Are you a "periodic?"
Member
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 258
Growing up with an alcoholic, I had a hard time labeling myself as one. My father would start every morning with a beer, pack a small cooler with provisions for work and then wouldn't hit the hard stuff till his drive home each evening. He'd pour a small bottle of vodka into a big gulp and be finished by the time he got home to drink more beer. All through my twenties I told myself that my father was the definition of an alcoholic, which didn't at all describe me, so I must be okay.
Cut to two kids and ten years of weekend warrior... periodic if you will, type of binge drinking. The only exception being my two pregnancies, which of course has to be thrown in there to show I'm not a full alcoholic (big eye roll). So yep, I'm still going to label myself as an alcoholic, I can't moderate, I drink alone more often than not, and I always need more to cure my needs. It's ruining my health, and I've got to stop now. As for the judgement piece of it, I'm over it. Good thing my addiction isn't about the approval of others. We're all people, all in this together, and it is so much easier to be a good person rather than to judge.
Cut to two kids and ten years of weekend warrior... periodic if you will, type of binge drinking. The only exception being my two pregnancies, which of course has to be thrown in there to show I'm not a full alcoholic (big eye roll). So yep, I'm still going to label myself as an alcoholic, I can't moderate, I drink alone more often than not, and I always need more to cure my needs. It's ruining my health, and I've got to stop now. As for the judgement piece of it, I'm over it. Good thing my addiction isn't about the approval of others. We're all people, all in this together, and it is so much easier to be a good person rather than to judge.
EndGame
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 4,677
Originally Posted by madgirl 
Im getting close to the four month mark, and it is starting to sink in that I need a group of some kind. I know you are presenting an old term (periodic), but I was hoping that kind of social posturing didnt exist in AA - that kind of thing is one of the reasons I am not social to begin with.
But if you noticed, and in my experience, the term 'periodic', and all that comes with it, has been marginalized and essentially extinguished from the lexicon of AA and other recovery resources which are abundant in NYC, and probably elsewhere, given that no on here has commented that they've heard or read the term in this context. (This may or may not be the longest sentence I've ever put in print.)
The kind of "posturing" to which you refer doesn't tend to have a very long shelf life in AA, and for those who continue, they become something of a caricature more than an individual human being. As we know, this kind of things happen everywhere. I either just play along to get through the moment, or I avoid such people whenever possible.
Member
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 1,981
Originally Posted by strategery
I personally think she was in strong denial, and wasn't ready to admit that she was an alcoholic.
It can be a very painful process of coming to the conclusion that you're an alcoholic. It's fine once you've come to accept it, but considering she was saying how well she had it controlled and tried to bring up how successful she was with everything else, it suggests otherwise.
It can be a very painful process of coming to the conclusion that you're an alcoholic. It's fine once you've come to accept it, but considering she was saying how well she had it controlled and tried to bring up how successful she was with everything else, it suggests otherwise.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Washington DC
Posts: 138
binge drinker
I have a hard time calling myself an alcoholic. I have been able to stop completely for months at a time, and then succeeded at reducing my drinking to once a week and kept it there. Sometimes I call myself "problem drinker" and sometimes "binge drinker" but not alcoholic; maybe it's because I want to leave an opening for me to return to drinking if I find sobriety too difficult. And this is a huge problem because I don't ever want to drink again, not once a week, not once a month, not once a year but I do recognize that I am far behind most people I have met when I went to the occasional AA meeting and the biggest difference I see is that they are capable of being honest with themselves and others. And I still seem to want to minimize my problem and appear "highly functional." But I've been on SR, on and off for years, and the one thing I can admit to myself is that my "problem " isn't going to go away anymore without help and I'm going to have to find it any way that I can, regardless of what I call myself. I do know that the more I hate myself, the more I ask for other people's approval and applause. recovering this time is going to have to be a process of rebuilding my confidence and the hardest part : I'm know I'm going to have to start being honest with myself to do that.
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Washington DC
Posts: 138
quote
I'm trying desperately to internalize this quote this time: "I would rather go through life sober, believing that I am an alcoholic than go through life drunk, trying to convince myself that I am not."
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Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Northwest
Posts: 4,215
Interesting...just goes to show you there's always a human tendency to sort things into categories and hierarchies....we're really just chimps with more extensive vocabularies.
As for amounts and trends and patterns...I got caught up in "not that bad" for a very long time. Decades altogether, if not sequentially.
In the end, for me, quantities don't matter, consequences do. Alcohol affects my life in many negative ways. I am better off without it.
As for amounts and trends and patterns...I got caught up in "not that bad" for a very long time. Decades altogether, if not sequentially.
In the end, for me, quantities don't matter, consequences do. Alcohol affects my life in many negative ways. I am better off without it.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 6,666
Originally Posted by strategery
It was multi-factorial for me. My uncle is an alcoholic. While he has never gotten sober, all I heard growing up was how horrible a person he was because he was an alcoholic. To admit I was an alcoholic, meant all that I heard from my parents growing up about alcoholics, was true for myself as well.
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Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 8,674
Originally Posted by sleepie
A rose is a rose is a rose no matter how many or how often.
Originally Posted by madgirl
Im getting close to the four month mark, and it is starting to sink in that I need a group of some kind. I know you are presenting an old term (periodic), but I was hoping that kind of social posturing didnt exist in AA - that kind of thing is one of the reasons I am not social to begin with.
IMO all that is crap and noise and can't be a barrier to attendance, participation and step work for me. Tuning out the "noise" is hard sometimes, though.
Oh - and re labels - IMO, again, no one likes to be called a "pejorative" - until they do. Boy did I rebel against the label of alcoholic. But, as someone said on another thread - sometimes we get "peculiar gifts." My long ago teenager self, dealing with my mother's alcoholism and bipolar-ness, believed that this was possibly the best gift she ever gave me. I am working at looking at my deserved label and my disease just that way.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 5
Well I am a binge drinking alcoholic so I understand it. I am not an alcoholic who drinks everyday. I go days without drinking and then bang, I'm off again. Used to be able to go weeks without drinking. But always returned. So I understand what a periodic alcoholic means. There are different types of alcoholics in regards rate of drinking.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: OZ
Posts: 2,055
Originally Posted by EndGameNYC
I never cared much about being labeled as an alcoholic, or what it means to other people. .
I think I care too much..I dislike the word! Is it a noun or an adjective? literally..After all these years, it's still a tough word.
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Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Atlanta
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12 Step Recovered Alcoholic
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 6,613
Whe I joined up in 1980 we had binge drinkers and plateau drinkers. I was a binge drinker. I always wanted to be a plateau drinker but I lacked the control. I drank till I dropped, usually about 4 days, then was too sick and broke to drink for a few days, then I was away again. If I could have I would have drank all day every day.
Same disease, same symptoms. Couldn't stop when I wanted to, and had no control once I started.
NYC, what is the story of the "one percenters"? Like periodics, it is term I have not heard before
Same disease, same symptoms. Couldn't stop when I wanted to, and had no control once I started.
NYC, what is the story of the "one percenters"? Like periodics, it is term I have not heard before
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Washington DC
Posts: 138
thank you
Originally Posted by August252015
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Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 9,029
EndGame, this was thought provoking. When I got to the bottom of what you had written I had this vision of Dana Carvey saying "well aren't WE special?" in that particular Church Lady voice.
It sounded to me as if Godiva was defensive and insecure. I hope she found what she was looking for.
When I first started attending AA meetings I really, really tried to set myself apart from all "those" people. I drank every day but I acted like I had something special going on because I was still employed, had never been arrested, owned my own home, fed my cats and watered my garden. Me? Alcoholic? NO way.
Guess it doesn't matter so much what I call myself anymore. Just call me grateful that I'm not drinking every day. Or any day.
It sounded to me as if Godiva was defensive and insecure. I hope she found what she was looking for.
When I first started attending AA meetings I really, really tried to set myself apart from all "those" people. I drank every day but I acted like I had something special going on because I was still employed, had never been arrested, owned my own home, fed my cats and watered my garden. Me? Alcoholic? NO way.
Guess it doesn't matter so much what I call myself anymore. Just call me grateful that I'm not drinking every day. Or any day.
EndGame
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 4,677
Originally Posted by notgonnastoptry
No. I was not a periodic. Is there a hip word for "around-the-clock"?
Time in a Bottle
The Final Countdown
Non Stopper
Daily Deflection
Daylong Deflection
Hourly Correction
The Drinker's Guide to Periodical Literature
(I'm Not Gonna) Wait for the Midnight Hour
24-Hour Glass
Midnight Confession
After Midnight...and all day long
Day Tripper
Another Saturday Night
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Feeling Groovy
Can't Stop the Feeling
Hooked on a Feeling
Can't Stop Loving You
Had to put that out there.
NA Member - Atheist
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Middletown CT USA
Posts: 770
Originally Posted by StayingGrateful
Well I am a binge drinking alcoholic so I understand it. I am not an alcoholic who drinks everyday. I go days without drinking and then bang, I'm off again. Used to be able to go weeks without drinking. But always returned. So I understand what a periodic alcoholic means. There are different types of alcoholics in regards rate of drinking.
I went into NA with a big chip on my shoulder because I only did certain drugs. To say that I was being myopic and stupid would be an understatement. No one seeks recovery because their life is going well and they need something else to occupy their time.
Oddly enough the first step doesn't say anything about how often we got loaded, it talks about unmanageability. When it talks about being powerless over our addiction, that is just as relevant for the person who is able to abstain for a time, and when they do return to drinking/using, they are unable to control it.
FWIW, my father was a "maintenance drinker" and my mother was a "periodic". Both suffered, and caused suffering. I could be either. All three of us are alcoholics/addicts.
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 444
Self talk
[QUOTE=EndGameNYC;6027893]
I never cared much about being labeled as an alcoholic, or what it means to other people. But I am often intrigued by how we describe ourselves (after all, I get paid for listening), and what those descriptions mean to us. And whether or not or how our descriptions are demonstrated in our behavior.
Thank you for the post EndGame.
As a parent of three teens I routinely find myself in conversations with them regarding their "self-talk", both positive and negative, and how that talk can create and frame reality. I believe strongly in the power of the words that we speak to ourselves.
Stating that I am an alcoholic creates a fairly stark image of my relationship with drinking alcohol. Those words frame my reality far more accurately than any of the other more nuanced descriptions that I could, and have, used to describe myself and my drinking habits.
I don't have the experience of many meetings and the various personalities and their rationales for drinking but I do have many years of experience listening to myself describe how my particular brand of drinking was actually probably okay... I get irritated listening to myself talk to myself....
Slightly different topic but I do try to refrain from thinking of myself as an alcoholic in any area other than when it comes to the subject of abstaining from alcohol..... there are so many other things that make us ourselves.
Thanks again for the post.
Jonathan
I never cared much about being labeled as an alcoholic, or what it means to other people. But I am often intrigued by how we describe ourselves (after all, I get paid for listening), and what those descriptions mean to us. And whether or not or how our descriptions are demonstrated in our behavior.
Thank you for the post EndGame.
As a parent of three teens I routinely find myself in conversations with them regarding their "self-talk", both positive and negative, and how that talk can create and frame reality. I believe strongly in the power of the words that we speak to ourselves.
Stating that I am an alcoholic creates a fairly stark image of my relationship with drinking alcohol. Those words frame my reality far more accurately than any of the other more nuanced descriptions that I could, and have, used to describe myself and my drinking habits.
I don't have the experience of many meetings and the various personalities and their rationales for drinking but I do have many years of experience listening to myself describe how my particular brand of drinking was actually probably okay... I get irritated listening to myself talk to myself....
Slightly different topic but I do try to refrain from thinking of myself as an alcoholic in any area other than when it comes to the subject of abstaining from alcohol..... there are so many other things that make us ourselves.
Thanks again for the post.
Jonathan
waking down
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 4,641
I might have been labeled as a periodic, but I would have never attended an AA meeting much less called myself a periodic. I was a binge drinker that did "liver cleanses" sometimes several times a year when I would quit drinking and eat psyllium husk and drink herbs, etc. These cleanses lasted anywhere from a couple of weeks to a few months. Once for a year... That went on for decades.
I think it's helpful to look at the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for substance use disorder: Publications | National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism | Alcohol Use Disorder: A Comparison Between DSM–IV and DSM–5 The criteria on the left have been replaced by the criteria on the right.
When I look at those criteria, I can see that I probably qualified as alcohol use disorder, mild, for many many years. With time, though, more criteria were added and I progressed to a moderate disorder. When enough criteria piled up to say I was severe I quit.
My point is "periodics" likely meet criteria for alcohol use disorder, mild or moderate. For many (like me) it's just a matter of time before they will meet criteria for severe. In my last couple of years of drinking I could no longer sustain a "liver cleanse" for more than a week or two, and I stopped caring about cleansing. I actually didn't realize I had slipped into a severe use disorder until I detoxed.
Alcoholics, well, people for that matter, can be annoying whether they label themselves as periodics or holier than thou or not. I prefer to look past the surface and recognize they are suffering like the rest of us, one way or another...
I think it's helpful to look at the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for substance use disorder: Publications | National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism | Alcohol Use Disorder: A Comparison Between DSM–IV and DSM–5 The criteria on the left have been replaced by the criteria on the right.
When I look at those criteria, I can see that I probably qualified as alcohol use disorder, mild, for many many years. With time, though, more criteria were added and I progressed to a moderate disorder. When enough criteria piled up to say I was severe I quit.
My point is "periodics" likely meet criteria for alcohol use disorder, mild or moderate. For many (like me) it's just a matter of time before they will meet criteria for severe. In my last couple of years of drinking I could no longer sustain a "liver cleanse" for more than a week or two, and I stopped caring about cleansing. I actually didn't realize I had slipped into a severe use disorder until I detoxed.
Alcoholics, well, people for that matter, can be annoying whether they label themselves as periodics or holier than thou or not. I prefer to look past the surface and recognize they are suffering like the rest of us, one way or another...
Member
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Australia
Posts: 109
I'm periodic (never heard that term) I guess? I drink every six months or so, but when I do it's horrendous and that's why I manage to control my drinking for six months afterwards. Not because I'm strong and in control, but rather because it's so awful when I do, that's enough to deter me for awhile.
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