How do I know when I am drinking like an "Alcoholic"?
Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 202
what defined me as an alcoholic was when I always wanted to drink for social fun, friends didn't mind at first getting drunk once in awhile but when I started making it a once a week thing or sometimes if it were a couple hour hang out I always suggested we drink! "So guys what do you want to do tonight? any ideas? I have none." my first friend said "I don't know, I haven't any ideas either. Chris? Any ideas?" my second friend asks me "How about we go to the liquor store, get some booze, drink and play games all night!" Rolling of the eyes but they'd go with it until much later when they always would say why we have to drink each time, that there are more things to do then drink. I was alcoholic from the first drink.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 625
We all have problems in life. Sometimes the solution is a second job. Sometimes it's ending a toxic relationship or working on our communication skills. Sometimes...
When I turned to alcohol as a solution, I crossed the line into alcoholism.
When I turned to alcohol as a solution, I crossed the line into alcoholism.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 3
I'd been drinking alcoholically for a long time before I actually realised it. I'd had a couple of dark moments where I thought this cant be right, but they'd only been passing thoughts.
Even when I ran out of people to drink with and started drinking on my own I still blocked out any thoughts that this might not be quite right.
I'd had plenty of mornings when I'd woken up with feelings of guilt or shame for some reckless or embarrassing action from the night before. But hey, everyone does something stupid once in a while, right? At least that's how I talked myself out of it.
Of course all this time I was drinking alcoholically, I just didn't realise it. Or more honestly, I was just finding ways to ignore it and convince myself it was ok.
I finally ended up having to acknowledge there was a problem when the guilt got too much. It wasn't guilt over any one action, it was just a general feeling of guilt. All the time. A permanent black cloud over my head and a constant sense of unease, being on edge. Hating myself, not knowing what to do about it, pretending to everyone else everything was fine, and hating myself more for doing that.
If that state of being goes on long enough and buries itself deeply enough into your psyche, it will eventually penetrate the thickest layers of alcoholic denial. That's when I finally had to say, I've got a problem.
Even when I ran out of people to drink with and started drinking on my own I still blocked out any thoughts that this might not be quite right.
I'd had plenty of mornings when I'd woken up with feelings of guilt or shame for some reckless or embarrassing action from the night before. But hey, everyone does something stupid once in a while, right? At least that's how I talked myself out of it.
Of course all this time I was drinking alcoholically, I just didn't realise it. Or more honestly, I was just finding ways to ignore it and convince myself it was ok.
I finally ended up having to acknowledge there was a problem when the guilt got too much. It wasn't guilt over any one action, it was just a general feeling of guilt. All the time. A permanent black cloud over my head and a constant sense of unease, being on edge. Hating myself, not knowing what to do about it, pretending to everyone else everything was fine, and hating myself more for doing that.
If that state of being goes on long enough and buries itself deeply enough into your psyche, it will eventually penetrate the thickest layers of alcoholic denial. That's when I finally had to say, I've got a problem.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 1
I drin'k once in life and it was a bad experience when we was in my friend's gf birthday party and they force me to drink. i don't know what exact it was but it make my sick. I do vomating whole night. I can't forget that.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 438
Originally Posted by THEOjibway 
"How about we go to the liquor store, get some booze, drink and play games all night!" Rolling of the eyes but they'd go with it until much later when they always would say why we have to drink each time, that there are more things to do then drink. I was alcoholic from the first drink.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 438
when i took that online "are you an alcoholic?" quiz and it told me i had a serious problem!! 
i actually did take several of those quizzes when i was researching alcoholic drinking....really....if you don't think you have a problem with alcohol you aren't going to spend night after night etc dwelling on if you are or not & taking self-assessments and trying to see how you score on those tests!
here were some of my flags to myself.....
when i realized i was drinking every day.
when i would wake up in the morning and have zero recollection of the previous night and the frequency of black out drinking was getting worse.
when i couldn't stop drinking once i started
when i would choose to just not drink at all if i was going to a dinner or meeting or something & if i knew i had to drive and/or that i couldn't drink how i wanted to, because what was the point of only having 1 or 2?
that was the beginning - i have a lot more on my list now that i've walked through the doors of AA, rehab and recovery.
i actually did take several of those quizzes when i was researching alcoholic drinking....really....if you don't think you have a problem with alcohol you aren't going to spend night after night etc dwelling on if you are or not & taking self-assessments and trying to see how you score on those tests!
here were some of my flags to myself.....
when i realized i was drinking every day.
when i would wake up in the morning and have zero recollection of the previous night and the frequency of black out drinking was getting worse.
when i couldn't stop drinking once i started
when i would choose to just not drink at all if i was going to a dinner or meeting or something & if i knew i had to drive and/or that i couldn't drink how i wanted to, because what was the point of only having 1 or 2?
that was the beginning - i have a lot more on my list now that i've walked through the doors of AA, rehab and recovery.
Laozi Old Man
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 6,665
Originally Posted by WildBilly
I'd been drinking alcoholically for a long time before I actually realised it.
How is that? For about 25 years I drank a lot, I drank often and I got into some trouble as a result of it. However, it was fun and well worth the occasional consequences. I was still drinking as much as I intended to, as often as I intended to and was getting into as much trouble as I intended to (I liked to brag about it with my drinking buddies).
Then something changed. I started drinking more than I intended to. Drank more often than I intended to and got in more trouble than I intended to. It stopped being a laughing matter. The consequences became greater than the fun.
That's when I started to try to control my drinking. That's when my results did match my intentions. That's when I started to drink alcoholically.
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