Which are you?
 

a) I drink to blot out a problem, when the problem goes away, I don't need to drink.

b) Alcohol is my problem. When I don't drink, my problems go away.

c) Alcohol is my solution. When I don't drink I can't function in the world.

All three at different points in time. But pretty much letter b) by the end.

For me, it's C. I used alcohol to help me in social situations (this is the main one!), to help me calm down, to help me tolerate my stepchildren (awful, I know) to sleep, the list goes on.

d) I will never drink again and am now able to deal with life's problems.

e) Drinking WAS my solution to all life's problems. But instead it became the source for all of my misery.

Thanks guys. I should have asked "which were you" but I can relate to all your replies.

Alcohol was my problem. When I stopped drinking, my problems became manageable. I will never drink again and am now able to deal with life's problems. So, b) and now d).

ThisIsMe, I dug into your posting history, because I thought that someone who has been sober for 7 years and posted only an average of once a week must have said some pretty interesting things. You did, and I appreciate you dropping back in to say Hi. I related to your quit story very much and I admire how you handled it. Congratulations to you.

B and C

(F)
I drank for fun....took years for me to fall .. un noticed ... into alcoholism.
The final 5 years I drank...depression was daily.

Finally my doctor diagnosed me with situational depression directly caused
by alcohol. He suggested I quit and connect to AA...:yup:

I did and now as an AA recovered alcoholic I enjoy my life immensley.
These past 23+ years have been awesome....:a122:

today, none of them. they are all past tense for me.i have recovered from the hopeless state of mind that made me drink.

Alcohol felt like the solution to all of my problems. And I still have most of the problems I had before I quit 34 days ago. But I didn't realize how big of a problem the drinking really was and how I couldn't even begin to tackle the other problems while I was still drinking and looking back...lots of the problems I have now are a direct or like secondary effect of my drinking...

It was the way to celebrate,
Mourn
Deal with anger
Party
Socialize
Deal with stress
Sleep
Stay up
Kill pain
Relate to others
It was part of my identity
Culture
Personality
Cellular structure.

Until it turned on me, badly, and it will never get good again.

For me it was A, in that I drank to blot out my fears and feelings over my problems, but of course when I didn't actually address my problems, they didn't go away, they got worse. So I had to drink more, use more drugs..and my problems got worse, so I had to drink more often and use drugs more often.

I wrongly believed all three at different points in my active addiction, now I know that all of them are false.. I select 'none of the above', as I'm a non-drinker.

B and C for me.

For me, none of the above, more of a prop. Stopped because of depression (still here) and future health implications. If I didn't live alone it might have had more impact on my loved ones.

I'm definitly C!

I was definitely c until I recovered spiritually thanks to AA and Eckhart tolle. now I have an extremely happy wonderful life.

I believe I did not have a drinking problem I had a living sober problem, alcohol worked for a while but now I have something that works heaps better than alcohol thanks to AA and Eckhart tolle.