SoberLife2014

Then again, this whole alcoholism thing has really forced me to take a look inward. I was full of stinking thinking and it lead me to the bottle. What forces a normal drinker to say... do an inventory? Do they even have to? Surely, no one is perfect.

Even if I became a normal drinker I'd still have all of these character defects and problems. But with the alcoholism I'm kind of forced to deal with those defects in order to avoid drinking.

Maybe I had a lot to learn from it all. Maybe I WOULDN'T take it...

Altoids

Yep, that's it exactly. LOL!

RocketQueen

Just one pill that you would take once and it works for life? Where do I sign up? I'll try anything that will curb the addictive thoughts in my head. Take away cravings, the addictive behaviour and the constant desire to drink. Just because you take it doesnt mean you HAVE to drink, but in my mind having the ability to drink normally would cure me of all the negativity of being an alcoholic. Two thumbs up to that.

Dee74

This what if poser comes up reasonably regularly

Alcohol fed my desire for oblivion. If I started drinking again I expect that desire would be fed, re-ignited and probably consume me, pill or no pill.

I've lived the last seven years of my life without alcohol.
They've been seven very productive and happy years.

I'm happy with the way things are. I wouldn't change it.

D

Ken33xx

Right. I only drank to get loaded .

Take away that and what's the point?

RocketQueen

The point is the desire to get loaded wouldn't be there. You could take it or leave it.

Lucie29

This also reinforces for me why I'd never want to try to moderate. Because... what's the point? If I could only have 1 drink a night then there's no point in drinking for me. What's 1 drink going to do? I don't get it... hence the reason I'm obviously not a normal drinker. Why would I even TRY to moderate?[/QUOTE]

I guess this is why I cannot answer this question correctly. I can't imagine a world where I wouldn't want more than one drink. Of course we've all had days/nights we felt proud for only having one or two, but let's be honest.. We wanted more, and would have if we didn't have work, someone who was watching us, or whatever reason we had to stop. Even on a good night, if I'm being honest with myself, I wanted more. So I guess my answer is yes. If I had a pill to erase that deep rooted urge to drink more I would take it.

jdooner

But then you wouldn't be you...the reason this exercise is futile is you can't rewire your entire brain with a pill. Research suggests that most addicts are created in the early years combined with genetics and your suggesting a pill can undo all of that. This is more absurd than the lottery exercise as there is at least a chance you could win the lottery. This creates a seed in some that there is hope to change you entire personality. Sorry I see more damage than good and when one gets to a place that life is better without substances or destructive behaviors there is no point to wanting to go back.

In my experience the drug or behavior does not make the addict - it just creates the mechanism for unhealthy coping. I see an addict like myself just becoming addicted to this magic pill. You can see many who trade addictions, even the ones cloaked in good intent such as religion and altruism. Sobriety for me is about taking the first steps towards recovery. Recovery for me is about waking up and creating a new life, one that you prefer to your old life and want to protect with every ounce of your being. That is my magic pill.

RocketQueen

Woah. I think we're taking this discussion a little too seriously. Yes, it's a fictional scenario, and i think we are all fully aware of this fact.

jdooner

Sorry if I missed the sentence that said this was a joke...well at least we are not dealing with diseases that kill...oh wait:

There are approximately 88,000 deaths attributable to excessive alcohol use each year in the United States. This makes excessive alcohol use the 3rd leading lifestyle-related cause of death for the nation. Excessive alcohol use is responsible for 2.5 million years of potential life lost (YPLL) annually, or an average of about 30 years of potential life lost for each death.1 In 2006, there were more than 1.2 million emergency room visits and 2.7 million physician office visits due to excessive drinking.3 The economic costs of excessive alcohol consumption in 2006 were estimated at $223.5 billion.

Sorry if I don't find much humor in the idea of romanticizing ideation of taking a pill to drink again normally because for the one person that does and goes back out that might not make it back then they become the above statistic.

Sorry if I lack a sense of humor on this topic.

Dee74

Seeing as we're talking pills, I think some chill pills are in order

JD I totally take your point addiction kills, and alcoholism kills, but I don't think anyone here is disputing that

This is a fairly common what if scenario.
Some folks enjoy a little conjecture

If it offends, there's no need to participate?

Dee
Moderator
SR

SoberLife2014

I didn't intend on it being a joke or a romanticization. It's just a philosophical question. I really liked what you had to say jdooner. Especially "Sorry I see more damage than good and when one gets to a place that life is better without substances or destructive behaviors there is no point to wanting to go back". I agree with that.

When I asked myself this question this morning it just really got the wheels turning in regards to my own alcoholism. I wanted to see how other people would respond to it, especially those who have long term sobriety. There's so much wisdom shared on this site

lillyknitting

So am I lead to believe then that when everyone goes down the pub Friday/Saturday night they only have ONE drink? If that's the case then every single person that I know or see has a drink problem, or, they are definitely not a normal drinker?!!!

lillyknitting

I think I would take anything that stopped the horrendous hangovers

lillyknitting

I never ever have a desire to "get loaded" I only ever want one or two drinks to relax me, enjoy myself, and put me in a nicer space. The trouble is when I've had one, I would like another, please. Then when I've had two I definitely want a third. Then when I'm half-way through the third it's game over!

Dee74

The guidelines are for the safest lowest impact level of consumption of alcohol.

I'm not surprised that we as alcoholics tend to know other people who 'push the boat out'

Now that I've been sober for a while, I know lots of people who drink one or two drinks on a Friday night, if that.

D

lillyknitting

Ultimately, if one has long term sobriety then why would they ever, ever want to go back? For they have conquered the demon and wouldn't dream of jeopardizing their sobriety. But for many who still romantasise about the whole culture of drinking, perhaps they would love to take such a pill

lillyknitting

Also, when one is drinking, a lot, one tends to mix with "boozers" as my husband used to continually say to me "you would never dream of socializing with those people if it were not for the fact that they are all heavy boozers". It's only when I stepped back & stopped that I realized he was right. People I love to socialize with now, like my cousin, wouldn't dream of drinking more than one/two wines.

silentrun

That is so true. I only drank with other heavy drinkers toward the end. About 6 months ago I had to go pick some friends up from the bar at close. My table of friends were the only drunk ones at the bar. I was surprised to see just how many people leave a bar sober. I always thought everyone else was drunk too.

Ken33xx

Then I would leave it because I never liked the taste of alcohol very much.