MrV

I sually i stop for a week, every 2 months or so just to see if i can do it. I realize i can, so i drink again.

Right now I have not been drinking for a month and I am fine, no urge to drink at all but i get bored and a little angry. angry over silly mishaps from years ago. I stopped drinking hard A months ago but I switched to 3-4 beers a night, is that really bad? In other words if i can just drink a few beers and nothing else, is there any harm?

1) Am I just an angry person who drinks to forget?
2) Has alcohol messed me up so now i sit here and get angry over nothing?
3) Is this what alcoholism is?

Thank you and any help would be appreciated. :bounce

CAPTAINZING2000

any time you have to question your drinking habits, you probably have a problem.

Try drinking only 2 drinks no more for a year. See how you do with that.

If, you can't control it, an it controls you, you do have a drinking problem.


There's varying degrees of alcoholism. It does get worse though after prolonged drinking for many years. If, the loss of jobs and families don't get you, your health will.

Honestly, most of us keep trying this over an over again expecting a different result and it's always the same>

Indiepie

:sorryI am feeling the same at the moment. Questioning if I have a problem. I am only 26, but alcoholism runs in my family on both sides. Last night I went out and (although I only remember parts) basically had a breakdown. My friends and brother were trying to take me home and I was screaming & punching them crying. I have suffered with depression for the past 6 months. And have found myself drinking more and more to forget. My family spoke to me today and said that I have to stop and that they are worried about me. So today I poured out all of the alcohol in the house and have decided that I have to do something to change

MrV

good dicision indie. I am 30 and my depression went away around 25! right about when i was really drinking!!! I dunno if alcohol covered up the depression or did i just grow out of it? I think 25-30 is when most depressions go away???? mine was just gone all on its own I dunno why. I think thats when you really step into adulthood, you either get over silly things that bother you, or you just become comfortably numb to the world

mtnmagic

I want to welcome both of you, MrV and Indiepie. This is a great place for knowledge and support if your drinking is troubling you. I am at 22 days sober today. It hasn't been easy, but my life is slowly getting better.

Hope to get to know both of you better on this forum.

CAPTAINZING2000

There is true happiness outside a bottle,

First of all, you need to get to the root of your problem.

Do you like yourself?

If, the answer is yes, why do you drink to excess??

Break the word intoxicate down Basically, it means to poison yourself.

Doesn't sound pretty.

Far as depression. Stay away from drinking for a month or so. Try getting more exercise, read positive uplifting books. If, this doesn't help, try and seek medical help. If, you suffer from depression and you drink, it only compounds your problems

Rusty Zipper

MrV

IMO...

yes

yes

yes

who better then a alcoholic can see if another is?

doesn't matter tho...

it has to come from within the answer...

good wishes MrV

rz

CarolD

MrV and Indiepie.....

Welcome to our recovery community.
...

I do hope you find a way to enjoy
life without alcohol.....I certainly have.
What a concept...

resistra

Strange how it's always one of these: Bored, Angry, Depressed, or Can't Sleep that triggers these nutty drinkathons.

Freedom1990

"Men and women drink essentially because they like the effect produced by alcohol. The sensation is so elusive that, while they admit it is injurious, they cannot after a time differentiate the true from the false. To them, their alcoholic life seems the only normal one. They are restless, irritable, and discontented, unless they can again experience the sense of ease and comfort which comes at once by taking a few drinks--drinks which they see others taking with impunity."
~Big Book 4th edition-pgs. xxviii-xxix

That hit me right between the eyes the first time I read it, and continues to do so to this day.

Jersey Nonny

Only you have the right to label yourself an alcoholic. However...

Quote:

The duck theory says that if it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck, swims like a duck, quacks like a duck, and is seen hanging around with other ducks ... it is probably a duck.

It doesn't matter how much or how often you drink, but what effect the alcoholic has when you do. Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired are triggers for the alcoholic to beware of. And, if you're already prone to depression...remember that alcohol is a depressant!

warrens

3-4 beers/night was my friend. After all, I have a very high stress job, right? Oh, and 6-10 on the weekend. Oh, and the DUI I just "earned."

I haven't a clue whether you are an alcoholic. I know what I am. I know what I've learned from this community. Actually, this community "enabled" me to self discovery.

For years I struggled with the fact that my drinking was minuscule in "alcoholic" terms. What a curse it turned out to be. All the internal negotiations and definitions.

So late in realizing that alcohol in smaller amounts affects me in the same way that bottles affects others. BFD, I've learned. I am not powerless TO drink, I am powerless WHEN I drink. And certain aspects of my life were unmanageable.

I agree with those who say that if you spend a lot of time thinkin' about your drinkin' something is amiss. If you are thinkin' about your drinkin' at least part of your thought processes are "unmanageable." Otherwise you'd be thinking about sex (what "normal" men think about, right women?). Sorry for the attempt at humor.

Do you need a definition? Unfortunately, I waited until I did. One of the few things I THINK I know in this is, if you ARE an alcoholic, you will one day find that out. It will become very clear. Some day. Wanna wait? Most of us here waited.

See ya now or see ya later... Best to you.

warrens

Mattcake

Hi MrV and Indy

Welcome to the community I agree, it's not about how much you drink, but how and why. I know people who drink heavily most evenings and don't consider themselves alcoholics, and probably aren't. Only you can decide. But please be weary of labels though, they are not *you*, they're just an adjective. Try not to define yourself with just one word.

That doesn't mean you have to become and alcoholic yourself Although a genetic component is suspected to make people lean towards alcoholism, it hasn't been proven so far. And, in any case, if you don't drink the chances of developing alcoholism are pretty much zero I believe. It's not like a genetically transmitted disease where you have no say on your fate. You do have a choice.

Welcome again, ask away, the people here are really kind and supportive

Matt

MrV

That is very helpful to me, thank you.

StandFast

I agree with Waren; its not how much you drink, but what it does to me when I do drink. The last time I drand 3 or 4 drinks messed my up for days.

nogard

Welcome to SR and stick around while you work out your next step.

Kevin