seedless247

Yes sad I know, by reading the title your probably thinking, wow 17 and already is an alcoholic !!?!? Hard to believe I know but... My dad is a coke addict / alcoholic. My Mother is a recovering alcoholic , and can talk to me about anything... more than my friends or girlfriend can. I still am lost and confused in my life.... and I use alcohol to numb the pain on a DAILY basis... unfortunately. I am very intellectual but lack an extreme amount of common sense. For the record I am not trying to achieve sympathy from anyone... I just need help and don't want to go to AA as you can imagine at 17 , it is quite an embarrassment , so I'm trying to get help in different ways. I have ALLOT of potential , and everyone tells me this , yet..... I still drink , and even when I tell people I'm goign to stop.... scratch that.... Even when I tell myself I am going to stop , I just cant because I have begun to realize alcohol takes me away from the pain of reality..... Call me a ***** , call me what you want I dont give a ****!!! I have a problem and am only looking for help

Sincerely,
James

Lenina

Welcome, seedless!

I'm glad you're looking for answers. If AA isn't for you, have you checked out any other recovery programs? I use a mix of AA and Rational Recovery.

You'll find lots of support here! Lots of great people of all ages.

Love,

Lenina

ANGELINA243

Welcome James! Glad you are here. You are not alone.

Dee74

Hi James

Believe it or not you're not the first young member of SR.
You'll find a lot of help and support here.

I also urge you to get some real life help tho - have you considered alateen?

Al-Anon/Alateen

I hope we can help you find out what you need to do
Keep posting

D

2ndGen

Where do you get the booze? Sounds like you have a good shot of quiting early, just give it a try. In any event don't ramp up your intake that's going to put you on a spiral.

yeahgr8

The word alcoholic was first used by me at 17 too:-) No way i would have gone to AA or the like either back then, took till 38 to finally do something about it, fun times!

Welcome to SR...

Sikkisirus

Welcome to SR James

Believe808

Wow, If I had been able to recognize that I was out of control at 17 and save myself all the horrors that my addiction brought down on me and those who loved me. All I can say is there are so many young kids at my AA meetings and I love seeing each and every one of them working on their sobriety.

Valleyd

Hi James and welcome.

By the time I was your age, I was already into a full-blown addiction. Sneaking booze and drinking on a daily basis was a thing of the past. There is help for people your age, I see you live in San Diego. There are outpatient programs for teens in little old Delaware so I am sure they have 'em out there. You might want to give that a try before things get worse for you. If your parents are alcoholics/addicts you already know what direction you are headed for if you don't do something about it.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Nevertheless

Hello James
My first trip back to AA after a 20 year break, I sat down and was talking to some of the people there. And then an 18 year old rapped on the table. (welcome to so&so, this is a closed meeting of alcoholics anonymous).
Yes, he was leading the meeting. He had been clean maybe 9 months. He chaired meetings for the first couple months I went back. He was probably the most honest person there, and he had some stories. He quit leading meetings because of a new job. I havn't seen him in a while, but I'm sure he is still clean. He didn't let age stand in the way. He acted as if he owned the place.
Everyone there always had great respect for him for figuring out his problem at such an early age. And from his stories he would have been in jail by age 21.
I'm just saying age really doesn't matter. This disease (like other diseases)can hit anyone that drinks.
Fred

Wolfchild

Sugah

I mark the start of my active alcoholism at age 9, when I had regular access to alcohol (and never missed a chance to drink). I didn't get sober until I was 34. Most people don't live through 25 years of drinking the way I did. Don't let embarrassment keep you from an AA meeting. We won't embarrass you, and if you want to quit drinking, you'll soon overcome any you feel yourself.

Peace & Love,
Sugah

Sugah

P.S. Alateen is for friends and family of alcoholics -- it's not "AA Junior."

Pagekeeper

I was most certainly an alcoholic by age 17. Alcoholism doesn't care how old you are. If you've got "it" then you just do.

I have a good friend in sobriety who got sober at age 18. She's been sober for 9 years now. I know another woman who got sober at 17 and she's been sober for 11 years. And another who got sober at 16 and now has over 30 years.

Look for a young people's group in your area. I think you'll find many people just like you.

LBW

It is very wise of you to figure this out at a young age. You have your whole life in front of you... alcoholism is a good way to get off to a very miserable start.

What ever you do, don't escalate! If you know you have addiction problems, DO NOT ever experiment with drugs or cigarettes, because garuanteed you will get addicted to them too and that will increase your problems ten fold.

Have you thought about asking your mom for help? She might be able to get you into a rehab.

TheSunAlsoRises

Wow man, impressive. I am 21 and came into recovery for the first time at 20. I have about 5.5 months now. It would have made my life a lot easier to stop at 17 but I had to go through what I had to go through to reach out. You say your mother is a close confident and in recovery... well there you go man. What a blessing... I'm sure she would love to help you through this journey... Most people think i'm bright for having sought help so early, but your obviously a protegee of sobriety! Best of luck--The sober life is so much better than the numb life.

Bamboozle

Hey, James. Welcome to SR.

mirage

Welcome to SR, James! It's great you're able to see things clearly at 17. When I was 17, I just thought I was havin good times...I had no window to the future. I was just thinking last night how I got a fifth of JD from a friend for my 16th bday. I think I'm just starting to realize how much drinking I've done through the years. I'm happy for you that you want to get help now and not later.

This is a great place to start...you'll get lots of good advice here!

caleb76

FYI, there are younger people in my home group that are 18. I think they started when they were 17, maybe even 16.

Every old fart in the meetings was 17 once. They haven't forgotten what they thought and what they did when they were your age.

Give it a try, you might be surprised.

seedless247

Thank you all , I appreciate all your support and input. I never realized how many people become addicted to that horrible liquid at such an early age. I guess I am pretty fortunate to discover the dangers of drinking at such a young age. I'm not saying it's good thing I'm drinking to learn things , but it has certainly given me a glimpse of what could be if I don't stop now. It's hard though.... I'm sure all of you understand the hardship of stopping as I do... Drinking makes me feel away from the pain and sorrow , but in the long run it's messing me up guys! I wish this demon juice was never created.....