What worked for me...
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Texas
Posts: 91
Andreas,
The reasons for drinking you listed are some of the reasons people drink - not just alcoholics but normal people as well. The thing with the alcoholic is they can't stop drinking once they start. They escalate and want to drink for all kinds of other reasons. They want to drink all the time. They drink even though it causes them pain and consequences.
I'm not sure people without addiction can understand this fully.
It's not that we aren't logical... it's not that we can't see that drinking is the source of our problems and that we should quit. There is something deeper to addiction than that. There's something going on in an addict's brain that causes them to behave this way.
I was watching this show on TV the other day about this british teenager who weighs almost 500 pounds. She said when she starts eating she can't stop. She knows it is only hurting her to eat so much but at the time she doesn't care. Afterwards, she is ashamed and she hates herself.
This got me thinking... I have a sweet tooth. I keep little fun size chocolate candies around the house. Every few days I'll get a craving and I'll have a couple, then I'll stop. I don't continue to eat them even though they are SO good and I love the way they taste. I quit after 2 because I don't want to consume that much sugar or calories. I like to watch my weight. I don't have a problem with this.
I guess that's what normal drinkers do... they drink a couple and then they quit because the consequences of continuing to drink are not appealing. They don't want to get sloppy. They have to drive home. They have to go to work tomorrow. etc.
It's not that these things aren't issues for me as well... but with alcohol, I don't care about the consequences at the time. I am crazed and I just want to consume, consume, consume. I guess that's the way that girl feels about food... she just doesn't care at the time she is eating... there's some trigger in her brain that turns her on her compulsive addiction.
The reasons for drinking you listed are some of the reasons people drink - not just alcoholics but normal people as well. The thing with the alcoholic is they can't stop drinking once they start. They escalate and want to drink for all kinds of other reasons. They want to drink all the time. They drink even though it causes them pain and consequences.
I'm not sure people without addiction can understand this fully.
It's not that we aren't logical... it's not that we can't see that drinking is the source of our problems and that we should quit. There is something deeper to addiction than that. There's something going on in an addict's brain that causes them to behave this way.
I was watching this show on TV the other day about this british teenager who weighs almost 500 pounds. She said when she starts eating she can't stop. She knows it is only hurting her to eat so much but at the time she doesn't care. Afterwards, she is ashamed and she hates herself.
This got me thinking... I have a sweet tooth. I keep little fun size chocolate candies around the house. Every few days I'll get a craving and I'll have a couple, then I'll stop. I don't continue to eat them even though they are SO good and I love the way they taste. I quit after 2 because I don't want to consume that much sugar or calories. I like to watch my weight. I don't have a problem with this.
I guess that's what normal drinkers do... they drink a couple and then they quit because the consequences of continuing to drink are not appealing. They don't want to get sloppy. They have to drive home. They have to go to work tomorrow. etc.
It's not that these things aren't issues for me as well... but with alcohol, I don't care about the consequences at the time. I am crazed and I just want to consume, consume, consume. I guess that's the way that girl feels about food... she just doesn't care at the time she is eating... there's some trigger in her brain that turns her on her compulsive addiction.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 34
I am so sorry for you, LBW... You explained it all so realistically, and you are absolutely right about how it works. It really is some sort of distorted chemistry inside the brain that makes the person drink even when he or she suffers from it badly. As for my words about harmony in the world, they are more correct if we talk about the initial period of developing addiction, when the person feels that the things around lack some "zip" but cannot understand what fun he needs. Then one day he/she takes a drink (usually with friends), and suddenly, everything is changed, the world around gets more vivid, bright, easy-going. This feeling gets stuck in mind, and you want to reproduce it again and again. At this stage it is not so bad all in all, and you are able to stop. But then... Time comes when you cannot return to the point where you started.
And you are right, there are people with inborn craving for alcohol. If they had not tried it nothing would have gone wrong with their lives. But they had. And now there is that trigger...
I think at this stage, distorted chemistry inside the system can only be fixed with some kind of chemistry from outside. I mean medical treatment and medicines that reduce craving. Perhaps, this is the only way out.
And you are right, there are people with inborn craving for alcohol. If they had not tried it nothing would have gone wrong with their lives. But they had. And now there is that trigger...
I think at this stage, distorted chemistry inside the system can only be fixed with some kind of chemistry from outside. I mean medical treatment and medicines that reduce craving. Perhaps, this is the only way out.
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