Looking for help
 

Hello, everyone. I'm just looking for a bit of advice about alcoholism. This might end up being a little long so I apologize in advance for that. I need help. I have tied so many times to quit drinking but every time I have failed. I have great things in my life. A new house, a wonderful wife, and a sweet little 5 month old girl. The only problem is me because I'm an alcoholic. I hold down jobs fairly well but today I quit mostly because I got drunk last night and I ha e a hard time coping with real life after a night if binge drinking. I'm usually always very nervous the next day and incapable of functioning properly because of the extreme anxiety. I would have just called in but my job has zero tolerance for call-ins. I'm jobless now and my wife is very upset. I'm ruining my life with alcohol. I choose it over the responsibilities that I know are much more important. I can't seem to get away from it. I feel hopeless and angry with myself. My mom and wife don't understand the alcoholism at all and think I should be able to just throw it down and quit. I wish it were that easy. It's like I'm being compelled to drink by something besides myself. It's very powerful. It causes all kinds of problems at home because my wife wants me to stop. I want so bad to quit. How in the world do I get out from underneath this massive rock?

Hi Dman86,
My family also thought I should just be able to stop. Even to this day, my brother thinks I could have a drink if I really wanted one.
Anyway, I was not ready to stop until I drank myself so sick that I ended up in the hospital. I then did three weeks in rehab.
If you are ready to stop now and want to skip the hospital and rehab, then I suggest you find a plan to focus on to get you started today.
I went to many AA meetings and they helped me a lot. You could find a meeting in your area tonight and get started right away. There are lots of friendly folks there that will help you. Even if you don't stick with AA, you can transfer to another recovery program easily.
I needed outside help to get me started, but once I had some sober time I was able to create my own grateful, sober life.
If I can do it, you definitely can!
:)

Hey Dman ...

Your not alone partner ... I'm kinda new here also ... but will offer my 2 cents. Only recently ... I mean in the past 5 months did my family begin to accept I have a drinking problem. Honestly they weren't even aware of it ... until a few years ago. My own father like your brother believed I could quit any time ... but in reality ... i couldn't ... and had to accept his lack of understanding. Your on the right road though man ... you've accepted you have a problem ... and HONESTLY coming here can help ALOT. At least it does for me ...

I also lost several jobs due to drinking ... put'em under your belt and just another step torwards sobriety ... you can always get another one. Your health and sanity is what is most important. Be sure to check in with us ...

I'm not a hard core AA person, but AA has helped me a lot!

Going to meetings and discovering that there are a lot of other people who understand what your going through (because they've been there) can be such a relief. The knowledge and tools I gained from other people and the AA program really made a difference for me. Get your self a copy of the Big Book and start reading. Reading the personal stories in the back can also be very helpful.

Well thanks guys. I'm going to try to stick to a sobriety plan. I'm tired of screwing up my life and hurting the people I care about.

Welcome Dman!

I thought I'd never be able to stop drinking, but found this forum at my lowest point and it gave me hope. This is one thing we can't really do on our own.... it takes a lot of support from people who know what it's like.

Keep reading and posting - Glad you're here!:wave:

People don't understand alcoholism because the problem isn't in the bottle. It's in and around us. Everywhere. Sobriety only starts when we put down the drink, but repairing the damage we've done to ourselves and others takes hard work, perseverance, patience...use your own adjectives that best describe the process involved in our discovering and nurturing our better selves.

If it were just about putting down the drink, well, we'd then be talking about something else altogether.