"I couldn't live without alcohol"
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"I couldn't live without alcohol"
Hey there
So at work today a drunk guy came in the building and was kicked out, it started a conversation in the staff room about drinking.
I told them I didn't drink, I didn't tell them I was an alcoholic, I just told them I was trying to lose weight.
6 out of 8 people in that room agreed they couldn't live without alcohol. None of them were what would normally be considered alcoholics. Weekend drinkers, or so they claim.
Makes me think so many people are to some extent addicted, if you only drink saturday but you NEED to drink saturday, this drug still has control over your life.
I'm glad this drug has no control over my life, perhaps my time in the metaphorical gutter was worth being completely free.
So at work today a drunk guy came in the building and was kicked out, it started a conversation in the staff room about drinking.
I told them I didn't drink, I didn't tell them I was an alcoholic, I just told them I was trying to lose weight.
6 out of 8 people in that room agreed they couldn't live without alcohol. None of them were what would normally be considered alcoholics. Weekend drinkers, or so they claim.
Makes me think so many people are to some extent addicted, if you only drink saturday but you NEED to drink saturday, this drug still has control over your life.
I'm glad this drug has no control over my life, perhaps my time in the metaphorical gutter was worth being completely free.
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Join Date: Jan 2014
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I've had this thought a lot and heard those same words from many many friends and acquaintances.
Always said somewhat in jest.... there is an element of truth in it.
When I simply observe how many people do not go even a week without drinking, how many respond to life's day-to-day with comments like "I need a DRINK" or trips to the bar. How many facebook statuses involve pictures of booze, photos of people with a drink in their hands.
When I've casually and non-scientifically conducted enquiries; I've very seldom been able to find even a single person (apart from those who are purposely in recovery or abstaining because of concerns over their drinking) who is over say, age 14, who has gone 90 days without drinking.
I think a LOT of people in 'modern-day' society would have a big problem going 90 days and perhaps find it nigh on impossible to abstain for a year.
Always said somewhat in jest.... there is an element of truth in it.
When I simply observe how many people do not go even a week without drinking, how many respond to life's day-to-day with comments like "I need a DRINK" or trips to the bar. How many facebook statuses involve pictures of booze, photos of people with a drink in their hands.
When I've casually and non-scientifically conducted enquiries; I've very seldom been able to find even a single person (apart from those who are purposely in recovery or abstaining because of concerns over their drinking) who is over say, age 14, who has gone 90 days without drinking.
I think a LOT of people in 'modern-day' society would have a big problem going 90 days and perhaps find it nigh on impossible to abstain for a year.
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Originally Posted by DopieDopeMan 
Yes, most people say it in jest. If they are challenged to not drink for an entire month though, it becomes real.
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Originally Posted by HockeyGuy
Yeah, I know I'm an alcoholic but at the same time, if I were to say "I couldn't live without cheeseburgers" then I'd expect people would assume I'm a cheeseburger addict. Which I may be, by the way.
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Originally Posted by MrBen
That's actually a really good point. I couldn't go a month without a cup of tea or say... chicken.
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Originally Posted by MrBen
That's actually a really good point. I couldn't go a month without a cup of tea or say... chicken.
Be careful not to read too much into casual conversation. What people SAY that the do or don't/cannot do can be quite different from what they actually do.
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Perhaps then you could say we all have multiple phychological addictions, in a small way. I have a cup of tea every single morning and have for as long as I can remember. I went to glastonbury and didn't have it and really, really craved.
I paid two pounds fifty for a cuppa.
That could be considered an addiction, I suppose.
I'm addicted to exercise, not to where it is a problem. But I would struggle to deal with stress without it, it's a healthy addiction.
I suppose it's a case of knowing which ones we can manage and which ones won't do us harm.
I paid two pounds fifty for a cuppa.
That could be considered an addiction, I suppose.
I'm addicted to exercise, not to where it is a problem. But I would struggle to deal with stress without it, it's a healthy addiction.
I suppose it's a case of knowing which ones we can manage and which ones won't do us harm.
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Originally Posted by ScottFromWI
I would be willing to bet that you could go a month without tea or chicken if you really had to. Even an alcohlic can go a month without alcohol if they really want to.
Be careful not to read too much into casual conversation. What people SAY that the do or don't/cannot do can be quite different from what they actually do.
Be careful not to read too much into casual conversation. What people SAY that the do or don't/cannot do can be quite different from what they actually do.
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Personally, I don't think the majority of people have any addiction to alcohol. I know people who will open their eyes wildly and say "I NEED a drink!" And their desperate need is satisfied by two beers nursed over 4 hours. They often even claim that they are 'feeling tipsy' or "out of control."
Or "getting wild on a work night" as they slam their second and final empty can of Pabst on the counter. If I think of the 50 friends, coworkers, and family I know personally, I would say that two or three are heavy drinkers and one or two are alcoholics. The rest are well under the 14 drink a week limit. Many barely drink at all. Now that I am sober I am shocked at how little most people actually drink.
I had a woman at a cabin tell me the other day that she had "been drinking all day" and that she was drunk. She was working on her second beer of the afternoon. I was around her all evening and she stopped at dinner after her second one. These "normies" lol
Or "getting wild on a work night" as they slam their second and final empty can of Pabst on the counter. If I think of the 50 friends, coworkers, and family I know personally, I would say that two or three are heavy drinkers and one or two are alcoholics. The rest are well under the 14 drink a week limit. Many barely drink at all. Now that I am sober I am shocked at how little most people actually drink.
I had a woman at a cabin tell me the other day that she had "been drinking all day" and that she was drunk. She was working on her second beer of the afternoon. I was around her all evening and she stopped at dinner after her second one. These "normies" lol
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yeah I'm not saying they're all addicted or alcoholics, necessarily. It just strikes me as pretty interesting how many people DO NOT go without drinking for very long at all.
What is it then - about our society and our world that most of the "advanced" cultures in post-industrial western civilization find alcohol a necessary part of life?
It's sort of academic and probably doesn't really matter at the end of the day because I know that for ME, life is better without it. Still, it's a curious thing. Is it also not somewhat interesting that in our 'advanced' modern cultures where drinking and drugs are a consistent part of life, we also seem to have the highest rates of depression and suicide and social problems and entire economic sectors dedicated to self-help and people who are quietly struggling against their own misery while putting on the middle-class act of happiness???
What is it then - about our society and our world that most of the "advanced" cultures in post-industrial western civilization find alcohol a necessary part of life?
It's sort of academic and probably doesn't really matter at the end of the day because I know that for ME, life is better without it. Still, it's a curious thing. Is it also not somewhat interesting that in our 'advanced' modern cultures where drinking and drugs are a consistent part of life, we also seem to have the highest rates of depression and suicide and social problems and entire economic sectors dedicated to self-help and people who are quietly struggling against their own misery while putting on the middle-class act of happiness???
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It blows my mind how deeply engrained being an adult and alcohol are. Whether you will have problems with it is a roll of the dice due to its social acceptance and encouragement. This makes the judgement of those who do have issues with alcohol highly suspect, prejudiced even.
On the other side of the coin: my previous boss was instructed by her MD to drink a glass of wine a few nights a week. She would come to work and say that she just couldn't seem to remember to drink them? This went on for months...
On the other side of the coin: my previous boss was instructed by her MD to drink a glass of wine a few nights a week. She would come to work and say that she just couldn't seem to remember to drink them? This went on for months...
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Social alcohol use is extraordinarily ingrained in societal culture. "Having a drink" is a commonplace way to celebrate, to mourn, to commiserate, to conduct business, etc. It's remarkable really. Just flip on TV and see how long you can go without seeing an alcohol commercial romanticizing the drink. Not very. But I could really care less what others' relationship is with booze, I just care about my mine, which thankfully is non-existent these days.
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Originally Posted by MrBen
Perhaps then you could say we all have multiple phychological addictions, in a small way. I have a cup of tea every single morning and have for as long as I can remember. I went to glastonbury and didn't have it and really, really craved.
I paid two pounds fifty for a cuppa.
That could be considered an addiction, I suppose.
I'm addicted to exercise, not to where it is a problem. But I would struggle to deal with stress without it, it's a healthy addiction.
I suppose it's a case of knowing which ones we can manage and which ones won't do us harm.
I paid two pounds fifty for a cuppa.
That could be considered an addiction, I suppose.
I'm addicted to exercise, not to where it is a problem. But I would struggle to deal with stress without it, it's a healthy addiction.
I suppose it's a case of knowing which ones we can manage and which ones won't do us harm.
The main way I deal with my addictions is to channel the addictive-compulsive energy into positive things. I too am addicted to exercise, but within reason. Even being productive can be addictive. But I never want any of these things to control my life or become degenerative.
I believe that among those of us who are addiction-prone, there is a certain compulsive energy that needs an outlet. I'm trying to train myself to direct this energy into positive habits. I'm afraid it's either that or I'm wide open for the alcohol monster to move in.
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I think everyone within themselves has the ability to live without alcohol, we didn't need it before we knew what it was, life continued without any issues, and we can live without it now that we know of it's existence.
There is no one who can't live without it, it's all in our mind that we can't live without it, and it's an unrealistic mindset when we consider that for most of us our first decade and a half of our lives were completely Sober!!
We just need to break down that fear, for the myth that it is, it can be done!!
There is no one who can't live without it, it's all in our mind that we can't live without it, and it's an unrealistic mindset when we consider that for most of us our first decade and a half of our lives were completely Sober!!
We just need to break down that fear, for the myth that it is, it can be done!!
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That's what makes it hard for me, drinking on weekends have become hobbies to most, it certainly has been for me... I find myself sitting at home alone on my weekends, rather then go out with "drinking buddies"
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I'm not sure I ever made it "alcohol free" through an antibiotic treatment (which are what usually a week or 10 days?) without a drink. I learned it "wouldn't kill ya" if you drank (only lessened the drug potency)...so I drank. I also drank on anti-depressants despite being advised not to.
I don't think "normie's" do that.
I don't think "normie's" do that.
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