Surrender63

I don't believe that every problem drinker is an alcoholic, although some or many are. Is there a program out there that deals with moderation? Does anyone have some experience with this?

NOMOMERLOTMAMMA

Hi!

I believe that there is a program called Moderation Management. I have to tell you that recently the founder of that group was arrested for manslaughter with a vehicle for killing someone while she as driving drunk. I think there was a post awhile back with the article about it..

I found personally that I couldn't moderate my drinking..oh how I tried!! Alcoholism is a progressive disease..I found that for me the only way out was complete abstinence and the support of AA and the folks here at SR.

Good luck on your journey. Keep posting.

Karen

Anna

An alcoholic cannot moderate his/her drinking. So, it's possible someone could have a problem with alcohol and not be an alcoholic, but it's a very dangerous line.

There was a program called, I think, Moderation Management ,founded by Audrey Kishline. She was sentenced to prison for two counts of vehicular manslaughter as she was driving while drunk which speaks volumes about one's ability to manage alcohol intake. Her story scared me so much when I read it, I would never go near it.

Afraid2Succeed

Try to reduce or quit yourself. Experts have set guidelines that can help you determine if you have a problem. In the case of alcohol, drinking more than four drinks in a day, 14 in a week is considered "heavy drinking" for men. Women who have more than three drinks in a day, 11 in a week fall into this category. If many of your friends drink this much, it may be difficult for you to drink less and still be around them.

Try drink-reducing strategies such as having a drink of water or soda between alcoholic drinks; or taking only the amount of cash that you wish to spend at a bar and not using credit cards. Other strategies include making a contract with yourself for use only at planned days and time periods. The Internet offers many other reduction strategies. Regardless of your strategy, keep the alcohol guidelines in mind - and be honest. If you find you cannot keep within these guidelines it may mean you need additional help.

-HBO.com

Jersey Nonny

Good Luck with "moderate drinking", confusedindenver. I'm sure if any of us here could do it we'd still be doing it!

Quote:

I don't believe that every problem drinker is an alcoholic

If it's a "problem", why drink? I was told, "If you have to control your drinking, you're already out of control", and believe me, I tried everything I could think of...never worked until I quit and stayed sober these 27 years through AA.

NoelleR

For me, IMHO, if a person is NOT an alcoholic, then that person may be able to use 'moderation management' successfully.....

It's funny how whenever 'moderation management' is brought up, folks always jump in with the 'fact' that the founder of 'Moderation Management,' Audrey Kishline, was convicted of/plead guilty to two counts of vehicular manslaughter for the deaths of a 12 y/o girl and her father.....folks forget the 'fact' that Ms Kishline had quit 'Moderation Management' two months before the accident and had been attending AA...........

Now.....should AA be blamed for Ms Kishline's accident, as many seem to be blaming MM? I don't think so......neither is to blame; only Audrey Kishline is to blame, and it would appear that she realized, to late it would appear, that she WAS an alcoholic, and not just a problem drinker.....

Jersey Nonny is right: if it's a problem, then why drink, and if you wish to 'control' your drinking, then you've already lost control.....but I do believe that there are some who appear to be problem drinkers, at the moment, who may not be alcoholics, and who may be able to use MM and continue their lives quite happily......unfortunately, I don't believe I'm one of them, so I'll give it a pass.... (o:


NoelleR
DOS: 6/23/86

Surrender63

That is an interesting detail about her life before the accident.

teej

I know I can never moderate. Its all or NOTHING.

CarolD

I never knew exactly what day or which drink
slid me into alcoholism.

Please read "How We Get Addicted"

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...640436,00.html

Surrender63

That's a very eye opening article...Thanks for sharing it..

Steve58

Just my 2 cents,

In my experience I have encountered heavy drinkers, that never became alcoholics, and people that became alcoholics without drinking very much or very long.

While I have seen a few programs that say moderation is possible for some people, I have no experience with them. I have read that sometimes total abstainance is not the best course of action for some.

As for MM, I have read about that, and all I can say is if I had to track my drinking on spreadsheets, and all the monkey motion they suggest, I would just as soon say the he11 with it. If it dont come easy, whats the point?

S

Pipes Mcgee

I dont think anyone is blaming MM. How can any program designed to help alcoholics or problem drinkers quit or moderate be to blame for someone drinking too much and driving. I think what some people were suggesting was that Moderation Management doesnt work for alcoholics,....not drive them to drink and get behind the wheel. For any alcoholic, however,...wouldnt the only way you would be able to claim success at Moderation Management be on your death bed after a life of moderating with no consequence? I mean, until that happens, arent you just dealing in "yets"?

I agree that if you consider yourself a "problem drinker" ...why on earth would you try and find a way to keep alcohol around in your life? Another problem with that is ......what about your family members? Anyone with alcohol problems can relate to ones addiction destroying relationships. Its my opinion that if you have had years of making loved ones worry, stress, get furious with you, and be in pure terror of losing you to alcohol and you FINALLY get sober or decide to try,....and then drop on them the news that you are going to try this MM idea out that says you can drink again,....I think all they will see is a very weak alcoholic who is simply drinking again. I think at that point you risk losing family and loved ones completely. I mean, try convincing these people you have done so much damage to that you have found a way that you can still drink. Do you really think they actually would want to hear that?

Pipes Mcgee

amen

dave47

I can never drink in moderation and could easily pass those weekly alcohol units in a day.Many people i know though,i would say are moderate drinkers who occasionally have too much.Think it's horses for courses really,if people can drink a little and function okay then good luck to them-i can't.

Jersey Nonny

When I first started drinking, I probably thought I drank in moderation. Actually, I was a "controlled drinker" right from the very beginning...it was being controlled by my Mom.

Later on, it was controlled by high school, husbands, pregnancies, kids, jobs, law enforcement, college...you name it...someone, something, was always interfering with my drinking.

There were times I even did silly things to try to "moderate" my drinking...like going out later in the evening, so I didn't have so much time to drink before the bars closed. Ever hear of "after hour joints"? Any flourishing alcoholic can tell you where to find them.

When at the bar, I would try to keep track of the drinks by keeping straws/swizzle sticks in front of me...until I lost count...but, by the end of the night, I would have accumulated enough to play "pick up sticks".

At home on the weekends, I would never start drinking before noon...because everyone knows only alcoholics drink the first thing in the morning. Of course, most mornings after a night out, I wouldn't get out of bed before noon. My daughter once told me (after I had quit drinking) that she would watch me watch the clock, and I was like a racehorse being let loose, as soon as the hands hit 12 o'clock!

Ahhhh...how well I remember

Jfanagle

Perhaps the best comment I have heard since admitting that I am an alcoholic was in a meeting some years back when a member said simply, "normal drinkers or those without a problem with alcohol NEVER think about CONTROLLING their drinking!" In other words, if you don't have a problem the thought or concept of control is a non issue.

Jon