Silverback4

Hope it’s okay to share this here, I thought it may help a few or many and it may be something that has been mentioned before,

I watched a documentary last night called Risky Drinking.
I am in the UK so it was aired on Sky Atlantic and is available on catch up or download until the end of December, if you are a Sky customer. I am sure it could be found elsewhere also.
The reason I post is that I found it interesting, helpful and frightening all at the same time but I am glad I watched it.

It follows various people in the US who all suffer from Alcohol Abuse Disorder ( as the documentary lists it) to varying degrees and at various stages.

The only thing I would caution is that if anyone here struggles to watch others drinking without it causing you discomfort or distress then please do not watch it as there is a lot of drinking going on throughout.

I know that like myself a lot of people in early recovery can be on the hunt for knowledge or identification in any form so just wanted to share in case it helps anyone.

Dee74

If its the HBO doco, its on the tube of you.

I'd echo Silverbacks trigger warning - for that reason I'm not going to link to it..

D

GotTheBlues

It was an interesting doc, for sure.

One thing that struck me: The incredible degree to which alcoholics live in denial and the extreme difficultly they have of truly accepting that they simply cannot drink. None of the subjects (except the older guy at the end, Neil) seemed to have truly accepted they were alcoholics. They were "starring" in a documentary about alcoholism but still didn't seem to get it.

I don't speak from a position of judgement as I've surely been guilty of the same kind of thing, but nearly all the people in this doc seemed to be really lacking in self-awareness. That was the frightening part, I think.

Ilse

I watched it too. I thought it was well done, with a variety of different types of people. I think stories like these are so much more effective than some expert simply lecturing about the risks of drinking, and the signs of alcoholism and "safe drinking guide lines." And even more effective than those hideous intervention shows, or Dr Phil.

Even the ones in the documentary, who still seemed in denial about being able to keep drinking, were never the less fairly candid about the problems it was causing them now, especially that one lady who belonged to a women's weekly wine drinking club. I could identify with her bewilderment about being the only one in the group who just can't seem to "do it right." I also know plenty of women, like the club's main hostess, for whom drinking is a favorite pastime, and yet somehow they keep it under control (for now. I'd be curious to know what she's like in another five or ten years.) But her judgemental attitude toward her alcoholic friend in the group, despite her own preoccupation with drinking, is pretty darn familiar.

I had a group of friends like that, and I had to stop hanging out with them. It wasnt that hard, really, because if you arent drinking, and just sit there with your diet Pepsi, sometimes you are amazed how boring the conversation is, and that you don't actually have a whole lot in common. There is one lady I still talk to, but I tend to stop by at times I know they probably aren't drinking, like 11am on a Tuesday, not 4pm on Saturday.

Frank14

Thanks! I'll watch this tonight.

Forward12

I think pretty much every alcoholic is, or at one point was in complete denial that they have a problem, that they can stop any time they want to, etc,.. There is huge ego when it comes to the booze, that's for sure.
Some never get past this. Even people such as Neil with severe alcoholism and countless detoxes/hospitalizations that know they have a problem, but just keep right on drinking.
Otherwise I thought it was a good documentary showing different phases and scenarios of alcohol abuse. Would really like to see a part 2 as it was a bit brief IMO.

Silverback4

That’s exactly what I meant when I said I found it a bit frightening.

SoulShine8

Thanks for posting this. and also thanks for putting a warning about it may be a trigger. I never really thought about that. I used to watch Intervention all the time and drink. I would binge watch and binge drink while watching....
I thought about it and did go ahead and watch it just now. It was interesting some of the things that I related to and how some didn't at all. I think everyone would feel for all of them but esp the last one. I was worried about him dying. I was rooting for all of them to win (quit drinking) just as I always do at the end of the Intervention shows.

Maudcat

I saw it, found it powerful and scary.
I did like the explanations re degrees of dependence and addiction.

Silverback4

I know what you mean. I felt a lot of despair for that poor soul Neil.
Tragic to see him at the end after seeing him at 30 days sober taking his grandson to the zoo. Even at 30 days the light of life you could see in the guy was light years away from the suffering Neil.

When I started thinking more clearly about my own addiction towards the end of my drinking and when I was really ready to surrender, I remember saying something to my better half which seems to have stuck in her head which was that I found “The denial is actually worse than the drinking”
It was a bit of a moment of clarity for me to face up to the fact that I had in fact been in complete denial for a long time. Weird feeling to feel that your own brain has tricked you when you weren’t looking but glad I finally got it.

sickofthiscrap

I just watched this. Thanks for posting. That scene with Mike and his kid... he was toasted and slurring and telling his kid why it would be great for him to come back and live with him. And you can just see his kid thinking, "God...this guy is an idiot". Heartbreaking.

I liked that this doco talks about a spectrum of severity. A lot of people here talk about how they want to try moderation. This doco makes clear that moderation is only likely to work for people already low on the spectrum. Say that person who occasionally drinks to much at social events and wants to pull back. I daresay most people here don't fit that category.

Forward12

He had a very codependent wife which would have been great if they elaborated more on.
There are many rehab centers out there just to take your money and that seems to be what happened with him entering a "moderation" treatment, which of course failed. Though I do appreciate the insight that moderation does not work for alcoholics.

JustTony

Thank you.

I know I wont have a problem watching this documentary. I know if I was in the bars or houses with these people and the booze I would have an issue at this stage of my sobriety.

This will be my night time watching this evening - cuddling my dog - with a cup of red bush tea.

Arpeggioh

It was a bit "triggery" for me: not the young party girls downing shots in bars, that was never my thing...but the sad, slurring dad swilling rum on his patio gave me a shudder of recognition, and I found it difficult to watch. I was well on my way to being Neil, the very sick man at the end, and I'm guessing that poor guy is probably dead now. Pretty serious stuff...

Wigglyworm

Thanks for posting this. It was interesting to hear them talking about a spectrum of alcohol abuse disorder. I find that a useful distinction vs the black and white of alcoholic vs non-alcoholic.

Really felt for all the people on there, just heartbreaking watching Neal’s struggle at the end.

Silverback4

I know what you mean, especially with the stigma that can come from the word alcoholic. Have struggled with this myself at points.
However the first step of AA really helped me.
Powerless over alcohol - check!
Life has become unmanageable - Check!

Also upsetting my loved ones, hiding booze, manipulating situations so I could drink, becoming selfish, drinking alone, drinking to blackout, drinking in the morning and the list could go on and on.

So it has become black and white for me at least.
When I drink things go bad.

Wigglyworm

I know what you mean Silverback, watching the documentary it’s hard to deny there are some serious issues going on and the term alcoholic is appropriate. For me it’s sort of the opposite way round. My life is in pretty good shape and I don’t tick most of the boxes so it’s easy for me to hide from the term alcoholic, but I can’t deny I’m on the scale of risky drinking and I need to do something about it before I land up ticking all the boxes.

KG77

^^^This. I wonder how many of us did/do that....😓

JustTony

Just watched it.

The two guys were off the scale (especially Neal) and I hope, yet doubt, they have found sobriety.

It really makes you think hard about what stage you don't want to get to.

PeacefulRain

Well apparently as of January 2017 Neal has more than a year of sobriety.

The Immortal Alcoholic: Interview with Neal