PKTSiem

So my Mom and Wife believe I have a drinking problem, but I don't think I do. So I got on the internet to search for some answers and this website seemed helpful. He is my problem.

When we go out to drink, I tend to go over board and drink til I black out. This does not happen all the time, but it is not the first time it's happened. I just don't know how to cut myself off and then the next day I wake up not knowing what happened and my wife upset with me. When I was in college (which was about 3 yrs ago) this type of drinking would happen at least twice a month. But I don't ever go during the day feeling like I need a drink. I have gone over a month without a drink and have been fine. But when we go to parties, I just drink like there is no tomorrow and black out. This last incident when this happened, my friends and her friends felt like I did nothing wrong, but I wake up to my wife upset with me (which has happened before). I think what my problem is when we go out and I just drink beer I feel like it is not getting the job done for me. So then I start drinking whiskey and coke, then I start feeling good and everything is going fine but then I tend to black out. Sometimes I act ok, and sometimes I act like a fool.

But this past incident, my Mom got involved and she thinks I have a serious drinking problem because my wife informed he of all the past incidents including college. My Mom said that my Grandpa and her 3 brothers have had problems with alcohol, but as a kid being around it I never really noticed a problem. Now my Mom is afriad that the same thing is going to happen to me. I have a 5 month old son and I don't want this to happen to him and I don't ever want him to see me drunk. So maybe I do have a problem and I just don't realize it. I don't ever get craving to have a drink like some ppl I know. It just seems that when we go to parties or gatherings such as a wedding I drink too much. I know that there have been several times when ppl have asked me to get up and dance but I tell them no bc I am not drunk enough yet. But when I do get drunk enough I don't leave the dance floor (lol) and then later on not remembering what all happened. I don't know, I guess I am just looking for answers from ppl that dealt with this kind of thing.

Thanks

sev

Hello Pkt. Only you can decide if you have a problem. I can say that blackout drinking is not normal. I have yet to meet a normal drinker who blacks out. I can say for myself that I used to drink into black out sometimes. What's scarier is when I'd figure out that I had driven in a black out, and put many innocent lives at risk because I also wanted to drink like there is no tomorrow. I wish I could say that my kids never saw me drunk. Unfortunately, it was a reality for them seven days a week for many years. I am thankful today that they remember more what it is like for me to be sober than for me to be drunk.

The quantity or frequencey of the drink is not what determines whether we are alcoholic or not. It is what the alcohol does to us.

Hang around here for a while. Read what people here say about their experiences. See if you can find any similarities. Good luck to you.

Dee74

Hi PKTSiem


Welcome to SR...

I'm afraid I think your wife and your mother may be onto something.

This - the lack of control in stopping, the blackouts - suggests alcoholic behaviour to me.

In my experience, a lot of us with drinking problems do not drink daily. I started off not drinking daily myself - but drinking alcoholically whenever I did drink.

Craving a high level of intoxication, or oblivion, is also a red flag IMO.

There are a lot of red flags in your post, for me, PKT. Have you tried an online test?

Michigan Alcohol Screening Test (MAST), Revised

They're not conclusive by any means but, if you do them honestly, they may help you to see your drinking in the proper light.

D