Gottalife

Historically, alcohol has been used in many ways. When the old sawbones was amputating a leg, alcohol was the anaesthetic, it is used to clean wounds, when someone has a shock it has been used as a sedative, when my fiance's mother found out about me, she used it to blot out reality for two or three days, and it seems even today people have been known to use alcohol as a medication for a diagnosable condition such as anxiety or depression.

When the shock is over, the condition receives the correct medication, the wound has healed etc, the need for alcohol disappears, unless the person ws alcoholic in the first place.

Then the waters can get really muddy. I convinced myself I had a temporal lobe condition which conventiently explained the mood swings that go with alcoholism. If I had thought about it, I could have come up with depression to explain the self pity, and anxiety to explain the fear, and got treatment for all those while all the time alcoholism was my problem, and it would continue to get worse. I have long lost count of the number of alcoholics who have travelled this path.

Fortunately for me, my doctors knew my entire history and there was never any doubt in their minds about what my problem was. Perhaps a better education would have helped me fool them, but as it was, they had the truth of it. I am an alcoholic. I would happily use any of the above conditions and illnesses as excuses if I could get away with it, or I could drink for no reason at all.

Like the depressive whose drinking problem resolves when the depression gets the correct treatment, so my anxiety and depression were resolved when I got the correct treatement for alcoholism.

The most important thing is that whoever is providing the treatment has unfettered access to the truth, without rationalisations and excuses. Misleading doctors as I tried to do, was never going to help me.

feldknocker

AMEN x 1,000! No one but your doctor is in any position to advise on your own medication needs. I chose not to pay attention to anyone in the rooms who espouses "no mind altering substances including psychiatric drugs." They can believe what they want, but they are not my doctor. I quit meds cold turkey once and it was a HUGE mistake.

WW2gamer

Sometimes I would go to bars sober, and it was a lot less fun that way, and I barely talked to any girls.

I have since stopped going altogether, and went back to drinking and playing video games home alone.

They need to make a safe fun drug, because life can be so boring and empty for a lot of people.