Good point Tomsteve. That could be a death sentence.

Zube

Let me tell you a story. I shared needles. I never caught aids. Therefore I don't believe, despite all the scientific and real life evidence, that you can catch aids from sharing needles.

So if I follow the logic, you weren't addicted, you were just stupid.

That's too bad. With addiction, it's easier to avoid a relapse.

I have a little voice that asks me that same question.

Thankfully I know that the voice is full of crap and I remember how positively sick I was, how I made consistently terrible decisions and how I came so close to losing everything...because of booze.

Alcohol was a destructive force in my life and the solution for me is to not drink.

Everyone is different, but if like you said, were drinking a minimum of 84 beers a week...I'd say you made a good decision to quit drinking.

My withdrawl was mild and I was glad for it. Having a mild withdrawl from using did not change the fact that alcohol was a monumentally destructive force in my life.

Also, I was told that for those who seek in-patient treatment, the average amount of consumption is approximately 65 units of alcohol a week.

It wouldn't be worth it to me to roll the dice. Ten shots might be a red flag for me, even if it didn't happen that often. For me (just for me), that would suggest that there is still times that I can lose control- ten shots would make me out of control. I don't know. I'm not passing judgement at all, but I truly enjoy and cherish sobriety. Best of luck.

Your experience is yours.

By any chance, are you about 32 years old?

I'm not even wasting my time with this Jason has to be a troll. Some ppl get a kick out of going to sites where ppl share support write a thread they know will get ppl fired up, then read the responses with friends and laugh. Teens and college aged kids do it all the time.

About the didnt have big withdrawals and that little voice....The only WDs I had were sweating profusely, shaking hands, leg cramps. So I had that thought often. hmmm....it only lasted a few days, I feel so much better now....no DTs, no seizures, I must not be really addicted like some ppl.

Bad way of thinking. I tried drinking moderately more than once. Now that I have made the decision to finally stop for good, at 70 something days I see for real what damage has been done. I have a college degree and get confused over cooking instructions on the back of a tv dinner. No short term memory whatsoever, brain fog everyday. I feel like a confused idiot. I damaged many brain cells, and made my simple little OCD habits swing WAY OUT OF CONTROL now...b/c my brain is not balanced. I have read the brain can heal itself though. I'm thankful for that. I heard it gets better after a YEAR OR SO. Thank God I am blessed to be able to stay at home, I don't see how I could be working. I can't wait to feel halfway normal again.

Best of luck to you Jason if you are real. Glad it's working for you. This is a site for ppl who do have a problem to relate to each other though.

Huh?

The OP has been polite and has stayed within the rules of the forum.
Let's ease back on the name calling.

D

If they are gonna stay sober they will have to deal with a lot worse than a comment here. Temptation is everywhere and always will be. I personally don't let it bother me. Sobriety is my responsibility and mine alone.

point worth taking.

A bit overboard but as he describes it, this is a normal drinking pattern, and not an alcoholic one.

We say it's not about amounts...he drank a lot, but that doesn't spell alcoholism. The little old lady who gets drunk 3x a year and burns the cookies and feels guilt and shame and can't just have a few, but has to drink when the time comes...she's alcoholic.

Many drink often and a lot and never cross the line. Usually sooner than this guy they do the same thing he did...overdo it, decided to cut back and do that. It's the maturing thing.

Using one non-alcoholic slice of life experience to disprove the existance of alcoholism, something that goes back at least 5,000 years?

Uh, nah. Calling the op a bit presumptous should be allowed within the tos here, and if not it should be.

I think it's to do with how you're wired, and your life experiences can help or hinder. But some unfortunates keep drinking even if it means their imminent demise...that's addiction.

Maybe I should congratulate myself I'm not addicted to gambling, smoking or substances, but there's plenty who are.

The way I see it, Jason has shared his beliefs, and my only criticism of him is that he didn't qualify his statements to personalize them to him. Otherwise, he has every right to share.

And for newcomers who read his posts, please give equal weight to others who have shared another experience entirely. I once believed things similar to Jason, and now that I am older (and wiser about myself), I know that alcoholism is real and deadly.

At least for me.

Yes.... I call alcoholism an affliction, rather than a disease, but the point is everyone is different. We have normal drinkers, binge drinkers, heavy drinkers, and alcoholics... the alcoholics for me are the people who, when they have one drink this opens the gate to a serious spree of drinking which will most likely lead to alcohol dependency, and then the person like myself, then has no control over when it will end. If someone else can control their drinking it has no bearing on my own. It's a good way of looking at it, cos if I didn't I could read the original post and think... "Maybe I can do that?" I had to experience and then accept that I can't drink safely... and I never have been able to.

'the alcoholics for me are the people who, when they have one drink this opens the gate to a serious spree of drinking which will most likely lead to alcohol dependency, and then the person like myself, then has no control over when it will end.'

You know, I believe everyone has the power within to stop and seek help. It's the staying stopped that's the problem.

I find the OP's position/question useful actually. I've discovered that the bulk of my friends and family probably share his views regarding alcoholism.

That is, many commend my decision to have quit drinking but they see it as a mere application of willpower. Nothing more, nothing less. So, some simply believe that I was being 'lazy & slothful' in my ways until then ... a life lacking self-discipline and self-control.

Others, who share the same 'willpower theory' have started to ask as of late "now that I have proven I can stop drinking for 3+ years, why not return to it, but in moderation? For example, just 2 drinks per occasion?" I am kind of grateful that it was not a question that I had to think too hard about or distressed me in anyway. I pretty much know the answer - and I'm not in the mood to experiment.

I confess that sometimes the "it's only a matter of willpower" theory appeals to me. When I need a bit of inspiration to get over a bout of procrastination, it sometimes helps to remember how totally impossible it once felt that I'd be living a happy life without alcohol.

To the OP - I once too theorized as you did. I was wrong in the end, so were many others. I believe people get so heated about this topic is because they themselves have experience in it as well. This mindset has almost killed me and has succeeded killing many others.

Many people have attained a happier, more fulfilled life through living sober. One they feel has a purpose in this world (myself included). To me, this new lifestyle is maintained by daily sober living. If I were to go back and live a controlled-drinking lifestyle, my new way of living would cease to exist. For me, it can't be both ways. I tried to make that work and failed numerous times.

If you can control you drinking now, you probably aren't alcoholic. I'm glad it's working, and hope it will continue working for you.

Yes... I agree. For me and alcoholism in general I think is all about not taking that first drink, when I was alcohol dependant I never felt like I had any power to say "Right I'll stop now and seek help" I had a delusional thought that I could stop tomorrow or ween myself off. I would only stop usually because I had ran out of money, or I just couldn't bring myself to steel from the shop again. The alcohol stopped me because my health was deteriorating. The delusion that I had the power within to start drinking and then stop when I chose to was one of biggest lies alcoholism ever told me.

Ready And Able::sly::approve: