Zebra1275

Can alcoholics ever drink casually?

I can't and none of the people I know in AA can. Many have tried though, thinking somehow it would be different for them.

Dee74

I tried for 20 years. It wasn't possible for me.
Welcome to SR TheGrimm

D

StevenT

What makes me alcoholic isn't the amount I drink, it isn't the warm feeling I get from drinking, it isn't the stupid things I do while drinking, it isn't many things.

The one thing it is: What the first drink does to me. And that will never change.

I will not be able to ever moderate happily because after the first drink I get thirsty.

DarkDays

My early days of addiction I could drink casually. I look at anyone drinking and to myself wonder what part of the addiction chain they are at, brand new,early stages ,seasoned or fully brainwashed addict. I do not believe in the word alcoholic but believe in the word addict and addiction.

cejay

The only drink I can control is the first one.

CJ.

Baloo

I love these replies. The "first drink" thing applies to me. No question about it.

I like the "would you eat one potato if you were allergic?" question. Of course not, why would you even consider it? It would have to be a magic potato. In a bad way...

Vandermast

i am of the belief that my constant inability to drink without severe or adverse consequences is reason enough 2 commit to abstinence..i tried countless times to moderate..so i gave up trying...

LDT

Nope, not me.

robgt350

i disagree with most, i think they can if they have control.
here is why
when every one started there soberity, most of us stayed away from alcohol. right? i sure did. but after a while, how many of you are comfortable walking by the alcohol section at the grocery stores? or sit at a table with your friends who might order wine or beers for dinner? or go to a sports bar with your friends to watch a game? ect, ect.
my point is, all of those take self control. some of us have more than others. as for me, i don't, but that does not mean i will in the future or some people here does have it now.

Dee74

I don't think it's self control or willpower Robgt.
Its acceptance - acceptance that I can't drink.

My life is good because alcohol is not in it.

That's a very different proposition to controlling your drinking, which is different again to being ok around drinkers.

D

Grungehead

Dee has it right. I have control over whether or not I take that first drink, but once I take it I lose the control over how many I have after that. That's where the slogans of "the first drink gets you drunk" and "one is too many and 1000 is not enough" come from.

fini

i think they can if they have control.
Robgt,
seems to me if they have control, they're not alcoholics.
of course i have my own book, and in my book being an alcoholic is related to lack of control.

fini

.....but figured i would ask those further along!

Grimm,
i'm further along.
and i'm further along because i've been quit for longer.
meaning: those that are further along are further along because we have not had a drink. so we can't answer the question, really.
looking at my past, nah, i did oodles of moderation experiments. desperately wanted that to work. so i could keep drinking.
being so desperate to keep drinking in my life, wanting to hang on to it so painfully...well, that in itself was a big clue to the reality i refused to see for so long.

things got easier when i understood that i had no desire to moderate. never wanted just one. or two.
pointless.

Johno1967

Tested the hypothesis for years but kept rejecting the fact that 99 percent of the time I was unable control my drinking. That is rejecting a statistically significant probability that if I went for one drink I'd end up having many more or at least wanting many more despite the clear consequences of doing so. Doing something over and over with same results while expecting something different is the definition of insanity. Alcoholism is a illness of body, mind and spirit so never expect it to be objective and honest.

deeker

Most of us have been unwilling to admit we were real alcoholics. No person likes to think he is bodily and mentally different from his fellows. Therefore, it is not surprising that our drinking careers have been characterized by countless vain attempts to prove we could drink like other people. The idea that somehow, someday he will control and enjoy his liquor drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker. The persistence of this illusion is astonishing. Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death.

Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. Page 30, lines 1 - 6
Reprinted with Permission of AA World Services, inc.

robgt350

Dee74, Fini

ok you two have a good point. but i understood the topic as Can alcoholics drink socially? well if you dont want to ever drink again, then good for you. maybe i worded it worded it off a bit.
but i think some people can, if they want too. if they can good for them too.

Dee74

You're entitled to your beliefs Rob, but I have the right to disagree with you too.

I don't know of any alcoholics who have this control over alcohol you speak of.

D

deeker

If they could have drank socially , do you think they would have let all the bad stuff happen that came along with drinking. U may be looking for a reason to drink again and that is a normal question any alkie would ask in hopes of hearing someone say Yes an alkie can drink socially so you can try once again, But that is your addiction trying to get you to take the experiment some more. Please be careful.

Could you drink socially? We will never be able to change our body chemistry to be like normal people.Whenever we take any alcohol whatsoever into our bodies, the first drink sets up the craving for more and more and we can not stop. Only happens in alcoholics.

ru12

Yes, of course SOME alcoholics can learn to moderate. There are any number of them you can find on the web. A tv special was done on some of them. They set strict limits on what they consume and they NEVER violate those limits. Now with that said, it is my experience that the vast majority of alcoholics cannot routinely do this. The mind that begins drinking isn't the same mind that keeps drinking. I think differently when I drink. So to answer the question from my experience, I drank to get drunk and when I was drunk I had no interest in moderating.

Happier

I tried going back to moderate drinking twice. Failed miserably twice. Greatly disappointed my loved ones twice. Watched my blood pressure and weight sky rocket twice. I could go on and on.....
I can say for me that moderation only "worked" for a week or two and those were miserable weeks because I always wanted to drink more. Both times i ended up in a worse place than before.
Trying moderation again is no longer an option for me. I am grateful for this third chance at sobriety since we really never know how many more chances we get.