delay taking that first drink until after you have completed all twelve steps. Most folks these days seem to take about a year to do that -- some quicker, some more slowly. If, after working all twelve steps, you don't feel a change in yourself that makes the thought of taking a drink sound insane, start over & take the steps again, only more honestly and with more enthusiasm.

If you've been rigorously honest, if you've given as much in the taking of the steps as you did to chasing a buzz, you won't have to ask what "sufficient replacement" we have for alcohol. You'll know.

Peace & Love,
Sugah