TheDrunkasaurus

I only drink at night, around half a 750 ml bottle so I don't really consider myself an alcoholic even though I guess I technically get drunk daily. I've had this drinking pattern for about a year now (ever since I turned 21) and recently I'm very sad if I'm not drunk. Not really depressed, I still get joy out of life, but I'm just not content the same way I am when I'm drunk. I was wondering if this is a sign of psychological dependence on alcohol or if it's an unrelated issue? I'm hoping it's unrelated as I really do look forward to my drinks every night, but I don't want to be doing so at the expense of my mental health. I've tried not drinking for a few days but the sadness doesn't go away...

caboblanco

isn't that half a fifth a day? thats a lot to most people. I won't say you're an alcoholic. I will say you are a heavy drinker though

Dee74

Hi drunkasaurus - welcome

Not sure where you are geographically but this may be useful info:

You're way in excess of that.

I know that level of drinking was more than enough to affect my mental well-being.

D

MrTumble

You mention that you are experiencing sadness if you dont drink, how does this sadness feel, what do you feel sad about, can you put your finger on what these sad feelings are, or is it just a kind of sadness feeling, with no specific thing (or perhaps too many things?).

If you are just sad because you miss the booze, then I would say you are on your way to having a dangerous relationship with booze.

If the sadness is not related to missing the booze, then I would try and concentrate in finding the root cause for that sadness, perhaps its clinical depression, or just something that can be helped with some level of discussion with your doctor/friend/counsellor.

but try and look into yourself and see if you can figure out what your feelings are telling you.

TheDrunkasaurus

It's not a sadness related to anything in particular. I'm doing well in school and at my job, I have good friends, I'm in good financial standing... My life has no issues. This is why the whole situation is so weird. I'm also becoming increasingly reclusive socially and not wanting to talk to people on the phone or in person. It sounds like depression but it's not like I want to kill myself or that I hate other people it's a very strange feeling that just feels like intense anxiety and unease 24/7.

lillyknitting

Sounds to me your addicted. Stick around and you will learn and gets lots of help/advice.

MeetJohnDoe

I hope you feel better. Drinking isn't the way. It may seem a short term solution but you need people in your life. Sounds like you just need to connect with someone, talk through your sadness. The bottle may be an impediment to your future happiness with someone you can love. I wish you well.

Johno1967

Hi Drunkasaurus,
Its not so much how much you drink but why you drink and whether you can take it or leave it. If you are having doubts as to whether you are dependent or not on alcohol it might be worth considering that you may be an alcoholic. Only you can decide.
I called myself "nearly alcoholic" for years and considered I might be "high functioning alcoholic" but I was just plain "alcoholic". If alcohol is affecting your day to day living and you feel emotionally or mentally you need to drink to maintain a standard of living I would err on the side of caution. Drinking alcohol to feel better is self medicating, which was my way of dealing with life and its problems. There is a better way.

penny74

Try stopping for a while and see what happens...

Zube

Can moderate drinking affect mental well-being? ...

Ah-ha! A Trick Question!...

Alcoholics cannot drink moderately.

Zube

Joe Nerv

Alcohol is a depressant. The above is preciciely what it does, and how it gets people slowly into it's incredibly addictive, destructive, and deadly grip. Don't know if you're an alcoholic or not, but all that you've said makes you a perfect candidate.

When I started drinking it took almost exactly a year before it started to turn on me. First with mild depression, then I got hit with anxiety and panic like I never knew before. Fortunately for me it took me down quickly, within about 4 years I became a totally useless being. Most people can continue functioning and drag the heartache and misery out much, much longer.

I have an excellent feeling if you have the ability to put it down now, you will feel better about life and yourself. If you decide you do want to stop and it becomes a problem, there's lots of options for help out there, and most of them open the doors to a much more abundant life than we previously knew.

Alcohol slowly tricked me into thinking it was the only real joy I had left in the world, while it stole from every other joy that might have been possible. You're dealing with an incredbily powerful and deceptive liquid. It's great that you're looking at it head on in the early stages. I wish you the best.

WritingFromLife

Could not have said it better than all that is in JoeNerv's post.

I messed around with cocaine when I was around 18-19---my expereince was euphoric at 8pm when I started, and then by 6AM when the sun was coming up and the stuff was gone, the come down started-and a cocaine comedown is horrible. It feels like every single little thing in your life is covered in doom. For hours, not being able to sleep, my heart would race out of my chest in worry over big things and little things alike.

Anyway, that only lasted a year or so---those doom feelings went away with no cocaine use. I continued drinking, though. High functioning--of course! And not very much--I appeared very moderate---with wine. I remember when I was around 30 (I am 44 now) I told my girlfriend (who was drinking about the same as me) "SOMETHING IS DIFFERENT--I AM STARTING TO FEEL LIKE I AM COMING DOWN OFF OF COCAINE AFTER JUST A FEW DRINKS."

Hmmmm--There was a change....an insiduous change. I kept going, though. Dismissed it. Didn't think back about that "change" again for probably 7 more years--when those feelings were nonstop. I had gotten USED to the feeling and it metastacized into ongoing crippling anxiety. Progression.

Sooo....yes, it didn't just AFFECT my well being, it eventually completely robbed me of it.

This stuff just sneaks the he** up on you. It's bizarre. Cunning....

ZZworldontheweb

No matter what label you put on it, alcoholic or whatever, a pint of hard liquor a day is WAY too much. Your tolerance is going to keep growing slowly and you'll have to drink more to supress the withdrawal symptoms. This never ends well. You can die from this. I urge you to quit. Go see your doctor, get to AA or a similar program. You may need detox with the amount you're drinking. Don't put it off.

AlisonW

Drunkasaurus, I have been diagnosed with depression, and I never thought about killing myself, don't hate other people, have always been able to get out of bed in the morning - other than hangovers of course - I work out, have friends, got married last year... Depression isn't always so extreme as suicide or staying in bed not showering, or totally isolating. But I was anxious a lot, didn't have a lot of energy to do more than the necessities a lot of days, felt nervous for no reason, and just vaguely dissatisfied with life. Anti-depressants have helped a lot. I'm not saying they are for everyone - and it's a really bad idea to drink while taking them - but it might be a good idea to talk to a doctor or therapist and see if they think what you are experiencing would fit the diagnosis. There's a world of options for treatment, doesn't have to be medication. And while it's only been 3 weeks since i stopped drinking, I already feel a huge difference. When those negative feelings do come now, I'm learning how to deal with them instead of drinking them away. It's hard, but it feels great.

Bigndfan175

^^^
This

Xune

I've not been successful at drinking moderately, so I don't drink.

My mental well being is certainly improved once alcohol was eliminated from my life.

AngelBabe

Maybe see a doctor and get checked out.

shoreladylu

Drinking half a 750 ml bottle is the same as drinking a pint or 8ish drinks a day. If you're feeling sad, all that alcohol isn't helping. Excessive alcohol is a depressant. I hope you try sobriety. Long term sobriety will lessen the depression. That's a promise. Good luck!

DIYman

Hi Drunkasaurus,

Until recently I drank half a bottle of wine 3 nights a week and a bit more at the weekends. This is a bit over the weekly max guideline - so not a large amount by any stretch of the imagination.

However, I was getting terrible hangovers and anxiety levels were generally very very high. I've also been having some problems with short term memory (when sober, not drunk).

I had the same sort of questions that you are asking yourself - is it the alcohol or something else?

Alcoholic or not, I decided the way to find out was to stop drinking and see if things for me improved.

I have seen it argued both ways that if its easy to stop you are an alcoholic and if its hard to stop you are an alcoholic, so I ignored that and concentrated on my anxieties/symptoms and wrote about them here and in a journal.

I'm now on Day 27. My anxiety has all but disappeared. Clearly I'm not suffering the hangovers any more either :-) Too early to tell on the memory but I feel its better (probably all this journalling I'm doing, actually having time to work on my issues rather than numbing it all out every evening)

I did find it hard and still do; I was bored, I feel like I've lost part of my identity, and I'm grieving over a loss of a lifestyle. But as with most change and loss, these will pass.

If there is any doubt, stop and see. If you thought you were having wheat allergy symptoms, you'd give up wheat to find out, wouldn't you?

DIYman

Sorry I meant to include that to notice the anxiety reduction took a week or two. All I was thinking about in the first week is that I couldn't have a drink.....