doggonecarl

I think for me, when actively drinking, normal meant drinking without the consequences. I don't think I correlated "normal" with not getting drunk.

Imabuleva

Hmmmm... come to think of it, I am the same way. When actively drinking, "normal" is just getting wrecked as soon as I can with utter disregard for my responsibilities.

When not actively drinking, "normal" takes on an entirely different meaning though. A much more sustainable meaning. I.e. I am not a normal drinker. Next to "abnormal drinker" in the dictionary, you will find my picture. Next to "normal drinker," you will find a link to my picture that says "Not this guy."

Squizz

Harm reduction very seldomly works from what I've seen.

I get a kick out of people who come to AA and say stuff like, "I can still drink a couple of beers because alcohol isn't my drug of choice."

So basically what you're saying, is that since I'm an alcoholic, it would be okay for me to plow a syringe full of heroin into my jugular vein, because it wasn't my drug of choice?

Do me a favor.

Maybe harm reduction can work for some people, but I've certainly never seen it. Maybe I will one day.

Dee74

The only real harm reduction for me was to eliminate alcohol entirely.

D

Imabuleva

I can drink a couple if I want it to turn into a whole bottle and probably an all out binge resulting in horrible withdrawal symptoms or worse.

If I start, there is a 99.9% chance I will drink far more than I planned.

Notmyrealname

I changed my drinking to reduce harm by

- drinking at home instead of the bar (no driving and less chance of an altercation)

- drinking alone (no chance of an altercation)

- drinking cheap booze (less financial impact)

- starting drinking earlier (get drunk, pass out, be able to wake up in time for work)


Yeah it was a great plan, maybe I need to write a book or something :P

foolsgold66

Basically that's for folks that don't really need it.

pattyj

In the beginning I had a really, really hard time believing that I was never going to be able to drink alcohol again. I knew that I didn't want to go back to where I was but giving up alcohol was the last thing I wanted to do. I checked into IOP, went to meetings, stuck my head in the sand and slowly and painfully made it through those first few months. Then I really didn't want to be apart of anything and kind of avoided everyone and everything. I stayed sober though and I got out of my pity party. But it took a long time. I have made it almost 9 months now and couldn't be happier. If you are having second thoughts about drinking, you are probably an alcoholic and trying to control our drinking does not work for an alcoholic. Set your self up for success, bite the bullet and get through 6 or 12 months of sobriety and see if it makes a difference. If not, then try your control drinking or whatever. You can do anything for a year. Why not give it a chance and see what is so green on the other side? It can't hurt to try...

Thepatman

Pattyj, I think that's a really good advice. How can we tell if we can't live without Alcohol if we don't try to live without it?

CaliButterfly

For people that are just starting to think they are alcoholics, just having to think about whether or not you can live without alcohol is a sign that there could be problem. "Regular" drinkers don't usually give a second thought to if they can have another drink in the future or any need to indulge or moderate.

KateL

My late mother-in-law who always had a drink in her hand used to say, sometimes, I stop for a week to prove I'm not an alcoholic. Mind you, I never witnessed that Sadly she died from booze and fags.

Thepatman

My Alcoholic mind: moderate? Were is the fun in that. Why buy a sports car if you can't race it? LOL!

Imabuleva

And if you try to stop drinking for a year, and find out you can't do it... well then what does that say?

Great advice, Patty.

Imabuleva

My American brain was like... what?

And then I realized...

SoberLife2014

Nikka, if you want to try to moderate your drinking then by all means go for it. After reading a few of your posts it sounds to me like you'd like to try. Maybe some people can moderate. I know I couldn't. But if you try and it happens to get really bad, then this site will still be here. Just try to be safe if you do. You can always contact me too.

LadyBlue0527

Method
Of
Drinking
Eternally
Revisited
Although
Timelessly
It
Offers
Nothing

That was fun, needed a little brain break from work. Feel free to play around with it, I'm sure someone can come up with something as creative It certainly rings true and I was proof.....until this time.

Anna

When I stopped trying to moderate, the obsession stopped and my mind was freed. It was awesome!

foolsgold66

LOL. There's some that work the other way too...

KateL

Ha ha ha. oh yeah. Sorry x

KateL

Yeah I'm not even gonna type your word for butt. It's too rude here lol x