Moderation Drinking Websites
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Join Date: Jun 2011
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Originally Posted by onlythetruth 
There are absolutely people who have had drinking problems who are able to moderate.
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Join Date: Nov 2011
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Originally Posted by onlythetruth
Why do we assume that people who go to MM are "alcoholics in denial"? There are absolutely people who have had drinking problems who are able to moderate. My gracious, there are threads galore on this very site where folks decry the presence of people who aren't "real" alcoholics at certain recovery meetings!
Personally, I see no reason why people who are able to moderate their drinking should not have a support group to assist them in their goal.
I actually tried MM, and have nothing but good to say about it. Not because it helped me, but because it didn't. I could NOT DO what they asked, which helped me to see that, for me, moderation was not an appropriate way to address my drinking. I found this helpful, and I've never seen it as a reason to conclude that the group should be disbanded or that it could not be helpful to someone who was able to moderate.
Personally, I see no reason why people who are able to moderate their drinking should not have a support group to assist them in their goal.
I actually tried MM, and have nothing but good to say about it. Not because it helped me, but because it didn't. I could NOT DO what they asked, which helped me to see that, for me, moderation was not an appropriate way to address my drinking. I found this helpful, and I've never seen it as a reason to conclude that the group should be disbanded or that it could not be helpful to someone who was able to moderate.
I did the same thing as OTT with my attempt at moderation. I reviewed other people's drinking behavior they had tracked and some were only at 1-3 drinks a week...I doubt it's possible to have a serious addiction problem at that level. Then there were others who were hitting 11 drinks a night and not reducing, those were probably more likely to be the addicts. When I tried it, I failed completely at moderating my drinking and that was a sure sign I needed to give it up entirely.
There are some people who have drinking related problems but aren't addicts. I think my brother is one. He got a DUI at a relatively high blood alcohol content, he quit drinking for a year as self-punishment and has now gone back to it as a drink or two on rare special occasions. I think there is a vague point where you can be a problem drinker and want to cut back, yet not be an addict.
Though moderation management may be a moronic thing to attempt if you obviously need to quit drinking, it can also be very good at helping you convince yourself whether or not it's time to say goodbye to the poison.
....books that try to talk addicts into moderation though are dangerous though. I agree with TU there. It seems like MM is aimed at anyone and those books are aimed at people with serious dependency issues for which moderation is an invitation to further problems. I used to agree with most of the opinions on South Park once. Then one time they had an episode on "alcoholism" and in the end they said that the alcoholic dad didn't need to go around saying he was diseased, but that he just needed to learn to control his drinking...as if all of those silly alcohol-addicts just needed some self-control...that actually messed with me for awhile. lol
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I'm always careful not to universalise my experience.
Regardless of my personal history or personal opinion on moderation, sites like those mentioned obviously do help some - they have their adherents.
I'm not convinced it's the best use of this website to be critiquing or criticizing other websites tho, so I think it's time to move on....
There's lots of other threads and lots of newcomers to help
D
Regardless of my personal history or personal opinion on moderation, sites like those mentioned obviously do help some - they have their adherents.
I'm not convinced it's the best use of this website to be critiquing or criticizing other websites tho, so I think it's time to move on....
There's lots of other threads and lots of newcomers to help
D
Last edited by Dee74; 12-21-2011 at 02:27 PM. Reason: closed under rule 2
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