Weekend Binge Drinking and Moderation - A New Perspective
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Weekend Binge Drinking and Moderation - A New Perspective
I'm thankful for the realizations that I have and what I learn on this board. For those of us who say "but, I only drink on the weekends!" or "I can moderate" what we really mean is "I can continue to use a substance that is ruining my life because I can limit myself to only having (X) drinks or on (X) days.
I just read another post about the progression of alcoholism. I already knew it to be true but this takes the perspective a bit further. The following was stated about what happens during moderation:
As I look back over the last attempt at moderation, or my "weekend drinking" it was apparent that with each passing session I needed to drink more and the actual window of happiness that I achieved decreased. It might have not been apparent from weekend to weekend but when I consider when I started back up and where I was at the end when I quit, it sticks out like a sore thumb. The desired result of having a good time went from having a respectable portion of the beginning of the evening to about the first 5 minutes of the buzz which then switched to a drinking frenzy. Hangovers became progressively worse.
I have now come to the conclusion that "I only drink weekends" or "I can moderate" is no badge to wear. The effect on your body is exactly the same as quitting and relapsing over, and over, and over again. The words "I quit" aren't in there but what you're doing to your body is the same exact thing that someone is doing who quits and repeatedly relapses.
It's nothing more than delaying the inevitable which is, by some sheer stroke of luck you are still able to quit on your own, you end up in detox, and or, you die.
Is moderation worth it?
I just read another post about the progression of alcoholism. I already knew it to be true but this takes the perspective a bit further. The following was stated about what happens during moderation:
Due to the effect of tolerance there was no happiness after 1-2 drinks, my nervous system screamed for more. And after that first drink, I was already powerless over alcohol and would drink more, more... till black-out. Good morning shakes, anxiety, thirst and welcome to the effect of kindling. The hangovers became acute withdrawals.
I have now come to the conclusion that "I only drink weekends" or "I can moderate" is no badge to wear. The effect on your body is exactly the same as quitting and relapsing over, and over, and over again. The words "I quit" aren't in there but what you're doing to your body is the same exact thing that someone is doing who quits and repeatedly relapses.
It's nothing more than delaying the inevitable which is, by some sheer stroke of luck you are still able to quit on your own, you end up in detox, and or, you die.
Is moderation worth it?
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"It's nothing more than delaying the inevitable which is, by some sheer stroke of luck you are still able to quit on your own, you end up in detox, and or, you die.
Is moderation worth it?"
Heck no! Thank you for your post. You mention death and I hope it's realized that an alcoholic death is about the worse one out there. From wet brain to the destroying of the internal organs.
Then again it's known we can't scare an alcoholic! SAD
Is moderation worth it?"
Heck no! Thank you for your post. You mention death and I hope it's realized that an alcoholic death is about the worse one out there. From wet brain to the destroying of the internal organs.
Then again it's known we can't scare an alcoholic! SAD
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Originally Posted by IOAA2 
"
You mention death and I hope it's realized that an alcoholic death is about the worse one out there. From wet brain to the destroying of the internal organs.
Then again it's known we can't scare an alcoholic! SAD
You mention death and I hope it's realized that an alcoholic death is about the worse one out there. From wet brain to the destroying of the internal organs.
Then again it's known we can't scare an alcoholic! SAD
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Join Date: Jun 2013
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Weird isn't it ZoeM?
We credit ourselves with the amount of time we can abstain from alcohol and don't take into consideration what the amount of time we spend drinking is doing to us. We want to believe that if we can "control" our drinking through moderation that the end result will not be the same as someone who just continues to drink without any abstinence.
It doesn't matter, it's the same end result. We just take longer to get there. That is very scary.
We credit ourselves with the amount of time we can abstain from alcohol and don't take into consideration what the amount of time we spend drinking is doing to us. We want to believe that if we can "control" our drinking through moderation that the end result will not be the same as someone who just continues to drink without any abstinence.
It doesn't matter, it's the same end result. We just take longer to get there. That is very scary.
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The mush between my ears got me into a lot of "logical thinking" while I was drinking and all of it ended in total failure. While in the control of the haze of this thinking I, like many, had so many conceptS worked out except one big one. I CANNOT DRINK IN SAFETY! BE WELL
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Our recovery is entirely personal to ourselves, we can definitely support others and sometimes we will have quite a few similarities.
I worked in a rehab and i never came across a weekend binger that suffered from kindling or any severe alcohol withdrawal, these were always very heavy daily drinkers as, i think, you have implied by mentioning progression. We did have one person come in who had stayed up and drank for 72 hours straight without eating and he was in a real state so i guess that could be called a binge? Although he was nowhere are bad as someone coming in daily drinking for 10 years and then suddenly quitting.
I'm not sure all these predictions of death and disease are completely accurate. It's just a process of getting off the roundabout, no rushing off to get full medicals on every organ unless the doc has advised it imo
I worked in a rehab and i never came across a weekend binger that suffered from kindling or any severe alcohol withdrawal, these were always very heavy daily drinkers as, i think, you have implied by mentioning progression. We did have one person come in who had stayed up and drank for 72 hours straight without eating and he was in a real state so i guess that could be called a binge? Although he was nowhere are bad as someone coming in daily drinking for 10 years and then suddenly quitting.
I'm not sure all these predictions of death and disease are completely accurate. It's just a process of getting off the roundabout, no rushing off to get full medicals on every organ unless the doc has advised it imo
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