Number 1 Reason
Guest
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: near Toronto, Ontario
Posts: 377
Number 1 Reason
I was just thinking about it - what is the Number #1 reason why people drink? (if they have to put it into words, apart from "I am powerless over alcohol...", that is).
Kelly
Kelly
Life the gift of recovery!
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Home is where the heart is
Posts: 7,061
I drank because I am an alcoholic pure and simple. I could utilize the many excuses I used when I drank such as I am angry, I am upset, I am happy, someone pi**ed me off, work was horrible, the sun is shining, I like the taste of it, etc... but those were just excuses that kept me from facing the real problem which is I am an alcoholic and had to find a solution to that problem.
Eyes Open, No Fear
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Canada
Posts: 287
This is a good question. I drank because I didn't like me. I didn't like my feelings or thoughts and didn't know how to deal with them. And at times I didn't have any feelings. Being drunk just felt good.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Baton Rouge, La.
Posts: 15,236
If I copped a resentment towards someone
or something not going my way and Im madder
than heck, then drinking would numb me. It
would help me escape for a moment, hours of
the "red azz" I was feeling.
But you know what, drinking didnt solve the problem
because i awoke to a horrible hangover and was still
po'd.
Drinking was just a temporary solution to my problems
and didnt solve a thing except offering more misery
for my pain.
Of course, that was just one of many reasons I use
to drink. Today, some 21 yrs later, I have tools of
recovery to help resolve my problem with better
rewarding results.
Thanks Kelly for offering a good topic. Much appreciated
from down south.
or something not going my way and Im madder
than heck, then drinking would numb me. It
would help me escape for a moment, hours of
the "red azz" I was feeling.
But you know what, drinking didnt solve the problem
because i awoke to a horrible hangover and was still
po'd.
Drinking was just a temporary solution to my problems
and didnt solve a thing except offering more misery
for my pain.
Of course, that was just one of many reasons I use
to drink. Today, some 21 yrs later, I have tools of
recovery to help resolve my problem with better
rewarding results.
Thanks Kelly for offering a good topic. Much appreciated
from down south.
12-Step Recovered Alkie
Join Date: May 2010
Location: West Bloomfield, MI
Posts: 5,797
Because it treated alcoholism, in my case. It was the only thing I could do that, for a little while, really made me feel "all right." Looking for that sense of ease and comfort....
Unfortunately, it was becoming increasingly difficult to hit that "happy place" anymore (towards the end) and it was pretty-much drinking to oblivion because that was just the best I could manage. For the last couple years, I'd bet 50% of my drinking was "against my will" - meaning, I didn't want to get loaded.....I really didn't want to "do it again".....but I would anyway. I lost the ability to choose when to drink.
Unfortunately, it was becoming increasingly difficult to hit that "happy place" anymore (towards the end) and it was pretty-much drinking to oblivion because that was just the best I could manage. For the last couple years, I'd bet 50% of my drinking was "against my will" - meaning, I didn't want to get loaded.....I really didn't want to "do it again".....but I would anyway. I lost the ability to choose when to drink.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Singapore
Posts: 737
I received absolutely no pleasure in my drinking for the last 3 years. None. No buzz, no happy time, no $hits and giggles at all. Just me buying booze and -within the hour- me sick, $h!tfaced, and hating my life.
I drank because otherwise my blood would boil and my brain would explode and my thoughts would turn from dark to dangerous.
Just sayin'.
I drank because otherwise my blood would boil and my brain would explode and my thoughts would turn from dark to dangerous.
Just sayin'.
Guest
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: The Deep South
Posts: 14,636
Originally Posted by DayTrader 
Because it treated alcoholism, in my case. It was the only thing I could do that, for a little while, really made me feel "all right." Looking for that sense of ease and comfort....
Unfortunately, it was becoming increasingly difficult to hit that "happy place" anymore (towards the end) and it was pretty-much drinking to oblivion because that was just the best I could manage. For the last couple years, I'd bet 50% of my drinking was "against my will" - meaning, I didn't want to get loaded.....I really didn't want to "do it again".....but I would anyway. I lost the ability to choose when to drink.
Unfortunately, it was becoming increasingly difficult to hit that "happy place" anymore (towards the end) and it was pretty-much drinking to oblivion because that was just the best I could manage. For the last couple years, I'd bet 50% of my drinking was "against my will" - meaning, I didn't want to get loaded.....I really didn't want to "do it again".....but I would anyway. I lost the ability to choose when to drink.
Editor
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Pensacola, Florida
Posts: 1,516
In a nutshell. I drank because I could. I liked the way it made me feel. Then in my late thirties....I dadn't hit the happy place in a long time and hated the way it made me feel. It was no longer a matter of fun. It was who I was for many years unfortunately. It overtook me. Whew. I am glad that chapter is over.
Dave
Dave
Guest
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: The Deep South
Posts: 14,636
Originally Posted by binderdonedat
I drank because otherwise my blood would boil and my brain would explode and my thoughts would turn from dark to dangerous.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,378
Are you saying they don't get a buzz from it at all? I had no idea, if that's the case.
Obviously some of us pushed the envelope of the drinking experience to ridiculous extremes...
The last years of my drinking weren't about pleasure - they were about desperately trying not to feel the very real horror I felt when I was sober.
Even in the beginning tho, my drinking wasn't so much about pleasure - it was about loosening up and letting go enough so that I might feel some pleasure...there's a difference there, I think.
Obviously there is no one size fits all answer
D
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