Untoxicated

What makes you think so T-man?

You know, if your thread makes a difference in the life of just one person reading it then I'd consider that a success. You very well might be the unsung hero of the lurkers, you just don't know it because...well, they're lurking; they could be chanting your name as I type this.

I appreciate this thread and the responses that came with it.

Now then, who wants chowder?

Nirvana1

Regarding this topic I actually saw an episode of Family Guy that was a little help to the public. It was about how Stewie, the baby, got into the dogs alcohol and at first thought he had hit the jackpot. He was drinking and having fun all the time and the next thing you know he is a drunken mess. It shows him pathetic and feeling like crap all the time. By the end he realizes drinking is what is destroying him and then he gives it up. Quite helpful in a funny way IMO.

Danae

I agree about not knowing who is reading and appreciating the threads. I lurked for over a month and got SO much from lots of people. And because I wasn't a member, I never commented or "thanked" anyone.

recycle

Family Guy is actually written by manatees:

Prima Donna Manatees (Season 10, Episode 4) - Video Clips - South Park Studios

Stevie1

Sorry Hevyn...I was totally not meaning to make it sound like I was attacking anyone in particular, or alcoholics in particular...I was speaking in very broad terms about popular culture and the influence it has generally. Which I find odd, but I had little exposure to that sort of thing in my formative years and am still baffled by the attraction & influence of things like TV shows, sports, US and People magazine and things like that.

I get crabby when I don't "get" things, I guess.

I re-read Toronto's OP and follow-up and I think it's a good topic to consider.

PS I want chowder!

stephnc

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...that explains a lot!

Kmber2010

I'm with Least......no television here and honestly....am glad to be rid of that too....lol.

Hevyn

Stevie1 - Thanks! I agree with everything you said about the negative influences that come at us every day, from all directions. It's becoming ridiculous and damaging. I guess I'm defensive when it comes to alcoholism being made light of - even if it is presented as satire. So I need to work on not being so sensitive, I suppose.

Fandy

personally, I really enjoy the black humor from Family Guy and South Park...but I try not to take it seriously or allow myself to relate realistically...because then i would be in a world of poop-ala.

watsonc

I saw the episode - as always, that program sticks in my craw a bit but it full of satire. However, on this one, i hope that it at least made some viewers take stock, if only briefly, of their own alcohol consumption. It made me ponder mine - and how failed I am at moderation. if it was thought provoking then perhaps it wasn't all bad

Toronto68

Thanks, Watson, that's what I was trying to get at.

The comedic is rooted in serious business.

sailorjohn

Could be the writer(s) were told to tone it down a bit, the way you described the story, especially the part about tossing out half of the six pack to control the drinking, reads like a subversive little bit about someone with a drinking problem trying to control their drinking.

I'm sure that idea is going to go completely over the head of the average viewer.

In any event, it's just TeeVee.

picablue

Heh. I always did my drug in moderation. I was never noticeably high. No one knew about my addiction but me until I choose to ask for help quitting becuase I could not do it on my own. (I tried.)

My own husband was shocked. He was even in denial for a bit saying "I don't think you are so addicted you need to go in to treatment. You can't be you seem fine." (But, I was that addicted.)

I often have a hard time relating to the binge-drinking, all-night bender, near overdose type stories since I just never felt the urge to do that.

I'd take my poppy tea in the morning with my coffee. It would lift my depression and give me a little energy, day by day I had to take more and more, soon I found I could not stop without horrible withdraws.

So in THAT sense there was no moderation, I always increased (until I recognized that I needed to quit.) --

But, my addiction is every bit as bad as any other addiction and I'll never be able to have that tea again without a HUGE risk of forming a habit.

I think there are people who drink like this, they drink every day, they are never "out of control" in the sense that they are staggering around, but they are dependent and unable to stop.

The idea that people with drug problems are always getting really messed up prevented me from recognizing that I had a drug problem. I thought that since I was "moderate" and never blacked out or felt wacky that I could not possibly be an addict.

I was wrong.

Mcribb

I saw an episode where Peter hit his daughter with a baseball bat. Just let it go.

Toronto68

Are you kidding me?

I have a better idea of what to let go of.

spqr

I'm in two minds about this. On the one hand I agree its a pretty terrible message. If Peter became a crack addict, would the message be for him to continue with crack, but only in moderation?

However, its Family Guy, I just can't bring myself to take that show seriously on any level.

VolcomStone51

Haha I cannot believe this is a thread, I was quite upset at this episode on Sunday and I had no one to talk about it with. I didn't like how they named alcohol "Mr.Booze" and that he got to live after a drunk driving accident to learn that moderation is the key!! Anyway, I know that Family Guy is just a show and that I should let it go but it is just hard when they play things off like that. I guess that when you have suffered or may have been in court or gotten in an accident or have been in a really good meeting you are a bit sensitive.

-Have a great rest of your day everyone!

Toronto68

When I wrote the original post starting this thread, I couched my thoughts into a setting. The setting was a recent episode of Family Guy I watched.

I'm not asking for opinions about Family Guy or whether it's nasty and I'm not bemoaning "how they treated me" on that show. I love Family Guy, for good or ill.

I am simply bringing up for conversation the topic of MODERATION and how it is not the best choice or even a feasible choice for people who know they are alcoholics or people that are struggling and trying to make moderation work. To my knowledge, it never works when you are an alcoholic. Or it is so rare that you would never have met a person who managed to do it.

People bring up things to talk about all the time. The thoughts that start in their brains and end up on these alcoholism boards had their origin while driving home from work, while in the shower and while going for a walk while staying at a hotel on business and hundreds of other possibilitiesI have seen. All I did was include the fact that my thoughts on this perfectly valid and TYPICAL alcoholism topic started when I was watching a Family Guy episode.

Thank GOD people responded to show me other people were capable of the same wavelength.

And if it helps someone else, I won't regret starting the thread. I'm only halfway there of course.

LexieCat

Well, on a non-media note, I was a member of a support group called Moderation Management (I still participate in a sub-group for people who have decided moderation doesn't work for them--not unlike the people here). The idea is that people who are showing signs of having a drinking problem may be able to head off alcoholism or more serious problems by following a program to teach you to do that.

In my four and a half years (and subsequent two and a half years sober), I encountered a handful of people who appeared to have achieved the goal of moderate drinking on a long term basis (a year or longer). It's just my own unscientific observation--just like here, some people leave and you never know why--if they felt they were OK again or wound up spiraling down some more.

MM's official stance is that moderation should not be pursued as a goal if you are an alcoholic or if you find that in spite of trying, you are not able to achieve moderate drinking habits on regular, long-term basis. HOWEVER, the ideal of moderation is a "tease" for people like us. We keep thinking if we just tried HARDER, or did this or that, it would work for us. I tried for four and a half years with brief periods where I controlled my drinking fairly well, but I always slipped back. Eventually, the mantra "fall down seven times, get up eight" got pretty old. I was NOT getting better. I fooled myself for a long time, though, believing I was "working" on my drinking problem (which, while I wasn't looking, had turned into alcoholism).

I do think almost everyone "needs" to at least attempt moderate drinking, just to satisfy themselves that it doesn't work. Most of us, though, will keep up the experiment WAY beyond what common sense would dictate.

Danae

Agreed! It was certainly the case for me. Took me about 4 years to admit it would never work.

I still have one family member who is distressed that I don't drink anymore and asks me if I want something (alcoholic) every 10 minutes or so! It would have been much easier in these situations to just have one or two, but I'm done with that idea forever.