hey
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Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 4
hey
My name is stuart, I've recently been getting a hell of alot of grief from friends and family and even workmates saying that I'm an 'alcoholic'.
Now this may well be true, but the whole having to listen to people constantly telling me is completley doing my head in - guess how I've chosen to deal with it..
I dont need to drink in the morning when I wke up and I can actually go a whoel dy without drinking (providing I dont need to sleep of have sleeping pills). Personally I don tthink I'm a full blown alcoholic - I may have a certain dependancy on alcohol - mostly to sleep.
I dont know exactly why I'm writing this but if I dont I'll just keep googling alcoholic untill my computer gets sick of me and turns to drink!
Now this may well be true, but the whole having to listen to people constantly telling me is completley doing my head in - guess how I've chosen to deal with it..
I dont need to drink in the morning when I wke up and I can actually go a whoel dy without drinking (providing I dont need to sleep of have sleeping pills). Personally I don tthink I'm a full blown alcoholic - I may have a certain dependancy on alcohol - mostly to sleep.
I dont know exactly why I'm writing this but if I dont I'll just keep googling alcoholic untill my computer gets sick of me and turns to drink!
Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: NYC - New York
Posts: 305
Hi Stuart - obviously somethings up or else your friends, family and workmates are just crazy. Drinking almost everyday is probably signs of an underlying problem. You'll find a lot of info here that will help you decide a course of action if any.
Welcome!!
Welcome!!
CindeRella is proof that a new pair of shoes can change your life!
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Spreading my wings
Posts: 7,163
Welcome to SR Stuart! Glad that you found us! Stop googling because you have come to the right place!
Please check out the other forums-and check out the stickies at the top of the forums-there is a wealth of information in this site and a tremendous amount of support!
Keep posting and let out what you feel inside!
IMHO there sounds as if there is some type of problem or the people who love and care for you would not be saying anything-
Please check out the other forums-and check out the stickies at the top of the forums-there is a wealth of information in this site and a tremendous amount of support!
Keep posting and let out what you feel inside!
IMHO there sounds as if there is some type of problem or the people who love and care for you would not be saying anything-
Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: on to bigger & better things
Posts: 4,122
Having to drink in the morning or going a whole day without drinking are not accurate ways to tell if you are an alcoholic or not. Sorry, but that's a fact.
There is a list of 20 questions you could look for and answer than you may have a better understanding..........
Are YOU Alcoholic ~ only YOU can decide
To answer this question ask yourself the following questions and answer them as honesty as you can.
1. Is drinking making your home life unhappy?
2. Does your drinking make you careless of your family’s welfare?
3. Do you drink because you are shy with other people?
4. Is drinking affecting your reputation?
5. Do you drink to escape from worries or trouble?
6. Do you drink alone?
7. Have you lost time from work due to drinking?
8. Has your ambition decreased since drinking?
9. Has your efficiency decreased since drinking?
10. Is drinking jeopardising your job or business?
11. Have you ever felt remorse after drinking?
12. Are you in financial difficulties as a result of drinking?
13. Do you turn to or seek an inferior environment when drinking?
14. Do you crave a drink at a definite time daily?
15. Does drinking cause you to have difficulty in sleeping?
16. Do you want a drink the next morning?
17. Do you drink to build up your self-confidence?
18. Have you ever had a complete loss of memory as a result of drinking?
19. Has your doctor ever treated you for drinking?
20. Have you ever been in hospital or prison because of drinking?
What's Your Score??
If you have answered YES to any one of the questions, there is a definite warning that you may be alcoholic.
If you have answered YES to any two, the chances are that you are an alcoholic.
If you have answered YES to three or more, you are definitely an alcoholic.
Why do we say this? Only because the experience of hundreds of thousands of recovering alcoholics has taught us some basic truths about our symptoms — and about ourselves.
If you admit you are an alcoholic there’s hope for you.
Admitting you are an alcoholic may seem today like the end of the line to you, but there are thousands of people in AA who can testify that acceptance of their powerlessness over alcohol was not an end, but a beginning: the beginning of their recovery and a new, useful and rewarding life.
AA have a simple, workable programme. It is a down-to-earth programme designed BY and FOR alcoholics. If you honestly want sobriety above all else and are fully willing to follow this programme without qualification, you have written your own guarantee for sobriety.
THE ONLY REQUIREMENT FOR AA MEMBERSHIP IS A DESIRE TO STOP DRINKING.
This does not mean signing up, or paying a subscription fee. You simply come along to an AA meeting, where you will find people who have been through exactly the same sort of things as you. Get to lots of AA meetings. That way you will hear different AA’s telling their experience. Among them you will find people with whom you can identify closely — people you feel understand YOU.
MAYBE YOU ARE STILL NOT CONVINCED YOU ARE AN ALCOHOLIC.
In which case, a few meetings may help you to decide. All we ask is that you bring with you an open mind.
WHY NOT GIVE THE AA PROGRAMME A TR
There is a list of 20 questions you could look for and answer than you may have a better understanding..........
Are YOU Alcoholic ~ only YOU can decide
To answer this question ask yourself the following questions and answer them as honesty as you can.
1. Is drinking making your home life unhappy?
2. Does your drinking make you careless of your family’s welfare?
3. Do you drink because you are shy with other people?
4. Is drinking affecting your reputation?
5. Do you drink to escape from worries or trouble?
6. Do you drink alone?
7. Have you lost time from work due to drinking?
8. Has your ambition decreased since drinking?
9. Has your efficiency decreased since drinking?
10. Is drinking jeopardising your job or business?
11. Have you ever felt remorse after drinking?
12. Are you in financial difficulties as a result of drinking?
13. Do you turn to or seek an inferior environment when drinking?
14. Do you crave a drink at a definite time daily?
15. Does drinking cause you to have difficulty in sleeping?
16. Do you want a drink the next morning?
17. Do you drink to build up your self-confidence?
18. Have you ever had a complete loss of memory as a result of drinking?
19. Has your doctor ever treated you for drinking?
20. Have you ever been in hospital or prison because of drinking?
What's Your Score??
If you have answered YES to any one of the questions, there is a definite warning that you may be alcoholic.
If you have answered YES to any two, the chances are that you are an alcoholic.
If you have answered YES to three or more, you are definitely an alcoholic.
Why do we say this? Only because the experience of hundreds of thousands of recovering alcoholics has taught us some basic truths about our symptoms — and about ourselves.
If you admit you are an alcoholic there’s hope for you.
Admitting you are an alcoholic may seem today like the end of the line to you, but there are thousands of people in AA who can testify that acceptance of their powerlessness over alcohol was not an end, but a beginning: the beginning of their recovery and a new, useful and rewarding life.
AA have a simple, workable programme. It is a down-to-earth programme designed BY and FOR alcoholics. If you honestly want sobriety above all else and are fully willing to follow this programme without qualification, you have written your own guarantee for sobriety.
THE ONLY REQUIREMENT FOR AA MEMBERSHIP IS A DESIRE TO STOP DRINKING.
This does not mean signing up, or paying a subscription fee. You simply come along to an AA meeting, where you will find people who have been through exactly the same sort of things as you. Get to lots of AA meetings. That way you will hear different AA’s telling their experience. Among them you will find people with whom you can identify closely — people you feel understand YOU.
MAYBE YOU ARE STILL NOT CONVINCED YOU ARE AN ALCOHOLIC.
In which case, a few meetings may help you to decide. All we ask is that you bring with you an open mind.
WHY NOT GIVE THE AA PROGRAMME A TR
Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 300
Well, I don't think being an alcoholic depends on whether you drink everyday or not. One thing you can ask yourself is if you are able to stop at just a drink or two, or do you find yourself more often than not drinking until you're drunk? I read a book once that said that in order to test if you're an alcoholic, tell yourself that you are going to drink no more than three drinks at a time for six months. No more than three drinks. The lady who wrote this book (Caroline Knapp) found that she could limit herself to three drinks if she used very big glasses. ha ha. If you find that you cannot stop at a certain point then you may have a problem. If your family, friends, and co-workers are giving you grief you very well might want to listen because that most likely means you are causing THEM grief. That being said I am glad you are here and I do hope you find some answers.
Fallin
Fallin
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 4
ah hah, interesting you said that becuase I have limited myself ot 4 drinks a night, but because I think I'm cleverer then I actually am I picked up 4 66cl bottles rather then the cans I would usually drink
I'm generally a cynical person, makes me quite hard to accept things
I appreciate the welcome here - I have a question though that may be best palces in one of the other forums - can you recover from alocholism and still have the occasional drink?
tell me if I'm overstepping the boundries of this board
again thanks for your replies
I'm generally a cynical person, makes me quite hard to accept things
I appreciate the welcome here - I have a question though that may be best palces in one of the other forums - can you recover from alocholism and still have the occasional drink?
tell me if I'm overstepping the boundries of this board
again thanks for your replies
Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 300
"can you recover from alocholism and still have the occasional drink?"
I think that is a perfectly fair question and one that has been discussed/debated on these boards a time or two. My own answer from my own experience is not no but hell no. I know that if I pick up "one" drink I am just as likely to pick up ten and I know that once I choose to have one drink I relinquish control over any other choices because the alcoholism takes over once the poison hits my bloodstream. Sad but true. I think if you determine that you are an alcoholic the best way to ensure recovery is to just not drink anymore, at all. It's tough to swallow that for sure but much easier than envisioning a life of having absolutely no control of what happens to you, which is generally the outcome for alcoholics who choose to keep drinking. In my humble opinion.
I think that is a perfectly fair question and one that has been discussed/debated on these boards a time or two. My own answer from my own experience is not no but hell no. I know that if I pick up "one" drink I am just as likely to pick up ten and I know that once I choose to have one drink I relinquish control over any other choices because the alcoholism takes over once the poison hits my bloodstream. Sad but true. I think if you determine that you are an alcoholic the best way to ensure recovery is to just not drink anymore, at all. It's tough to swallow that for sure but much easier than envisioning a life of having absolutely no control of what happens to you, which is generally the outcome for alcoholics who choose to keep drinking. In my humble opinion.
Certified Scrabble Cheat!
Join Date: May 2008
Location: The Hill City, MS
Posts: 316
Originally Posted by warrens 
One martini is all right. Two are too many, and three are not enough. ~James Thurber
My Mom is Southern Baptist. So if you have one drink a week you are considered an alcoholic!!!
But you need to really, really think through why family and friends are telling you these things.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: on to bigger & better things
Posts: 4,122
Goes for me too.......I couldn't anyways......I tried every which way, every kind of drink, every kind of drug, weekends, you name it.....I proved to myself over & over that I am an alcoholic and a drug addict, I can not use any mind or mood altering substance or I'll be back to shooting heroin in no time, cuz, well for me I just ended up liking it way better than drinking! Not to mention it was way quicker!!
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