Hating Alcohol
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Join Date: Jun 2012
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Hating Alcohol
Ok, so this one is a bit philosophical but I'd like to hear the thoughts of my sober SR colleagues: I find myself vacillating between "hating" alcohol (presumably as a means to reaffirm my desire to not drink) and just accepting that alcohol is nothing more than an inanimate liquid that I should not drink because it just does not mix well with me.
Do people here share this feeling of "animosity" towards alcohol (because of what it has taken from them) or do you look at it more as "whatever, it is what it is but I choose not to use it"?
Do people here share this feeling of "animosity" towards alcohol (because of what it has taken from them) or do you look at it more as "whatever, it is what it is but I choose not to use it"?
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Join Date: May 2012
Location: Wisconsin, USA
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Hate is a pretty strong word, even for an inanimate liquid. I respect alchol for what it is....a powerful drug that for some reason I cannot partake of anymore. I accept that many (most) people can consume it moderately and don't begrudge them for it. I guess I think of alcohol now like an allergen almost....for most people it's not a problem, but for me it is.
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 93
Allergen. I like that.
In the past, Ive motivated myself to do difficult things by becoming hateful and angry and letting that anger fuel me. That technique has mostly worked. Most people would agree ive accomplished a lot.... but ive come to realize the byproduct of burning all that anger is toxic and detrimental to living a happy fulfilling life.
In the past, Ive motivated myself to do difficult things by becoming hateful and angry and letting that anger fuel me. That technique has mostly worked. Most people would agree ive accomplished a lot.... but ive come to realize the byproduct of burning all that anger is toxic and detrimental to living a happy fulfilling life.
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: The Deep South
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I've never been able to vilify alcohol. And I don't vilify myself for having been addicted to it either. I even have a problem imagining the AV as a "beast" in AVRT.
I see it as a genetic, environmental, and behavioral problem. I can't reduce it to an "evil liquid" or "the devil's juice."
Plus, my grandmother took that attitude and I always thought it was ignorant, and a simplification of quite a complicated issue.
I see it as a genetic, environmental, and behavioral problem. I can't reduce it to an "evil liquid" or "the devil's juice."
Plus, my grandmother took that attitude and I always thought it was ignorant, and a simplification of quite a complicated issue.
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Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 1,219
Good question..
For me, yes I did hate alcohol towards the end of my drinking. I knew what it was doing to my life, and even though I realized how much it was ruining my life, and how much I wished I no longer drank....I still drank.
It had gotten to the point where I would raise the glass of wine to take a sip, stop and look at the glass with disdain...think to myself how I didn't even like the taste anymore and didn't want it, then I would go ahead and drink it anyway:-(
So yes...I hated the stuff!
Now...at almost 20 months sober, and finally feeling like alcohol no longer runs the show...I don't hate it anymore. Now that I have taken control of my life and come to see it's just something that can't fit into my life if I want real happiness, the hate is gone:-)
For me, yes I did hate alcohol towards the end of my drinking. I knew what it was doing to my life, and even though I realized how much it was ruining my life, and how much I wished I no longer drank....I still drank.
It had gotten to the point where I would raise the glass of wine to take a sip, stop and look at the glass with disdain...think to myself how I didn't even like the taste anymore and didn't want it, then I would go ahead and drink it anyway:-(
So yes...I hated the stuff!
Now...at almost 20 months sober, and finally feeling like alcohol no longer runs the show...I don't hate it anymore. Now that I have taken control of my life and come to see it's just something that can't fit into my life if I want real happiness, the hate is gone:-)
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Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Boston
Posts: 39
My knee-jerk reaction is to be semantic and pedantic on the question. It's a useful solvent, antiseptic, fuel and accelerant. I can't hate it for the good that it does.
But I hate what I have seen it do to people. To their hearts, their minds, their bodies. To their families. To their bank accounts. To their freedom. I hate what it's done to me.
But then - I did it to me, too. I used it incorrectly and I let it grab me, and then it was over from there. It has both the potent ability to dissolve materials and dissolve dreams. Which one you use it for is ultimately up to you, not the drug. It has a wicked power, though. It must be approached with care, or for many not at all.
But I hate what I have seen it do to people. To their hearts, their minds, their bodies. To their families. To their bank accounts. To their freedom. I hate what it's done to me.
But then - I did it to me, too. I used it incorrectly and I let it grab me, and then it was over from there. It has both the potent ability to dissolve materials and dissolve dreams. Which one you use it for is ultimately up to you, not the drug. It has a wicked power, though. It must be approached with care, or for many not at all.
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Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Boston
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Originally Posted by Eauchiche 
I am 9 months into my AlAnon program, and yes I HATE it.
If I were king, the first thing to go would be any alcohol and other mind-altering drugs.
I know this seems radical, but just being honest here....
If I were king, the first thing to go would be any alcohol and other mind-altering drugs.
I know this seems radical, but just being honest here....
Harm reduction, education, support... those are the best things that we can do for one another.
I totally understand your sentiment though!
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Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Montana
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I have more anger at the marketing and corporations pushing this stuff out there and masking what it truly is. Please drink responsibly my $!?
Most of my friends who don't have a problem always drink too much anyway and some of them drink and drive, do drugs they wouldn't normally do, and still do damage to themselves. But just don't drink all the time like I did. I don't hate alcohol but thee are some evil forces behind it. On of the most misquoted lines of all time is "money is the root of all evil" it's actually "the love of money is the root of all evil" those few words make a difference. The love of money makes people turn a blind eye to the damage their product causes. Ka Ching!
Most of my friends who don't have a problem always drink too much anyway and some of them drink and drive, do drugs they wouldn't normally do, and still do damage to themselves. But just don't drink all the time like I did. I don't hate alcohol but thee are some evil forces behind it. On of the most misquoted lines of all time is "money is the root of all evil" it's actually "the love of money is the root of all evil" those few words make a difference. The love of money makes people turn a blind eye to the damage their product causes. Ka Ching!
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Join Date: May 2012
Location: canada
Posts: 7,242
no animosity towards a liquid here.
it took nothing from me. i did.
gave me nothing, either, really. good thing i figured that out
not to say, though, that there weren't times i've hated the 'condition' of alcoholism. both in me and others.
it took nothing from me. i did.
gave me nothing, either, really. good thing i figured that out
not to say, though, that there weren't times i've hated the 'condition' of alcoholism. both in me and others.
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Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Ontario
Posts: 31
I just hate that I drank it once
My first drink was at 13 years old, I was getting drunk regularly by 15 and most of my teen years I drank heavily until I was about 30. I was a person who should of had one of those shirts that said add alcohol to get idiot.
Even though I survived all the troubles and heartache alcohol created for me or should I say when alcohol removed any brain power or common sense fro me, I can't hate it because I drank it. Never once was i sitting there minding my own business and a bottle of beer opened and poured itself into my mouth.
And I don't hate me either, we are brainwashed by society from a very young age that alcohol and all legal drugs are what we need to be cool, fit in and succeed.
I honestly believe my problem with alcohol is a mind thing, my body doesn't feel bad when I don't drink just my mind sometimes tries to tell me I need it.
So it's been 7 days for me and I am using my mind to remove all the brainwashing society has thrown at me for the last 54 years to stay sober one day at a time.
So I don't hate alcohol but it's a poison that hates me, who needs friends like that.
My rant for the day,
Even though I survived all the troubles and heartache alcohol created for me or should I say when alcohol removed any brain power or common sense fro me, I can't hate it because I drank it. Never once was i sitting there minding my own business and a bottle of beer opened and poured itself into my mouth.
And I don't hate me either, we are brainwashed by society from a very young age that alcohol and all legal drugs are what we need to be cool, fit in and succeed.
I honestly believe my problem with alcohol is a mind thing, my body doesn't feel bad when I don't drink just my mind sometimes tries to tell me I need it.
So it's been 7 days for me and I am using my mind to remove all the brainwashing society has thrown at me for the last 54 years to stay sober one day at a time.
So I don't hate alcohol but it's a poison that hates me, who needs friends like that.
My rant for the day,
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Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 5,785
I guess I am ambivalent about alcohol itself. It was my own decision to drink. I could have quit earlier, but didn't, so I put the blame on myself. I don't want to drink any more since I feel much better without it and felt like a slave to it when I was.
I don't like what it does to others as well, but they also have a choice.
One of the things that I don't think is emphasized enough if the damage alcohol can cause to the body. I think I would have rethought it when I was younger if I had known about all the possible consequences beyond the liver.
I don't like what it does to others as well, but they also have a choice.
One of the things that I don't think is emphasized enough if the damage alcohol can cause to the body. I think I would have rethought it when I was younger if I had known about all the possible consequences beyond the liver.
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Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Midwest
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I don't hate it. I don't hate myself for my choices either. They were mine to make and they've shaped the person I've become. I've learned more about myself and my relation to others in the process of getting sober than I learned in most of my fifty years on this planet. That's better than a lot of "normal" or non drinkers can say who aren't challenged to think differently about themselves. I may regret some things I've done but all I can do is accept that I can't change them, I can learn from them and move forward.
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Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Midwest
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It makes me sick thinking about how many lives alcohol has destroyed. What makes me more sick is the average person never even thinks about this. Alcohol related deaths are huge on this planet. However it is an industry that is legal in most countries. I think it is perfectly alright to hate something that kills people.
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