TorontoGuy28

I have a genetic predisposition to addiction. That's a fact, it runs in our family tree.

Combine that with growing up with an alcoholic father, together with moving to different countries and never really fitting it and I emerged an alcoholic.

Booze was an unhealthy way of coping (or not coping) with my issues.

seanie1888

Likewise I reckon drinking caused most of the problems in my life.

But not anymore:-)

CarolD

I started drinking....as well as smoking cigarettes and casual sex
as a rebellion against my religious non drinking family.

The movies and books in the '50's made me think it was the
accepted sophisticated way to live...and I so wanted that lifestyle
I wanted no part of the normal mundane middle class ..I wanted special.

For decades I did drink with no apparent problems. Danced along
often laughing "I'm busy putting the fun into functioning alcoholic"

Zap! the final 5 years I was a drinker...depression was daily
Still no outward signs that indicated why.
.
I became a woman I detested...I felt my brain and soul
were saturated It was a dark time inddeed. ...

Finally ...my psychiatrist diagnosed me with situational depression...
suggested I quit and committ to AA..
I was not thrilled but I would have done anything to improve
my mental condition.

Sooo...off I went ...and there I've stayed. Now I'm an AA recovered
alcoholic who lives with purpose and joy...how special is that?


The egg and chickens? As a child I helped clean out the
hen house....hate the dirty birds Fowl indeed.

Ironically....
many years later that expereince is why I have a incurable retina disease....caused by ...chickens

RobbyRobot

Awesomely special!!

polaris

Obviously no clear answer here, although I do believe there is a physiological underlying cause.

Other than that I think there is no clear answer. I come from a family of compulsive, and perhaps somewhat mentally ill, people. My father is the only alcoholic (recovered before I was born, one of many reasons I respect him so much) of the last 2 generations, but supposedly there has been past alcohol issues on both sides. Ultimately, we do not know.

There are a couple videos I like that discuss this, but they seem to discourage that here. I will simply say that there is one on, that common something tube site, that discusses JUNGS opinion on alcoholism and I think it is incredibly valid.

FaithfulQuest

I've always been super uptight and when the kids came along, the anxiety surfaced. The alcohol was that something would calm me down and I used every excuse to justify my drinking. As the anxiety got worse and I got more uptight, I drank more never connecting the dots that the alcohol was making the original problem worse!!!

Now that the alcohol is out of the picture, I can focus on letting my lower dose of anti anxiety medication work with the help of my counselor. Something I probably should've turned to to begin with.

stugotz

One thing I do know is that Beer came before Handcuffs. Just sayin....

Pigtails

I don't know and I often wonder about this. I was watching Being Flynn and they said something along the lines of artistic/creative people being manic depressive. I could relate to that (I like to write but haven't in quite awhile so maybe I no longer qualify as artistic or creative). There are mental health issues in my family as well as alcoholism issues. So I think I got a dose of both. I think they are connected. I do think I drank to escape my problems/myself. But when I stopped drinking for the longest time ever (well, since I started), in some ways my internal emotional problems got better-- I wasn't as overwhelmed emotionally or as depressed/hopeless feeling-- but in some ways my external problems got worse (I neglected my house and physical health and my goals in life, and pretty much only paid attention to my drinking, or my boyfriend's drinking). I went back to drinking after a horrible personal tragedy but, of course, drinking did nothing to solve it or help it and quite frankly I am just tired of the life I was living-- drunk or sober, it was not my ideal life. So I've been trying really hard to work on my issues, and to take action to strive towards my goals, and this means not drinking, as it only makes me unproductive and depressed, and doesn't allow myself to be the best me possible. That's where I'm at right now anyway and I just hope I can stick with it, both in the sobriety department and in the life motivation/action department. For me it is all connected and I tend to be so extreme and on-or-off that it makes it hard to be consistent and balanced, but, I'm trying.

Boleo

"There is no reason to suppose that the world had a beginning at all. The idea that things must have a beginning is really due to the poverty of our thoughts."
(Bertrand Russell)

2granddaughters

The Chicken Or The Egg?

My old sponsor said it was the rooster ......

All the best.

Bob R