tutivillus89

Sobriety seems to come and go. Eagerly anticipating the day that I'm strong enough to embrace it permanently.

sunrise1

Most of us have eventually found we could not drink "normally".

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zjw

I still wonder if those that drink "normally" just havent evolved to our "sophisticated" level of drinking yet. That being said I'm not sure anyone can. I suppose what we think of as "normal" drinking could play out for years decades maybe even but seems it sooner or later turns into trouble.

Of course if your posting here you probably know the answer to the question. You just have to accept it and move forward.

Boleo

If modern medicine ever comes up with a pill that would allow me to drink "normal", the first thing my alcoholic brain would want to do with it would be to see how "normal" I could get.

zjw

Boleo if modern medicine came up with that pill it might not be any fun anymore. I once tried to quit smoking by buying those nicotine free cigarettes. I figured I enjoyed the cigarette more then the nicotine and it should do the trick to get me off the cigarettes. Man was that a waste of money!! I quickly learned that while I may enjoy the cigarettes I was addicted to the nicotine without the nicotine the cigarettes stunk and where no fun. THe same could probably be said for NA beer etc..

Kathleen41

I can't say for sure if you'll ever drink normally. I know for sure that I never did, can't right now, and never will drink normally!! It took me a long time to be sure of that fact, and it is a fact.

I was sad and angry about it at first. I am not anymore. I am enjoying the freedom of not trying to get another drink all night, finding the bathroom, getting sick, etc...etc.

You will be okay. Life goes on and you will find happiness and have just as much fun and enjoyment without alcohol, and most likely MORE fun!! I do, and so do many others!! I know that's hard to believe right now, but it's true.

robgt350

i often ask my self that question and often want to try it. but i know now i do not have the mental strength do drink normally. to me normally was drinking to blacking out.

FeelingGreat

Nope most of us never will drink normally. Big deal, there's so much more to life.

PhaseTwo

mountainman posted something about this which I agree with. We essentislly have an allergy and while continuous abuse exacerbates the allergy I think it was always there in some way to begin with. This is why some people can go on a bender for a couple days on vacation and then return to normal drinking. they have a gas pedal and brakes. We dont have brakes and never will.

FeenixxRising

Accepting that I can't drink normally and never will be able to drink normally has been my biggest hurdle. But you know, once I realized deep down to my soul that drinking was no longer an option, I felt a very heavy weight lifted from my shoulders. It's just too bad it took me a few years to finally figure it out.

FeenixxRising

According to the authors of the book Under the Influence, alcoholism is a physiological/biological condition, that alcoholics didn't become alcoholics because they drank heavily, rather, they drink heavily because they are alcoholics. Conversely, many regular drinkers will never become alcoholics. The authors also state that only 10% of drinkers will become alcoholics.

I'm not sure I accept their conclusions completely (the book is over 30 years old), but I do know people who have used alcohol on a regular basis for years and they have no problem stopping after a few drinks. Unfortunately, I cannot.

Mountainmanbob

I'm never going to be able to drink 'normally', am I?
not if I'm alcoholic

most know if they are or are not alcoholic

Mountainmanbob

rowd44

understanding alcoholism - the physical and mental obsession helped make me come to a point of accepting I can not drink. I am 47 days sober. Now it's time to get to work and figure out how I will be happy with alcohol in my life. listening, reading, learning and most importantly applying is the key. If you sit around trying to "white Knuckle" it...you'll only last 2-6 weeks...like me on many occasion. I don't feel it this time - take care

DayTrader

If I was to receive some sort of free pass.....which guaranteed I could drink for say, a month, and then go right back to recovery like nothing had happened. If I was guaranteed that I wouldn't get into any trouble and life during that time I was able to drink would be more or less "normal"....... I can promise you, I would NOT in a million years want to drink "normally." And by "normally" I mean: to drink like non-alcoholics drink.

I'd done that before. Watching the rate at which I drank. Moderating. Not getting anymore than mildly buzzed. Only in my earliest drinking days was drinking like that fun. Me, I'd want to drink with reckless abandon. That, to me, is drinking. Anything less is just wasting it as far as I'm concerned.

So for me, I've come to understand that I don't really want to be a normal drinker. What I really wanted was to drink like a pig AND only have the consequences of someone who drank moderately. An honest run through my drinking history proved it. I could either control my drinking OR enjoy it. Maybe one in a thousand times could I do both at the same time.

EndGameNYC

If I could drink "normally," then drinking wouldn't be important to me.

FeenixxRising

I'm not quite sure of your point Mountianman?. However, if alcoholism is a biological abnormality, the conculsions in Under the Influence make sense. Certainly, Dr. Silkwood in the BB stated something similar when he wrote "the action of alcohol on these chronic alcoholics is a manifestation of an allergy; that the phenomenon of craving is limited to this class and never occurs in the average temperate drinker".

Some on this site state they realized they were alcoholics when they took their first drink; and became alcoholic within a few years. While those statements are anecdotal and not hard evidence, they do lend weight to the idea that an alcoholic drinks heavily because he is an alcoholic, and not the other way around.

DayTrader

I've experienced both sides of what you described. Drinking because I'm alcoholic and becoming (more) alcoholic as I drank more and more.

Good of you to bring it up.

thislonelygirl

Im not an Alcoholic but I saw this and thought ide comment.
I dont drink at all. Its over rated. Your not missing out .
Theres so much more to do with your time and energy . With your body and your mind.

That need to do it in order to be normal or to do it normally...is not healthy.
Normal is knowing you can do something but choosing not to because you dont care.
Anything that you have to have...that clearly isnt good for you be it to function or to enjoy yourself...is not normal nor is it healthy. So why be envious of people who clearly dont fit this description? Assuming your thinking about people who partake in weekend drunkeness or otherwise. ...
Its actually not fun . Not healthy. Not really normal and frankly boring.
Cheer up! Youll be healthier and happier when you surrender to the notion that life has more meaning without going in circles drinking because thats all "normal" people ever do.

Nuudawn

I feel blessed to have finally reached a point in my life where I desire pure sobriety more than the dulling affect of alcohol. Don't get me wrong, in moments of overwhelming emotion or stress, it's still the first thing I think of. In those moments, I want to dull the pain or tension or emotion..but in doing so, I would be giving up all the gifts and growth of sobriety.

I do not long for the absence of my mind or clarity.