dawnie24

my positives are, socialable - my negatives are, hangover, paranoia, depressed, anxtiety, lack of concentration.

BHF

My positives ended long ago. I crossed the line from a social drinker (if I ever was one) into problem drinker, then alcoholic. Eventually, I was a just drunk who went to bars to drink with strangers because I didn't want anyone who I knew to know I was drinking. It did still provide that quick moment of relief/escape, but the consequences soon outweighed that.

I make a conscious effort not to ponder too long on the part of my life when alcohol served a beneficial purpose because I know for a fact that I can never go back there again. I can drink again if I choose, but it will never work out o.k. if I choose to do so.

justhadenough

the only positive was that it was a source of pleasure-I loved it. but now I want to be sober more than I want to drink. I used to think it made me more sociable-now I realize that it just made me act like a prat

BlueMoon

positive:
i really can’t think of any

negative:
hangover: headache, dry heaves, vomiting, muscle aches, dizziness, nausea, fatigue,
inability to speak coherently, inability to walk, embarrassment, loss of consciousness, blackouts, remorse, worse depression, worse anxiety, hitting people, hitting things, injuries of unknown origin, loss of self esteem, waking up in unknown places with men i didn’t know, job loss, home loss, loss of custoday of son

Blue

jc76

Positives- it was lots of fun to go out with friends and party. It was like my reward for working hard all week. It was a release and really was fun. The Negatives- alcohol seeped into my daily life and over time I let it bring me to rock bottom. I always say "I let it" because I do not hate alcohol and I don't bash on it. Hell if anything I love alcohol, unfortunately I'm "allergic" to it now.

TheJungianThing

My positives were.

I came to know a new freedom and a new happiness.
I did not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.
I comprehended the word serenity and I knew inner peace.
No matter how far down the scale I had gone, I could see how my opinion would benefit others.
That feeling of uselessness and self pity became bearable and enjoyable.
I lost interest in correcting my own faults and became obsessed with yours.
Concsiousness would slip away.
My whole attitude and outlook upon life would change.
Fear of people and of economic insecurity left me.
I intuitively knew how to handle situations which used to baffle me. Another drink.
I suddenly realized that alcohol was doing for me what I could not do for myself.
It tasted good and felt good.

Negatives

Cost a lot of money, not just for the alcohol but for the consequences of drinking.
Couldn't control it. It dominated my life. Couldn't stop no matter the wish or desire.
My health, mental and physical was deteroriating.
When I wasn't drinking I was in a dark place.
When I was drinking I went to dark places.
I abandoned my values, my principles, my family, my hopes, and clung only to alcohol.
Advertisements brainwashed me into thinking alcohol was the only way.
Convinced that I wasn't a REAL man if I didn't drink - like a REAL man.
Actually increases the level of estrogen and lower the amount of testosterene in effect turning me into a bitch. Alcohol's bitch.
I was going to wind up in prison and potentiall become someone's real bitch.
Or I was going to die passed out in my own vomit or - sleep apnea type - stop breathing.

hirsty

I'm glad this thread has popped up, as it lead me to find a piece of paper i wrote with pros and cons before i decided to get sober 4 months ago..

The list is as follows:--

Pros

• It's social (i live on my own so helps to make friends,, although it never stopped me when i didnt live alone)
• love the taste
• get involved in situations i never thought i'd do
• feel confident talking to girls
• euphoric.. never felt a better rush off any other drug really
• met people i didnt think i would meet
• feel involved in a "community"
• music "seems" better
• makes me "happy"
• looking back at photos of nights out i look so happy

Cons

• being sick every morning
• alienating friends
• being hungover in work
• seeing my bleary eyes in the mirror every morning
• pains in my liver
• getting so drunk i cry about my problems
• not eating for days on end because i can't stomach food
• getting the shakes to the point i cant write properly
• hallucinating to the point where it hurts my eyes to see people wearing striped clothing
• constantly thinking about alcohol and the pub
• rationalising eating food etc so i can buy more alcohol
• losing "the love of my life"
• blackouts and not remembering what i did the night before until i read my txt messages
• getting involved in mad and illegal situations which could get me fired from my job
• speding £100's every month on alcohol
• avoiding spending decent social contact with good friends so i can drink
• secret drinking
• clearing away 10's of empty beer cans and bottles from my room every week
• happy to drink on my own,, often preferred it
• spending loads of money on other crazy purchases whilst under the influence
• suicidal thoughts
• home such a mess beccause i cant be bothered cleaning
• i KNOW this is going to kill me
• injuring myself
• losing driving license

BullDog777

if i'm really honest about it....

positive- anything typed here is an out and out lie any way it's spun. there's nothing positive about killing yourself and hurting your family.

negatives-it kills everything in it's path. however the storm starts, it always ends in a category 5 tornado with no survivors. just give it time.

BrandNewDay11

Positives:

* Gave me a rush as a buzz kicked in; though it would only last a half hour or so (till drunk kicked in), it was euphoric and extremely pleasurable in my brain
* My shyness and social anxiety went away
* Sometimes made me more creative
* Allowed me to escape reality

Negatives:

* Unbearable hangovers that caused me to miss obligations
* Irritated (or caused?) my gastric reflux & gastritis issues
* I couldn't stop at one or two drinks and had no control once I started
* I said and did stupid things I regretted/made an ass out of myself when I drank at parties
* I said and did stupid things I regretted on the internet when I drank alone at home
* I began to avoid/pass healthy activities/outings/social gatherings that didn't involve drinking so I could drink alone
* Lowered my self esteem
* Caused me to gain a ton of weight due to oblivious eating during blackouts
* Caused marital problems as my spouse became tired of seeing me drunk, tired of me forgetting conversations we had while drunk, and witnessing my debilitating hangovers.
* Caused me to miss quality time with my kids nights that I shut myself off with booze and music
* Endangered my life/the life of others on times that I drank and drove
* Wasted tons of money on alcohol
* Caused me to miss out on life all those times where I retreated to the "party in my head".

FlyerFan

Couldn't have said it better myself. The positives are only temporary and eventually turn into all negative things and will ruin your life slowly but surely.

lovetodrink

wow I could really relate to some of your lists, I have a ton of positives, but even more negatives myself.

TheOjibway84

lol haven't answered a question like this before. Kind of hard to list positives after all.... most of the time I drank was negative stuff.

Positives were, very social, went out every Wednesday Nights to play pool and be social, Always having a fun time with friends and staying up the wee hours in the morning talking while drinking.

Negatives: Hang Overs, Dizziness, vomiting, fights, police contacted, me contacting police and the one who gets in trouble for being too drunk when they arrived, waking up in a hospital after being beaten by a "friend", hurting my family, breaking promises, missing work, started to drink during the morning and all day, escorted out of bars by staff, obsession for more alcohol when I couldn't buy it because I needed to pay rent and buy groceries, depression, anxiety, not bathing because too drunk and not really caring, detox centers. started to drink 4 hours before my shift then not showing up because I "forgot" because being way too drunk to remember. THE list could go on.

So clearly you see more negatives then positives and the positives were more likely earlier in my drinking career before I was out of hand.

So today and for today only, I do not pick up a drink. I'm sobered for almost 6 months soon and things have been great, I'm happy I don;t have to deal with being hungover or sick or missing work or trying to figure out how to explain myself to my sponsor and my family.

OH, 1 negative I forgot to mention was Major Withdrawals after 4 day binge almost 6 months ago. The withdrawals started to show more often and I was really just wanting a hangover, crazy eh when you are in so much pain when you wake up the next morning, legs and feet cramping so much you can't stand and walk and your begging for just a hangover. So happy now lol

Fosters101

This is one of my favorite questions to ask myself. Here are my answers...

Positives:

Outgoing socially. I've never really need the booze to be outgoing, but when I'm buzzed: I'm positive genius.

Creativity. After six or 10 beers, I experience melodies, harmonies, and chord progressions run through my head without trying. I couldn't dream this **** up when I'm sober. I've also written quite a few reports at work, and even drafted legislation, while buzzed. It's inspirational; if it wasn't, we wouldn't drink, right? It's the aftermath that is hell.

Negatives:
Faint. Hungover. Constantly.
Perpetual malaise. Naps are insatiable. I drink: I sleep. I'm not a "sleeper." It's nonproductive.
Diet. I don't eat when I drink. I have to eat to survive. Beer doesn't cut it.

All in all, the positives do NOT outweigh the negatives.

soberlicious

There are no positives and the negatives are too numerous for me to list.

LaFemme

Since getting sober, I have come to realize that absolutely no one improves with the addition of alcohol, myself included.

MustStop

Positives
- Loved listening to music when boozed up
- Gave a false sense of euphoria
- Gave a false sense of future achievement "i'll do this, that, itll be awesome"
- I'd dance only when drunk
- Filled hours of boredom

Negatives
- The hangovers, my god.
- Laziness, lay in bed all day hungover and lie to people why I couldnt meet them
- All the hurt it caused my loved ones, not just the crap you blurt out, all my actions ^
- Poor work performance, worried more about hiding a bad hangover than actually working
- Complacency, I stayed at a job that I despised for over 2 years, could have been job hunting, but opted to drink instead.
- Room was a mess, not decorated, dusty, unorganized etc
- Laundry was always a chore, hated to interrupt a good buzz
- Lost a girl that I loved 100% because of alcohol
- Dealing with the hundreds of empties that piled up week after week
- Not remembering anything while drunk for the last 11 years
- Posting stupid stuff online while wasted
- The money I wasted on beer, bars, cabs etc
- Sore and itchy liver
- Messed up sleeping hours / schedule
- Almost breaking a hip when I fell off the deck at our cottage and landed on a bunch of boulders while blacked out (on an island, at 3am no less)
- Much, Much more

thisisme

I think listing any positives is regards to alcohol is irresponsible.
There are none.

BrandNewDay11

If there were no positives, nobody would ever start

RobbyRobot

I wonder.

I suppose it really comes down to how we look at alcohol, alcoholism, sobriety, ourselves and other people.

In the years of my active drinking alcoholically, when I was really wanting to just drink my life away, was alcohol being positive?

I started drinking at 12 years old. What is positive about that? By 15 I was already done for with alcoholism, and things being what they were back then, I just drank even more. Nothing positive there...

At 18 I'm really trying to quit because it looks like I'm gonna die as a washed up drunk. I'm waking up in ditches. I'm blacking out. I'm mentally and emotionally disturbed to say the least. Eventually I wake up in a jail cell. Nice. Later on I am suicidal and check myself into a mental hospital. Things go from bad to worse when they dont want to release me.

Positive experiences with alcohol? No, not me. I had tons of positive delusions and fake positives, you know?

As for the idea that within my madness and foolishness there was some positive effects, that is like saying Alice had positive effects down the rabbit hole and into wonderland.

However, I do agree its really an individual experience when we talk about what is positive. Or not.

RobbyRobot

Ain't it the sad real truth.