ForwardMotion

I do. I was about 20/21, and had gotten into a habit of drinking a (this is gross) 40oz of malt liquor a day. For whatever reason, one night I didn't get one not thinking it would be a big deal....I remember feeling distressed and anxious because I didn't get the beer. I couldn't sleep and and craved it. As I lay there trying to sleep, it dawned on me that it could be a problem. I think about that moment a lot, it was so clear to me then that I had an issue. That was ten years ago, I'm glad I didn't go farther down the path than I already have...but I could have saved a decade of trouble if I would have listened to the warning bells going off in my head then.

Soberpotamus

I was 19 and my roommate, friends, and the guy I was dating all commented about my alcohol consumption. I was also taking Xanax with it. I'd had to drop out of school for a semester previously due to anxiety and panic attacks... the alcohol and Xanax (I had a script, it wasn't illegal) were "helping" me get through school. I was determined to finish college, and also had social anxiety. It developed from there... my addiction to it happened quickly and I do think Xanax had a lot to do with that.

Englishrose70

The earliest I would allow myself to pour a glass of wine was midday. The witching hour. I remember one day looking at the clock, it was 11am, I spent the next hour filling time with the only thought of going to the fridge at midday.

Problem!

CarolD

Not really....I was totally cool with the way my life was working out.
I never knew which drink on what day slid me into situational depression directly attributed to alcohol according to my doctor.

All my fun bottles had been empty for the past 5 years I drank.
when I kept drinking despite that....I knew I was now an active alcoholic.
It had nothing to do with external circumstances and I still appeared fine on the outside.

Anyway...that is when my doctor said...abstain and find a local AA meeting.
I did and it was the wisest committment I've ever made...

PaleMale

I was cursing myself out in front of the mirror. Calling myself terrible names, setting the stage to put myself down (in the grave). I then realized I was saying a lot of words with alcohol in them. "****ing no good drunk" " You're just a stupid drunk" blah blah blah. I realized then that drinking was not doing anything it used to or was supposed to.

Took me a year or 2 more of drunkenly pouring wine down the drain, breaking wine glasses, throwing cork screws in the garbage, and putting empties in the neighbors bin before I really realized the game I was playing was for my life!

ForwardMotion

Thanks for the responses y'all. Can't go back and change the past, but it's amazing at how long I knew I had a problem and kept on drinking anyway. I guess I hoped it would solve itself or that I was wrong. To anyone lurking, wondering if you too have an alcohol problem....generally, if you suspect you might, you probably do. Save yourself a lot of heartache and get help now....and save yourself many wasted years.

SindyLuhu

I realized it was a problem when I drank wine for the buzz—not the taste—and I threw the cork out once I opened the bottle.

bblackbirdflyy

I realized it was a problem the first time when my friends did not want to hang with me anymore. When I gained back all of the weight I lost after high school.

The second time. My husband told me. It contributed to the downfall of our relationship. Oh and I gained all of the weight I lost after I quit drinking the first time.

rws177

I have a few distinct moments in mind but like others have said when my “hardcore” drinking buddies said I drink too much it was an eye opener.

I'm just glad those conversations no longer exist

sugarbear1

Outpatient at 25. Told them it was the cocaine. He said i might be an alcoholic and i said it was not the alcohol that was a problem.

I went an aa meeting and didn't compare in. I had Not Yet done those things.

I was in denial (including all those other lengths of dry time) until May 16, 2011.

Now i can change. I surrendered, accepted and admitted. Today i am proud to be a member ooof aa

NYCDoglvr

When I had my first blackout at the age of 23. It didn't affect my downward spiral however.

RaiseAnchor

There wasn't just one moment, many moments. The stories friends, and my partner would tell me about how drunk I was that one time. The fights with my family. The fighting with myself, and the feeling of being disgusting. The regrets, the constant relapsing after feeling as if I had come to a breakthrough.
It took me a long time, and a lot of patience within impatience to come to make any headway toward will power.

loveon2legs

Well, Before...my dui there were warning signs all over the place....blackouts, missing work, fighting with my boyfriend, and me trying to "control" my drinking....drinking light beer, switching to wine, switching to palm bays...etc....didn't work....I had to learn my lesson the hard way....

Boleo

When the local Liquor store put up a sign that said "Limit empty bottles $10" LOL!

Muunray

I don't know. A big part of it was realizing I was organizing my daily activities and appointments around my drinking and my hangovers. And I was drinking a 5th of vodka like it was water..and wanting more.
Took almost 30 years...

Jabbadabutt

My first drink when i was a young lad. Oh yeah...looking back I think this first drink was the moment. I liked it too much. I wanted to feel that way all the time right out of the gate.

babycat

When I started to black out every Friday and Saturday night. Never thought stopping when I wanted to would be so hard tho.

TwelveSteps

I had my suspicions previously, but the real eye-opener was when I got into a fender-bender (sober) and due to some mistakes in ordering the wrong part, my car was in the shop for a month. Therefore I could only buy at the grocery store the amount I could carry 4 blocks home. Whereas I used to go to Trader Joe's and buy a box of two-buck chuck once a week or so, now I was having to go to the store and buy two bottles of wine (all I could carry)... and by the next day, they'd be gone, and I'd have to go back. I started planning my life around getting to the store each day before they closed. If I thought I was not going to be able to go get my wine that night, I started feeling panicky. That was really the moment of truth for me.

This followed several attempts over the prior year where I had tried to stop drinking for 30 days, then 2 weeks, then a week, and I was never able to make it more than a few days each time -- so obviously I'd been giving it some thought prior to this!

GG

Latte

When the school called me to pick up my daughter and I had to wait until I sobered up.

I'm so grateful I don't have to worry about that anymore.

BASEjumper

Probably when I was in college, going to buy cheap malt liquor and realizing I didn't really want it tonight, but buying it anyway and getting drunk. But so many signs were there earlier, stealing liquor from friends and neighbors houses, drinking truly huge quantities even at 14 or 15 years old. In retrospect it seems impossible not to have noticed it earlier