huntingtontx

I posted a thread kind of like this when I first quit. People that are not functioning alcoholics don't understand and will tell you that you are not. I did great at work, kept a clean house, money in the bank, never drank and drove, but got wasted every night. I could not quit. Every morning I told myself I was going to quit, every night I drank. I rarely remembered what I said or did the night before. I only drank at home. I drunk called and said crazy things to people, and when they told me what I said, I tried to laugh it off. I had no memory of the phone calls. Crazy life. Now, I remember every night, feel good every morning, and don't beet myself up for stupid calls. Life is so much better without the alcohol. I want to do more then just function. I want to live a life I remember. I know you came here because you want to quit. You can do this, and we can help. Don't take personal what anyone post for you, they are all trying to help from where they are at. Alcoholism is different for everyone, but it is good for no one. We are all here for you.

anattaboy

T'was a badge of honor I wore for a long time til the serious legal and health problems kicked in. Who defends their right to do this but an alcoholic and why? Been there and graduated at the top of my class.

SuzieG

I have often wondered about this too... However, i question why i question there is a problem and i know that there is something there to examine new to all of this...

whalebelow

Do you drink a "set amount" each night? Even if it is a largish quantity?

Or do you find yourself drinking as much as you can before passing out regularly.

joyfullysober

I am as functional as it gets. People have no idea that I have this little monster inside my head bugging me to get a buzz. That is were my problem lies. If you are here, maybe you feel the same way.

And I agree, functional is just a stage. As time goes by you start needing it more.

SoberLife2014

It's ultimately up to YOU to decide if it's a "good" or a "bad" thing to be a functioning alcoholic. I can't judge for you. I don't know how much you drink, what you do, what you feel like. I don't know anything about you. And actually a lot of successful people are alcoholics and a lot of alcoholics are successful. Of course, if you ask a recovery website if it's a bad thing to be a functional alcoholic, we'll all tell you it isn't a good idea based on our experiences. Googling the crap out of this question and looking for some sort of validation is like mental masturbation.

What if you set aside what everyone else's judgements and opinions are and asked yourself seriously, "Is this good for ME?"?

PurpleKnight

"Functioning" is still on a spiral into chaos, the danger though is we can tell ourselves all the myths and fantasy of the day to justify why our drinking isn't so bad!!

But deep down, coming to a recovery website to ask that question signals you already know something needs to change about your drinking!!

Gottalife

I suppose you could have called my mother a functioning alcoholic. External indicators were we kids always had clean clothes, regular meals, tidy rooms. Our lives were well organised, the house was clean. At work, very good at her job, promoted, highly thought of.

But as a human being, on a spiritual and emotional level, she was barely functioning at all. A sorry excuse for a mother, no emotional connection with her children or grand children, and a very poor wife, a constant burden and worry for my father, consistently critical and ungrateful, needing constant supervision at night.

She might have been functioning in the material world, but she was and still is a barely functioning human being.

MelindaFlowers

This sums it up perfectly.

It's not functioning.