mfanch

It is the same thing I would tell someone who said that to me. "Go for it and let me know how it turns out" is what was told to me when I said THE EXACT WORDS as the OP. I know for me, going back out an trying controlled drinking was just what I needed. I really wasn't ready to quit for good.

Now I am.

RobbyRobot

If controlled drinking teaches us that controlled drinking doesn't work, it makes no sense to say to anybody - try it for yourself and you'll see controlled drinking doesn't work for you either - and if it does work, well then your not an alcoholic (like me)

For me, when people who say controlled drinking worked to teach them that quitting completely is the better answer ALREADY knew from their earlier failures that controlled drinking didn't work. Having others making an event out of controlled drinking, like its something worth trying out as long as others are in on it giving it a kind of status still doesn't make it a smart choice.

When people speak of their "experience" - and all they can say is whatever "worked" for them so there - I just nod and smile a bit. Real experience has details and always has a backstory....

Just sayin'

dwtbd

wait just came to this page of the thread, tell me who needs/gets permission to drink [I]from[/I ]someone? This is a system I never heard of, besides, I guess, from the military.

Bostonsportsfan

I think it's something we all consider at first and think we could be "casual, normal" drinkers, but if we could be we wouldn't be here. A small of us probably can, most can't.

zhask

"Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing, than a long life spent in a miserable way" - Alan Watts

If you don't want to continue with being sober, then don't.
Don't feel guilty, if you feel like its the right thing to do, then do it.

My personal advice is to plan ahead. Make Plan A, B, C, D, and F for any situation you mind end up in.

sugarbear1

Can you work through those 12 steps again? I know I worked them several times in the first 18 months and each time I had a newer perspective on me and on life.....

Bostonsportsfan

I don't get how anyone could remember there alcoholic times and even wanna pick a drink up if you weren't having horrible cravings or anxiety/depression. If your 14 months sober why not keep working on it?

bigsombrero

I think you'll find that, no matter what, drinking again will not live up to your expectations. A few beers will not make your life magically any better. You won't feel better, either, you'll probably feel guilty and ashamed more than anything. Good luck, I would advise against picking up again. This lottery has no winners, and is not worth playing.

PhaseTwo

Is controlled drinking even worth it? Doesn't sound any fun to me. It sounds like hard work. I think you'd get more satisfaction, and feel better in the long run out of continuing you're sobriety then by managing to control your drinking.

PhaseTwo

And I should add that's just hypothetically assuming you are successful with it, which is a long shot. I hope you don't try this because your reason you gave for drinking again was boredom. would you rather be bored or spending in entire days hungover feeling like your gonna die, because that is the reality you very well may return to.

BackToSquareOne

I understand the idea behind controlled drinking but what about the group of alcoholics who can drink in a controlled way if they are trying to prove something. So they manage to pull that off for a few months and eventually go off the deep end again, I've seem that happen many times. It proves nothing in my mind. The notion that a real alcoholic can not control their drinking for periods of time is nonsense.