Nashville1

Hi,

I'm 36 and have been drinking regularly for about 4-5 years. It has always been beer, with the occasional shot when I'm out. I average about 4-6 beers nightly. I noticed I was drinking to much so I stopped drinking on the weekdays. That wasn't hard. I really cut back, but then on 12/08 (my birthday), I got drunk, blacked out, and got into a fight with my house. (The house won). I guess I was mad at god for giving me OCD, and taking my cat. I don't remember most of this. I ended up punching my garage wall. My wife was worried enough to ask one of my friends over. He came over and I calmed down.

I went and got an assessment and they recommended outpatient therapy. I'm willing to go,Mobutu wonder if I really need to? I'm not physically addicted to alcohol, but I can see how I have bad coping skills. I usually drink to get rid of the anxiety that accompanies my OCD. Beer has been a crutch for many years. I just recently started blacking out after changing medication. I also notice I went from a happy drunk to a sad, angry drunk. I hate the idea of never being able to drink again, but if it needs to be done, so be it.

I'm asking for advice of whether out patient therapy is worth it or a waste of time? What will I learn vs. what I would learn from a book, etc....

I have noticed my Cymbalta is working better since I stopped drinking 9 days ago!

Thanks for everyone's time!

Jason

Anna

Jason, I think if out-patient rehab is recommended, you should go. I don't know what you would expect to learn, but hopefully you would find some healthy ways to deal with the stresses in your life.

bi11fish

What can it hurt?? I can't speak to what you might learn, but I could always ignore what I read since I was not accountable to anyone.

I may have a lot of knowledge but I have learned NOTHING until I change.

MIRecovery

I went to IOP twice needless to say one was less successful than the other. I highly recommend it. Learned a lot and it was good to be part of a group. In the end the only thing that kept me sober long term was AA but by no means was IOP a waste. I found it to be a safe place to discuss your fears, trials, and tribulations. Sort of a stop over place between active alcoholism and sobriety

Dee74

Jason

Let's not forget you punched your house...you were violent enough to obviously concern your wife - really, I think anything that could possibly help that not happening again is a good thing, and well worth your time and effort

D

anew

I found IOP to be very helpful. It certainly couldn't hurt anything.

hypochondriac

I love books and tend to have the attitude that I can do everything myself, but there is no replacement for talking to other people about this stuff. Alcohol problems tend to be very isolating and our own thinking on the subject can tend to be a bit warped to say the least. I'd go. It certainly won't do you any harm x

Nashville1

Thanks everyone! I start Thursday!!!