Duffster

I chose to take that first drink when I was a teenager, but there's no doubt in my mind that I was an alcoholic after that very first sip. It's rampant in my family so I have always known there was a genetic component.

But like everyone else here, I can choose to fight the urges and never drink again. Trust me, I would never "choose" this route if I knew where it led.

LadyinBC

I really like this choublak. That makes a lot of sense.

MendipMan

All choices are made using a reasoning mind and are based on the available facts. Addiction destroys reason! So while the addicted brain is in charge rather than the rational brain no correct choice can be made, even if all the facts are put in front of you! If I knew what I know now, and given the choice to pick up one of those drinks all those years ago when I first wondered whether I had a problem or not... I would not have picked it up. When I had my first major detox, my Doctor said to me..."now that you have been detoxed you need at least 6 months of close support before you will be well enough to resume a normal life, free enough from the risk of relapse" I refused it... I was OK now... all I needed was to go back to work, that was the therapy I needed! What a total PLONKER!! I can see that now because my reasoning brain is in control, but then the detox had not controlled the addict.. he was still there, as arrogant as ever... still in charge, still able to do it all on his own....I so hate him!!

We need to educate everyone from an early age as to the risks of alcohol. Give them the facts so that they can make a reasoned choice whether they want to take the risk and if medical science could provide a test that could identify whether you had that addictive tendency... then that would be sooo helpful!

Gottalife

That makes sense to me. When I first got sober I had lost the ability to think. Decisions like "which socks to wear" were incredibly difficult to make. I was lucky to have a sponsor who lent me his reasoning power. By asking me the questions I should have been asking myself, he taught me how to think again. But he never tried to teach me "what" to think.

On the matter of choice or not, the wee gem "you can't get drunk if you don't pick up the first drink" comes to mind. What a wonderful idea, irrefutably logical and absolutely true.

My problem was I was on the fifth drink before I remembered I wasn't going to take the first one. Too late by then. At certain times I had no effective defense against the first drink.

ChooseSobriety

Hello MendipMan,

Wonderful insight!

What kind of world would we live in if we were to educate/teach our children about the risks/consequences of there "Choices" from an early age?

Love,

CS

Troae

I certainly don't believe that I "have something" that forces me to drink, hence, one could make the argument that I'm more in the "Choice" vs. "Disease" camp; HOWEVER...the other side of that equation is that even a small amount of alcohol packs a mighty wallop on my psychological well-being - even a few drinks will send me into a depressive death spiral from which it is tough to break free. Is that a disease? Could be. I certainly have "something" that makes me react differently than most people. Is that a "disease"? Could be.

But...the bottom line is that nothing, nothing can force my hand to pick up a bottle. That is my own choice, and it is one that I choose to never make again.

ChooseSobriety

Troae....you have hit the nail on the head. The choice is ours and ours alone to make. The alcohol only has the power over me that I choose to give it. Today, I chose not to drink or do drugs, that's a good day!!

Love,

CS

Zencat

I think choice and determinism coexists in addiction. Making a decision or executing a choice can be IMO, corrupted by a addicted brain. All the same, there are way to empower oneself in choice making. For me it was through CBT, REBT, DBT, and a industrialist spiritual practice.

Its all good if it works no matter what it is.

ElegantlyWasted

For different addicts the choice is easier/harder for some than others. Some choose not to choose.