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LikeAFish 09-26-2015 03:57 AM

My list
 
Hi I thought it would help me to have a list of all the pros and cons of drinking. If it helps someone else, that's great. Feel free to add your own.

Pros-
That first drink feeling
The numbness to problems
The high
Confidence
Interest in music
Actually being able to sit for more than 20 minutes

Cons -
The feeling of being hammered
Sickness
Health issues
Pain
Hangovers/withdrawals
Financing it all
The planning
Secret drinking
Weight gain
Lies (lots of them)
Breach of trust
More lies
Stupid ideas
Drink driving (sigh)
Not paying any attention to family
Letting people down
Not able to go to the gym
Not running
Not cycling (used to race long distances)
Not being able to read a book
Not remembering films
Blackouts
Injuries
Poor work performance
Bad diet
Neglect to my house
Shame
Guilt
Anxiety
Depression
Fear
Complete mess with any and all responsibilities.
Never accomplishing anything

On The Road 09-26-2015 04:15 AM

Pros


Cons
It will ruin my life.

MIRecovery 09-26-2015 04:50 AM

Pros


Cons
It wants me dead

FreeOwl 09-26-2015 05:46 AM

I used to believe there were pros.

Then I actually discovered sobriety.

There are no pros to alcohol.

FeelingGreat 09-26-2015 06:09 AM

pros - when the first drink hits my stomach
not so much social anxiety
cons - it turns me into someone I don't want to be
costs money
bad for my health
hangovers
guilt and self-reproach

LikeAFish 09-26-2015 06:16 AM

I forgot to add
Con - not being able to just have one like most people can. (My wife will buy two and usually only has one sometimes not even a full one)
I would of finished them off even if I was told not to.

Venecia 09-26-2015 06:30 AM

Alcoholism

Pros:
None

Cons:
Ruining my mental, emotional, physical, spiritual and social life.

Sobriety and recovery

Pros:
Everything

Cons:
I could live to be a thousand and still wouldn't be able to come up with one.

InTheEnd 09-26-2015 07:01 AM

Pros....
1. That 1st and 2nd drink. Actually those first few sips. I swear, towards the end of my drinking days, I could start feeling effects after a few sips.
2. I got nothing!
If I could stop at one or two, I wouldn't be with y'all today.

Cons...
1. The subsequent 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th etc drinks.
2. Turns me into an complete *******. Add alcohol, instant idiot.
3. Ignore everything in my life important.
4. Major sleep issues
5. Overwhelming feelings of worthlessness, laziness, loneliness, sadness, anxiety, guilt, shame, self loathing, regret.
6. When drunk, crazy thoughts of how I can fix myself without quitting drinking which never work. Obviously drinking isn't the problem.
7. When drunk, making grand plans for the next day so I can feel better about my drinking, prove to myself that I can live a normal life while still continuing drink. I wake up the next day and never follow through with these grand drunk plans. Then comes the disappointment in myself, so I drink again the next night.
8. Believing that I shouldn't even be here, that my family and friends don't care or love me. Believing that I don't deserve anything but to sit on my couch every single night drinking alone, because that is all I was worth.

Drinking makes me "accept" this alcohol fueled "fact" that this is it, this is all I have. This is my life, till I die, so why try at anything anymore. I deserve nothing and so I will do nothing for the rest of my life. Pretty sure I was committing a slow suicide subconsciously because I didn't believe I deserved to live any other way.

F alcohol.

Bird615 09-26-2015 07:51 AM

Not too long before I stopped this time, I talked about this on the phone with my sister. It dawned on me how ridiculous it was to keep on drinking when the pros list was so tiny compared to the cons list. It just was not even worth it any more to continue. One more nail in the coffin of my active alcoholism.

ast1 09-26-2015 08:45 AM

The look of it. How it looked years ago in the cold glass. Bubbely and refreshing.

Now it dont. And the taste sours my stomach. I keep reminding myself of this. How it effects me and how I feel.

Had a bad moment an hour ago whent to town to get stuff for dinner (new receipt). But thankfully it past after 5 mins turned the tunes on to something different.

Alynn 09-26-2015 09:40 AM

Nailed that list!

Fly N Buy 09-26-2015 08:11 PM

Cons - I became a pro at being a drunk.....

As I stack a little more time each day I realize there are no positives to drinking other than creating a reverse Midas touch to everything into life.

Glad you're here with us

keeppushing 09-26-2015 09:48 PM

There is a line from the movie the Usual Suspects: The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exists.

By the same token, the greatest trick that alcohol ever did was convince the world that alcohol has benefits.


Originally Posted by Venecia (Post 5573712)
"Never, never, never give up." -- Winston Churchill

I love Mr. Churchill and his many quotes, I just wanted to gently point out the irony of quoting him in an SR forum :c015:

KP

Reset 09-26-2015 10:05 PM

The only pro I can think of is that it makes it easier to tolerate other drunk people. And that seems kind of twisted when I see it in writing.

The cons are almost limitless. But the main ones are depression, the expense, the anxiety of "when and what am I gonna drink," lack of clarity even when not drinking, and the distance it created between me and my family, friends, and co-workers.



BTW that anxiety of getting the next drink reminds me a lot of waiting for the man. When I used to do other drugs and before pot was legal, the whole waiting around to score was the absolute worst part of the experience and a main reason I dropped all of the other stuff. Should have realized sooner that it was almost the same with alcohol.

helpimalive 09-26-2015 11:56 PM

Pros:
social lubricant
numbness to problems

Cons:
The slow loss of literally everything else in life and in myself, until the world and I are both reduced to boxed wine?


Originally Posted by InTheEnd (Post 5573754)
5. Overwhelming feelings of worthlessness, laziness, loneliness, sadness, anxiety, guilt, shame, self loathing, regret.
6. When drunk, crazy thoughts of how I can fix myself without quitting drinking which never work. Obviously drinking isn't the problem.
7. When drunk, making grand plans for the next day so I can feel better about my drinking, prove to myself that I can live a normal life while still continuing drink. I wake up the next day and never follow through with these grand drunk plans. Then comes the disappointment in myself, so I drink again the next night.
8. Believing that I shouldn't even be here, that my family and friends don't care or love me. Believing that I don't deserve anything but to sit on my couch every single night drinking alone, because that is all I was worth.

Drinking makes me "accept" this alcohol fueled "fact" that this is it, this is all I have. This is my life, till I die, so why try at anything anymore. I deserve nothing and so I will do nothing for the rest of my life. Pretty sure I was committing a slow suicide subconsciously because I didn't believe I deserved to live any other way.

F alcohol.

This is a description of my life.

GnikNus 09-27-2015 06:29 AM

Pros: momentary relief from the world, brief window of elation, temporary elevation of things (even if a mirage).

Cons:
Depression
Anxiety and panic attacks
Terrible effects on health
Holds us back from our potential as human beings
Keeps us from accomplishing goals
Keeps us from even developing goals
Expense
Skews our perception of reality and those around us
Makes us misinterpret others and their intentions
Puts us on edge
Helps us develop a poor opinion if ourselves
Puts us at risk for a slew of diseases
Potential for bad behavior we regret
Overall puts a dark pall on our lives and robs us from a true and real life.

Carver 09-27-2015 07:29 AM

No pros.

Yeah the first drink was always amazing - but that's because the addicted mind has finally been fed. That's a con.


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