SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information - First Post

Hey everyone,

Although this will be my first posting to these forums, I have been a longtime lurker and I must say I've benefited greatly by having these forums there when I need them. I'm 33 years old (male) from Canada, and I've been struggling with alcoholism since high school. Like many of you, my drinking has gotten progressively worse over the years. Without getting into specifics, I've done it all, to a point where I was drinking every day, blacking out and not remembering the previous night, calling off sick from work, only to do it all again the next day. Beer was my poison. I come from a family full of heavy drinkers; my father, many of my uncles/cousins, and so on. I was drawn to the heavy drinkers through high school and university, it seemed these people were the ones I most identified with. Things progressively got worse and worse, as I have mentioned, but over the past couple of years the major issue (and there were many major issues) to me was the negative impact it has had on my mental health. After my most recent bender, I would quickly go into panic mode, suffering from severe anxiety and the accompanying depression that always seems to show itself during these terrible, dark times.

I am happy to say that the last time I drank was on New Year's Eve. It's honestly not been too difficult to stay off the alcohol; however, I almost caved in this weekend and I actually went to the liquor store to buy beer. Thankfully, it was closed, but it was still disappointing and I believe I am in need of a little bit of support. The craving seems to have died, or at least took a few steps back, but I am praying this does not happen again. I don't like AA - I am more of a Rational Recovery / AVRT type of person, as it has helped me greatly. I love reading through these forums, as they offer me great support, but I believe I was not taking full advantage by not posting.

Anyway, thanks for reading everyone. Have a great day.