it's getting bad again
 

I started law school about two weeks ago. I put together 39 sober days over the summer but started drinking again in July. I convinced myself that I could drink "only during weekends"... this fell apart when I had maybe 12 or 13 beers on Thursday night, drank most of Friday, and now am on my third beer of the morning. not good stuff... yet, I am back in the situation where I cannot believe that life would be enjoyable without alcohol.


I fashion it as a "break from life". when the bender ends, I go back into life, then hole up for a day or two and kill 30+ beers, and the cycle repeats. there's a hole in the logic somewhere.

Hi,

I hope that you decide to stop drinking. I can't imagine that you will be able to complete law school if you continue as you are.

And, life can definitely be enjoyable without alcohol. Take a look around here and you will see many people who are finding joy in recovery.

Soon after joining AA in 1989 I couldn’t believe that I had spent so much time thinking that being a slave to alcohol was enjoyable.

I wish you the best in your quest for sobriety.

Bob R

I'm not one to be handing out advice as I wage my own battle against the demon BUT...I've been working in higher education most of my adult life and I can tell you with confidence that if you don't stop you WILL fail out of law school. Believe me, I'm not saying it is that easy, but knowing the stress you are going to face through the coming years of school it will be much easier if you do it sober.
Personally, I'm taking it one day at a time and the livin' ain't easy but it's better than being a slave to my addiction which ultimately, if not tended to, will steal everything and not even say it is sorry. That is why it is important that you realize what is happening NOW, be aware, and start fighting for your life.
The fact that you are here posting, as am I, shows that you are moving in the right direction. I wish you all the best in your studies.

I am new to this forum and just posted for the first time a few days ago. When I was in law school, I was not drinking nearly as much as I am now, which is basically every night now. There is no way I would have made it through if I was drinking like that in law school. I hope you can find some support here and decide to stop drinking. Good luck with school.

Only drinking on weekends turns into only drinking on days that end in Y for most of us. It's just too hard to moderate. If we could do that, we wouldn't be here posting and looking for help. It really is easier to just not even take the first one. If you're spending all that time,money, and effort on law school you should give your self the best chance to succeed that you possibly can, and doing it sober would certainly aid in that. There are bad outcomes to out of control drinking. Do you want to have to call one of your fellow attorneys for help in a DUI? Do you want to miss a court date due to a hangover? It goes on and on.

Hang around here to find ways to imagine a life without drinking, and ways to cope with the binge mentality! You'll be glad you did :)

Tricky situation. Law school is expensive, if you fail or drop out, you are throwing out your money and seriously, I could have used that..... ;)

You are playing with fire. I usually end up getting burned when I do that, but that's me.

Start again and stay stopped. You can drink AFTER you pass law school!!!! (and maybe the bar exam)

I have a similar educational experience. Looking back, what I've gathered is that life is life is life. It doesn't start or end at this point in time or that point in time.

How you deal with life while you're in school or not in school is how you deal with LIFE in either case. There are no breaks from life.

I started to develop some really bad ways of dealing with things in my teens and my second university degree. It felt like I had things in little compartments - work hard here, play hard there. School friends, party friends, friends from growing up. My summer life, my school life.

All the little habits and compartments amounted to me basically being an emotional teenager without a good sense of who I was and what I was doing in the world, and all the little compartments eventually caved in and all that was left was the drinking.

A problem in one area of my life, I'm figuring out, is a problem.

I don't mean to sound so doom and gloomy! My situation may not be like yours, but it's the only one I know.

Going back to school can be really fun, there are so many good times. I hope you have a great experience:)

Your life will be better if you stop drinking. And you will eventually stop, one way or the other. But the longer you wait the harder or it will be and the bigger the consequences there will be.

That said, I made it through a masters program hammered most nights. It took another 20 years to catch up with me and catch up with me it did.

Law school and sobriety at the same time-ouch! It's doable, but you have to remember that anything you put before sobriety you run the risk of losing... But drinking will do it much quicker... It's all up to you and what you want...Yep Alcoholism is progressive-you will start up drinking as much as you used to and more... You can get sober if you want.

Welcome back :)

My ex partner was in Law School...trust me, there's no margin for error there.

Are you still 'doing' SMART aNewEternity?

D

I haven't been doing anything but I broke out my recovery literature last night. I have some motivation again. wish me luck.

your beginning post says that you have STARTED law school, so i gather you are in your first semester. You passed your LCATS and got in,that was hard work, it's mad expensive cos even if you have a loan, you've got to pay it back.

please don't throw it away for a "break" from life and some beer. You want a break, go to a movie for a couple of hours

Good luck with law school. Be careful because with all the stress you may be tempted to turn to alcohol, and I can imagine that there are a lot of people in your class who like to party. In some ways law school can be an extension of college, or for some people who studied super hard in college and were kind of nerdy, law school is like college for the first time in that they want to let loose and have a good time and actually live a little for once. But of course it is also a time to learn all about the law and the field of law you want to practice, to make connections and earn a good reputation. Your reputation will follow you into your practice so that is a good reason to not drink to excess. :) I wish you well and hope you can find a positive outlet for all the stress and strive that is law school.

A friend of mine finally was the voice of reason and talked me out of law school. I work as a paralegal now. So I work with lawyers, day in, day out. Tough job.

The friend who talked me out of law school was very successful, well liked. Well, he got a DUI, had to tell the office of attorney registration (supreme court). Our firm tried to work with him, but he kept on. He had a year's worth of sobriety, then tossed that for drinking. This time he was popped with DUI and coke, went to jail. Got disbarred, lost his job. Last year, he shot himself. I miss him dearly.

Please stop drinking.

P.S. - Is your life enjoyable with alcohol???

I am in medical school and started drinking daily while I studied after 11+ hours of class as a "coping mechanism". I learned the detrimental effects of alcohol in various classes, but also still used it HEAVILY on the weekends to decompress. As I start another year sober, I'm wondering what I'm going to do during those stressful times. If you are anything like me, you can do extremely well in Law School as a drunk, but I wouldn't recommend it since you won't have as much fun. You are in school for a reason - you want to learn the law. Try and approach it as a gift, like unwrapping a present every time you learn something new.

I would suggest a hobby - yoga, running, cooking, exercise - something to help you de-stress and stay away from alcohol.
Find a good stress management therapist and get some professional help.
You work(ed) too hard to get to law/med school, to throw it away.

Law school, especially the first year, is extremely rigorous and can trigger drinking in people with and without drinking problems. Difference is that people without problems can leave it behind when they need to study, have a final coming up, etc. People with a drinking problem cannot. And if you continue drinking, your performance will suffer. I know, I was there.

You should also know up-front that both law students and lawyers have high incidents of substance abuse, with alcohol being a popular drug of choice. You will encounter it at social events, firm recruiting events, etc. Please get help to navigate these mine fields. You should definetley check with the school, because most law schools recognize this tendency and offer programs/counseling for alcohol and drug abuse.

Good luck!

Drinking caused my stress after a while, rather than relieved it. It made me anxious rather than relaxed. It made me depressed rather than happy. I learned this when I stopped drinking. I also learned what it meant to have a good time, and enjoy myself. I'd recommend sobriety.

On the other hand, you can quit drinking for a while, convince yourself that it's OK to drink now (as if something has changed in you), lose more of yourself in the process, and make this post again. While it may be a popular approach, it is not a successful way to live.

You have the ability to quit drinking, and discover that there is a better life for you without alcohol. I can also say that you 'may' quit drinking, and that it is up to you.