sever

hey, I'm new here

I have alot of things to say and a very short attention span while writing so if I aimlessly jump between points please forgive me

I am, currently, in the middle of deciding whether I am in fact an alcoholic - I've had alot of people tell me they "think I have an alocohol problem" - but I am a cynical man. I've ready the various "are you an alocholic" questions but find them to be severly flawed - I don tknow a single person my age who can honestly not answer yes to 3 or more of these questions

which coudl be part of the problem. My social life is built mainly around the pub.. though some of my freidns are happy to sit with a glass of coke or orange, I can really - I can drink coke or orange juice but I will get though about 5/6/ glasses and it's no where near as satisfying as drinking.

I can get through a day or more without drinking - my only problem is that I cant sleep if I dont drink which is an insentive to get hammered most nights. This I hearyou say is the problem. But I've speant a period of months not dirnking when I'm tkaing sleeping pills - but theirs only so long they will prescribe sleeping pills for.

I'm not saying I dont feel the urge to dirnk but I don thtink anymore then anyone else.

I can feel myself tpying alot without really saying anything.. but I;m going to carry on anyway..

you may be able to tell I have been dirnkign already - but would not objec tto quitting in theory - although it woudl be hard as I've tried before.

I have been diagnosed as (and I hate the phrase myself) manically depressive a couple of time over the last few years - and obviously they have pointed to the drink as the source - but which comes first, the chicken or the egg?

I feel I'm overstepping the boundires of the forum..

What I initially wanted to ask realy is does addiction/aloholism counseling work? I'm in counseling at he moment and I'm aware my sounseler does deal with people with addictions.. but I want to know if it actually works before I approach her

I'm not reading what I just wrote because I know it sounds stupid - feel free to ignore me

suki44883

You say you have tried before to quit drinking but that it was hard. How long were you able to go without drinking before feeling very uncomfortable? I think you know the answer to your question but don't really want to stop drinking altogether. Moderation drinking is almost impossible for an alcoholic. It may work for a while, but chances are, not for very long. I'm sure others will be along soon with their own two cents worth. In the meantime, welcome to SR!

beingjenagain

Who wants to be alcoholic?? I don't think their is a person who said "Gee I want to go to AA, see a therapist and never drink with my friends again!" We have all talked ourselves out of it. We all must come to it in our own time. Years ago I knew that alcohol was going to be a problem for me, I tried to quit but alcohol hadn't made my life unmanageable yet. Well now it has and I am ready to surrender to my illiness.
Not until you can surrender are you ready. Maybe your time will come maybe it won't. When I started driving my daughter around while I was smashed and waking up and drinking to even get my day started I knew I had reached the bottom. It doesn't sound like you aren't there yet but I sure hope you don't hurt yourself or someone else on the way there.

caraway

Welcome to SR!
I found that counselling didn't work for me. I'm in AA - the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. I'm happier with my life if I don't drink.

warrens

It only works if you work it.

Does drinking interfere with your life, or does life interfere with your drinking?

In my case the answer was both, thus I didn't need to worry about labels. Alcohol did nothing to enhance my life and did much to make it unpleasant. My major reasons for quitting were internal; no one could have made me quit but myself.

warren

sever

I can understand people probably get sick and tired of hearing this kind of story but I'm going to tell it anyway

I know I drink too much.. accepted

but dirnkign does not seem to affect my life negitivley - which leads me to believe that it's not a problem

although that could be the drinktalking - bah fork it ignore me again

nandm

Welcome to SR.

I hope you are able to find the solutions to your questions

Astro

We call that a "yet", as in it's not affecting your life in a negative way yet.

I had a good run with alcohol for 27 years, most of the time it seemed pretty fun. I ruined two marriages, lost a home and a couple dogs, and now I've got joint custody of two children that I love very much and miss dearly when we're not with each other. I drove around drunk with those kids every day and never killed them or anyone else. I never had a DUI or did any time in jail, and only had minimal medical complications from my drinking. But those were YETS, I've only got one life, I know without a doubt that God protected me as well as everyone I crossed paths with when I drank.

Am I an alcoholic? What I've learned is that normal people never ask themselves that question, there's no reason why it'd even cross their minds.

And one other thing that I share here often...... I didn't wake up one morning and feel that life was so good that a nightly AA meeting would make it even better. But I thank God every day that those meetings are freely available to anyone who wants recovery.

Welcome to SR sever, I hope you find your path in recovery.

sailorjohn

No flaw there, just something we alcoholics do, hang with other alcoholics, most of us try to hang with the folks that we think drink even more than we do. So naturally, everyone we know will "flunk" the test also. In any event,


WELCOME

miss communicat

Hi Sever and Welcome

As you are in the process of deciding whether or not you are alcoholic, you have come to the right place. Read up, especially the "sticky" posts (permanent ones) at the top portion of this page.
Personally, I am so glad that I KNOW I am an alcoholic today. That way, I know what to do about it. I remember how confused I felt before coming to this conclusion, and it was exhausting! I understand how you feel.
I hope you keep searching inside yourself as to what yardstick you are using to measure the ways alcohol is affecting your life, that you say are not negative. For me, not being able to sleep without alcohol would be negative.

But its a very personal decision, and only you can come to the right decision for you. I noticed you said that others have suggested drinking is a problem for you. Did they give examples of why they say that?


Keep us in your process. Thanks!

CarolD

You are not overstepping our Forum bounderies.

We are here to share with anyone who asks questions
or is having problems with drinking.

Welcome to our SR Alcoholism Forum...

RufusACanal

Welcome sever! Appreciate your post. How many folks do you imagine are concerned about their drinking of say, Orange Juice to the point that they seek out a website to ask questions about it? I loved drinking and I loved the effect. I loved it so much I was willing to give away everything in time, regardless of the consequenses. How many folks who drink search out information about their drinking; unless the drinking is an issue? You are in the right place to have your questions answered if drinking is an issue. Best to you!