Serenidad

Do NON-alcoholics CRAVE alcohol? You know....that intense urge to drink no matter what is going on? That feeling that you NEED to drink NOW despite obligations etc? That strong physical pull towards alcohol even though you promised yourself you wouldn't drink?

Just wanted your feedback. I'm not questioning whether or not I am an alcoholic....just curious if NON-alcoholics crave alcohol the way I described above?

Thx & happy Monday! Ugh...I hate Mondays. Haha

ArtFriend

I think one of the defining features of an alcoholic is that craving and urge to drink. So I don't think a non-alcoholic person would have these issues.

IOAA2

NO. that obsession is reserved only for alcoholics as far as I know. I don’t think even heavy drinkers have the intense needy feelings alcoholics have. JMO

BE WELL

TopEndChick

You ask because you're an alcoholic and really want to know. Let me know when you find out!

joyfullysober

I have some non-alcoholic friends that really love to drink, and I think they have the craving once in a while. The difference I see between them and us is the ability to stop drinking once started.

Dee74

I think I've answered this before...

when my friends or family say they 'need a drink' from what I can see, their need compared to what my need was is like an ice cube to an iceberg.

I once walked in a torrential storm 30 mins there and back to the liquor store. I had cracked ribs at the time.

Sounds like the set up for a joke but it's really not...it happened.

That kind of drive, need and desire - I think that's something normal drinkers never experience.
D

ubntubnt

I lot ice cream and am capable of craving it. Would I walk 30 mins in a storm for it? Nope. Would I walk 1 hour in a storm for alcohol? Hang on while I get my coat.....

Serenidad

???

Serenidad

Wow! No THAT'S determination. Haha. I climbed into a dumpster and cut & bruised my leg while doing it to retrieve some un-opened alcohol I had thrown away the night before when I "quit" drinking for good. Lol. What makes it even more pathetic...is I was on my cell phone while I was climbing into the dumpster and dropped my phone. I has to climb back in and find my phone bruising and cutting my leg again. Shhhh! Don't tell anyone I did that! Haha

FreeOwl

I don't know.


I'm an alcoholic.

I can't tell you what another's experience might be.

Maybe we should go to a forum for people who don't have addiction problems with alcohol and ask them.....

Oh... Wait....

Serenidad

Haha funny Owl! I was just wondering because there were people having a debate about it in an AA meeting last night. I thought it was stupid but I wanted your opinion.

doggonecarl

We have the same difficulty comprehending NOT craving as non-alcoholics have with comprehending why we just can't STOP drinking.

So don't try.

ScottFromWI

Probably because they are all alcoholics and cannot understand how one can NOT crave, as Carl points out. If you thought the debate was stupid, perhaps you could have interjected with a question about how people DEAL with their own cravings? Sometimes when a conversation gets stuck it needs a voice of reason to get it back on track.

Serenidad

I am just listening in meetings right now. At least for the first 90 days. :-)

Nowsthetime

I'm an alcoholic and I never craved it. It was that once I started I couldn't stop. See, we are all different...

twentyfive

Dee, with well over 100,000 posts it is no surprise that you've answered something before. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you were one of the leading experts on alcoholism and dealing with alcoholics in the world. I'm serious about that. Ever thought about making it your job? Or maybe it already is.

The torrential storm thing sounds familiar. I haven't done anything that extreme, but that's probably because there are never torrential storms over here. And I've never broken anything.

But I've gone to great lengths to get booze. Anything it took (except illegal, I really wouldn't go there), being severely distraught when it began to look like I couldn't get the booze I wanted so bad.

I'm so glad that (and a lot of other things) is over.

SeekingGrowth

I am not an alcoholic. Sometimes I have a particularly frustrating day at work, or I have accomplished A LOT at work and I feel worn out. On those days, I WANT a drink when I get home, and I may even be thinking about it on the drive home. And usually on those days, I will have a glass of wine when I get home, maybe two. And then I'm done. I don't crave being drunk - in fact, I don't want to be drunk. I think it's the ritual I want more than the effect of the alcohol - I associate having my glass of wine and a little dish of olives as my wind-down, "just for me" time.

SeekingGrowth

Serenidad, I wanted to follow up a little on my response to your question. You've asked these kinds of questions before, and I think I've responded to one of them before. I can understand why it's interesting to you. There are all kinds of books out there written by addicts explaining to the world how being high or drunk feels to them, but I haven't seen anything explaining to people struggling with addiction how being drunk or high feels to the non-addict. I'm reading a book right now by William Cope Moyers called "Now What?", in which he notes that many addicts or alcoholics vividly remember their first drink or drug because the discovery of the effects of that drink or drug was profound to them. I've read memoirs written by other people in recovery explaining that feelings induced by the drink or drug at the beginning seem life-changing in a positive way - soothing away negativity, cares, worry, and turning them (in their own estimation) into better versions of themselves.

Alcohol/drugs do NOT affect the non-addict that way. Do we, to varying degrees, like the feeling? Probably yes, but compared to the way YOU like the feeling, it is pretty much "meh." At least that is my experience. When I was younger, I liked to get a little drunk when I was out with a bunch of people because I was shy and awkward in superficial social settings and the alcohol was a "social lubricant" for me. Now that I"m older, I am much more comfortable with who I am, and I don't like getting drunk or high, period.

There is all kinds of evidence-based research out there indicating that alcohol and other drugs literally affect the brains of addicts differently than it affects the brains of non-addicts. Our "reward pathways" aren't affected in the same way. Since drinking and drugging are much less rewarding to us, it stands to reason that we wouldn't crave these substances the way an addict would. They just don't do for us what they do for you.

Jsbodhi

I'm similar, couldn't stop when i started. I craved it but I could ignore it and it would pass pretty quickly. I craved the de stressing aspect of it the most.

Xtreem

No