Is AA for me?
 

Hey all,

The reason I ask is that I am only a moderate drinker. However I WANT TO GIVE IT UP 100%. I don't drink much. However, something about alcohol does not sit well with my body anymore. If I have more than 3 or 4 drinks I get mild panic attacks the next day. So, I can't say I'm a true alcoholic, but I do want to commit myself to total abstinence. I must be addicted on some level though because I've been unable to quit on my own. My wife supports this decision but she also drinks quite a bit. Is AA right for me?

hi ZenWarrior
I'm not in AA but I think the only way you'll know whether it's right for you is to go along.

I don't think alcoholism is measured by how much we drink, so much as what happens to us when we do....how much we obsess about it when we're not, etc.

I'm sure you'll find people at AA to identify with - and here too, definitely :)
Welcome :)

D

"The only requirement for membership is a desire to quit drinking."

Sounds like you qualify. Does not require that you are an alcoholic.

Welcome! I have drank very little in my life, and I get something out of AA and other recovery groups. People have been very welcoming to me- and no one has told me that I have not drank enough to be there! (I do worry about it ever so often.)

And since you're not able to stop on your own even with mild panic attacks afterwards, that says something (it meets my definition of addiction). I think you're right that support groups might help. I like the face-to-face support. Although I like it here at SR too. Good luck!

Do you accept that alcohol has made your life umanagable? Not a requirement, but would you have trouble if you didn't drink those few drinks? Or do you just drink because your wife does? Do you have to drink?

It's not the amount you drink that makes you an alcoholic it is what it does to you, e.g. panic attacks etc...remember most alcoholics were moderate drinkers at some point but it does progress over the years...

Good to remember that everyone acts stupid whilst drunk, whether they be alcoholic or not, but the alcoholic, when they are stone cold sober, will keep taking that first drink knowing that there will be consequences whereas a non-alcoholic would not...this is why when some alcoholics get "sober" they are as crazy as when they were drinking, unless they do significant work to change...

I like to think of my drinking as self medication...when i got sober i had to find out and look at what i was trying to medicate...

So yeah go to AA you will definitely identify there:-)

Just curious but how long have you been drinking? I had the same issue you did in the beginning - drinking causing panic attacks. I then ended up on medication for panic compounding my intake of chemicals.

What I'm thinking is that maybe like the others have posted here, it is that you are progressing into alcoholism - it is a progressive disease. But I don't claim to know much. The panic attacks should have been a warning sign for me - I ignored. In fact I started to drink more to hold the panic at bay.

I agree with the other posters who say it doesn't matter how much you drink it what it does to you. The panic could be a warning sign.

Go and see. Read the book.

You may have answered your own question right here.