BackToSquareOne

Think about how a con man operates. He makes you think you're getting one hell of a deal while he robs you blind. Once the carcass has been picked clean he moves on to the next mark. That's kind of how alcohol works its magic.

soberlicious

Cool. Can you reference the sites or periodicals where I can find said documentation? I look forward to reading it.

.
Yea, I guess you're right...it was a lot more fun to be drunk and high than listen to my mom get beaten or to realize that I was already the town wh*re at age 12. Party on...are we havin' fun yet?

"Everyone" is a broad term. I do not think it is fun, and even when I thought it was when I was drinking, it was all just a false reality. I do not drink and it is not a "sacrifice" in any way.

blackstrat6

"If you could drink without any health consequences would you? "

There was a time we all could, and look where that got us?

DayTrader

I felt that way for a while too......and I believed it to just be alcoholism "talking to me" trying to get to make one more run at it in the hope that there would be no consequences. The REALITY is there WILL be consequences so hypothetical scenarios don't serve any good purpose. Playing the "what if" game with an alcoholic drinking again doesn't make much sense to me. I'm happy and content in sobriety and have no reason to dream up reasons to go back to the old way of living ever again.

As Dee said......the physical consequences were only part of the price I paid for my drinking. That other stuff he mentioned was the real butt-kicker for me.

Terminally Unique

I had to quit drinking in spite of it feeling good, because, while it no longer felt very good by the time I quit, here's how my twisted head talk would sound:

I: Boy, drinking sure doesn't feel very good these days. I think I'll stop drinking.

(some time goes by)

AV: We need a drink.

I: Drinking doesn't feel good anymore, it won't be worth it.

AV: Well, that was back then when you swore off. You've been sober for 'X' days now, though. Surely it will fell good now that you've gotten healthy again.

I: It has a point.

(GLUG GLUG GLUG)

Actually, now that I think about it, this entire discussion about whether one would drink again if it were fun or if it wasn't unhealthy is pristine Addictive Voice. Would make for a nice addendum on the AVRT thread.

ReadyAndAble

No, I wouldn't, and I can prove it. Because while alcohol was my drug of choice, I used to love smoking weed just as much. If I wanted to, I could obtain a state medical marijuana permit tomorrow that would allow me to legally buy pot, including pills and other edibles (they have weed lollipops at the dispensaries, if you can believe that). Zero health risks when ingested that way. I wouldn't even need to lie to get a prescription because—get this—alcoholism is one of the qualifying conditions.

But here I am, with a jar full of 100% weed-free candy in the kitchen.

langkah

Even if I were to experience no health consequences at all from drinking you still wouldn't want me drunk and behind you walking in the dark.

rws177

There are lots of things in life I'd probably do if there were no consequences, but there are so I don't do things that will get me in trouble and drinking is at the top of that list.

Terminally Unique

You gotta be flippin' kiddin' me.

BackToSquareOne

Can the addictive voice override reality, (your personal reality). If you knew someone was a con artist trying to sell you the brooklyn bridge would you bite?

Terminally Unique

The AV can certainly shape your reality if you are not aware of it. Regardless, though, my personal reality is that drinking does have its benefits, however primal, banal, short-lived, and ultimately very expensive they may be. Drinking once made me feel good all over, from head to toe. It was better than sex.

To not acknowledge this is folly, and accounts for the many re-treads amongst those who try to scare themselves sober by reminding themselves that 'it doesn't feel good anymore' or that 'it isn't fun anymore'. It may not be that way now, but it sure was at some point, and your addiction isn't likely to forget that.

BackToSquareOne

TU, I get what you're saying, that from a moral point of view you know it's wrong so you just don't drink anymore. That's the beginning and the end of the story for you. From a mindfulness perspective I know it's a big lie, a con, so the addictive voice is stopped before it gets to ask the question.

BackToSquareOne

On the flip side you would have to ask if the pursuit of pleasure is morally wrong. I say no, so if I viewed drinking as a source of pleasure then it would be the thing to do. I don't see it as a source of pleasure so it's not an issue.

Terminally Unique

Perhaps not all pleasures, but the pursuit of certain pleasures absolutely is. I'm sure that more than one red-blooded male wants to sleep with the neighbor's wife. It certainly might be pleasurable for a couple hours, in the simplest sense of the word, but does that make it 'the thing to do', though?

BackToSquareOne

True, but certain conduct is beyond the realm of acceptable pleasure because it's morally wrong. Applying that logic to drinking only works because you know the consequences, for you. If you could drink within reason then it would not be morally wrong. You can't sleep with your neighbors wife "within reason" so that's always wrong.

ReadyAndAble

Well, keep in mind that there are doctors who occasionally prescribe marijuana when they feel there's a genuine medical benefit... and then there are doctors who do nothing but prescribe marijuana. That's literally the sole focus of their practice. You walk in, pay about $50, they take your blood pressure, and then ask you what the problem is. Someone I knew went to one of those docs, and told me there was a form that listed (suggested?) a variety of conditions, including fairly innocuous stuff, like low appetite or sleeplessness. And yeah, alcoholism was on the list.

Makes you wonder if somewhere out there, another doctor is telling a heroin addict to relax and have a few drinks...

Peter G

If I ever hear this story become a regular thing ...

"Went to my doctor complaining of alcoholism. He gave me a 3 month prescription for skunk weed."

... I begin prepping for end times. I'm serious. Canned goods, MRE's, solar panels, camouflage underwear, the whole nine yards. I'll be logging in to SR from a hacked wifi account somewhere in the Montana wilderness, with an assault rifle resting at my side, because without a doubt the Mayans were on to something. The world is gone to $h!t and it's obviously just about to end.

Marijuana script for nagging alcoholism... un-frikin-believable. I swear, when stuff like this starts happening there has got to be some evil genius sitting in some über secret Bat cave somewhere, laughing his a$$ off.

stillsleeping

I'm with you, Tooling. We all know drinking has ended up nasty, but there was a time for all of us when it was just fine, and great, and easy, and fun. I miss that too - and the thought of just being able to enjoy a drink like anyone else, without all of the pain and angst. I mean, don't you just watch them sometimes and envy the lack of angst? Seriously, how do they do that? Watching non-alcoholics drink is like watching children playing - they have no idea how lucky and naive they are.

Booze can be fun. Otherwise we wouldn't all be so screwed up at the thought of quitting.

TheRandomPotato

No. Life is short and wonderful and delicate and needs to experienced without drink for full level of personal growth. Both the positive and the negative. People today think to much and feel to little.

Threshold

Stepping in late in the discussion...responding to the original question.

No I wouldn't pick up booze again if I found it would not affect my health, because worries about my health are not why I chose to stop.

I guess we COULD make an argument that I stopped for mental health reasons...

I stopped because I was no longer able to respond to life in purposeful ways. Drinking lowered my inhibitions in other areas of my life as well. I didn't just drink, but drinking made me way more likely to do some crazy crap, and to do it to excess.

Honestly, I've entertained death my entire life, and the idea that booze might kill me wasn't that scary to me, but I wanted to have a reasonable quality of life before I snuffed myself out. Booze was contributing to destroying quality of life.