Got me thinking... (uh oh...) :)
I got nothin'
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: My house.
Posts: 4,890
Got me thinking... (uh oh...) :)
...about "powerless over alcohol".
I wonder what people mean when they say that.
I know that when I drink I have a very strong compulsion to keep drinking...but this in no way prevents me from stopping. I simply choose to keep drinking. Trying to stop never crosses my mind.
I don’t see myself as an automaton reaching for the bottle and mindlessly drinking. I knew exactly what I was doing every single time and I wanted to do it.
I never saw the point of only having one or two. Every time I drank I did it to get messed up. I enjoy being in that condition.
I freely admit I’ve never tried this, but I really do think that if I had made an effort to stop after, say 2 standard drinks, I could do it, BUT I really wouldn't be happy about it and it would be incredibly difficult. There is no denying that I have a strong urge to keep going and going...but I think that it comes down to a choice (I’m speaking only for myself).
Fortunately I have no desire now to test this out. I already know it would be a difficult thing to do. Anyone have any thoughts about “powerlessness over alcohol”?
I wonder what people mean when they say that.
I know that when I drink I have a very strong compulsion to keep drinking...but this in no way prevents me from stopping. I simply choose to keep drinking. Trying to stop never crosses my mind.
I don’t see myself as an automaton reaching for the bottle and mindlessly drinking. I knew exactly what I was doing every single time and I wanted to do it.
I never saw the point of only having one or two. Every time I drank I did it to get messed up. I enjoy being in that condition.
I freely admit I’ve never tried this, but I really do think that if I had made an effort to stop after, say 2 standard drinks, I could do it, BUT I really wouldn't be happy about it and it would be incredibly difficult. There is no denying that I have a strong urge to keep going and going...but I think that it comes down to a choice (I’m speaking only for myself).
Fortunately I have no desire now to test this out. I already know it would be a difficult thing to do. Anyone have any thoughts about “powerlessness over alcohol”?
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,369
I tried this experiment of which you speak LOL. On the rare occasions I did stop at 'just two' I got so obsessed with drinking I got trashed on the way home, or the next day or whatever...
Usually tho I 'finished drinking' for maybe half an hour then thought 'eff it - one more won't hurt'...and..well you know the rest.
D
Usually tho I 'finished drinking' for maybe half an hour then thought 'eff it - one more won't hurt'...and..well you know the rest.
D
Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 26,425
I guess what it means for me is tht if i am in a battle about over drinking for a long period of time...i always loose..I have to get to the causes and conditions that make the mental compolsion to drink so strong and work on those....just whiteknuckling it will not keep me from a drink forever...ok for the short term though.
And yes...once i drink I do seem to loose the ability to make a rational decision to stop..plus i drank all day and night so the physical withdrawal with out a drink made me unable to have enough will to suffer the withdrawal and if i had unsupervised it would have been dangerous physically.
Just sorta my thoughts on it today.
And yes...once i drink I do seem to loose the ability to make a rational decision to stop..plus i drank all day and night so the physical withdrawal with out a drink made me unable to have enough will to suffer the withdrawal and if i had unsupervised it would have been dangerous physically.
Just sorta my thoughts on it today.
Knucklehead
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Davenport, WA
Posts: 4,005
For me, there is an inverse correlation between the amount of alcohol I consume and the degree of control I have over my continued intake. I can have a couple and stop without too much difficulty, but after 4 or 5 it gets sketchy, and past that point I start to blackout. If I had pot to smoke, and I usually did, I would rarely get that far with alcohol. But if I had a couple today, I'd want a couple tomorrow, and a couple the next day...
Resident
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Posts: 4,150
I know 2 things for sure.
1. I have 100% control over whether I have a first drink or not.
2. If I have more than 2 drinks I am unlikely to stop until the drink is gone.
I have quit before for set period of times and started again when the period was over so I know I have the control over the first drink.
I have tried to moderate so I know that the second thing is true also.
This time I have decided to quit forever so it is a little trickier.
I think we all to a certain degree have been conditioned to believe that in order to quit that we must alter other things in our lives.
So far I am buying into this and for that reason I am doing some research as to what else I might have to do to stay sober.
I am only a few weeks in but so far I am leaning towards it is a simple matter of choosing whether to drink or use or not.
I was a daily meth user back in the 1970's and when I decided to quit I just quit and did the same with Hash 5 years ago.
Alcohol was always my DOC though because of the social aspect of it so I guess only time will tell.
1. I have 100% control over whether I have a first drink or not.
2. If I have more than 2 drinks I am unlikely to stop until the drink is gone.
I have quit before for set period of times and started again when the period was over so I know I have the control over the first drink.
I have tried to moderate so I know that the second thing is true also.
This time I have decided to quit forever so it is a little trickier.
I think we all to a certain degree have been conditioned to believe that in order to quit that we must alter other things in our lives.
So far I am buying into this and for that reason I am doing some research as to what else I might have to do to stay sober.
I am only a few weeks in but so far I am leaning towards it is a simple matter of choosing whether to drink or use or not.
I was a daily meth user back in the 1970's and when I decided to quit I just quit and did the same with Hash 5 years ago.
Alcohol was always my DOC though because of the social aspect of it so I guess only time will tell.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Htown, baby!
Posts: 384
AA might very well be right about the powerless thing, but "powerless" is not a scientific term: it has no established definition and wasnt arrived at empirically, as we can see. And you can't carry out studies to prove if "alcoholics" are "powerless" because alcoholic is not a scientific term either, since alcohol problems traverse the sprectrum from problem drinkers, alcohol dependents, to late stage addicts, and many people from all these groups identify themselves as "alcoholics". I only accept the loosest definition of powerless, meaning that you have a growing problem with a substance or action, but I dont buy its AA definition.
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
