Sober'sBest

I'm in the 7% US alcoholic addictive-personality minority.

The 93% normal majority think booze is bad.

Alcoholics think "I need booze" ... for any reason.


"Need vs. Bad"


I'm gonna WIN MY CHALLENGE TO 'KNOW' BOOZE IS BAD! I DON'T NEED BOOZE!


To the VICTORS go the REWARDS!

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Dee74

I understand the intent behind your message but I don't think that's true.

I think the normal drinker is pretty ambivalent towards alcohol - neither good not bad ? They simply don't think about it that much

whatever works - but I don't feel the need to demonise alcohol - I was the problem - the substances I used to try and fix my problem were a secondary issue?

I think focusing on myself as the problem got me to where I needed to be

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kevlarsjal

I think most people either don't like it cause they don't like the taste or effect of it or if they like it, they see it as a treat like a piece of cake or something similar. They know it's not supposed to be healthy but yeah, they just don't feel like they "need" it. And if they can't have it they don't suffer from cravings or withdrawal.

Sober'sBest

Thanks for your valued clearer perspectives... How about I rewrite my goal as:


Drunks NEED IT . . . Normals DON"T.

I DON'T NEED IT . . . SOBER'S BEST.



Basically I'm clarifying in my mind that no (choosen) excuse warrants drinking; although I 'innately' believed that.

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Sober'sBest

Thanks for your valued clearer perspectives... How about I rewrite my goal as:


Drunks NEED IT . . . Normals DON"T.

I DON'T NEED IT . . . SOBER'S BETTER.



Basically I'm clarifying in my mind that no (choosen) excuse warrants drinking; although I believed that.

Oh, how about: many normals respect it as too dangerous to abuse? Implying that drunks discount, or disregard that in their 'need'.

Realizing that I personally 'needed' it while 93% don't is a break through for me.. That and 'BAD' may flip my switch permanently.. Or, "I DON'T NEED BAD" !

But now, I'm also generally thinking of MOST addicts.. What is likely to flip their switches... MENTALLY, along with physical?

Is there likely to be a basic or universal 'starting point'? Even though life and death doesn't seem to be it.. Could it be the false belief of 'need'? . . .

(sorry for the rewrite; it timed out)

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kevlarsjal

I personally think that a lot of addicts have underlying mental problems and for some reason they can't / don't want to address them so they start self medicating with a drug. It seems like the easy way out, no hard work or commitment needed.

I know this isn't the only reason that makes people abuse alcohol and make them addicts but it was in my case. Then there's of course the biological aspect but I don't know enough about brain chemistry to make any assumptions.

Other people may be a bit more mentally stable or just have not experienced the same traumatic things. Or they found better ways to deal with them, better outlets for their emotions.

Also I doubt "normal" people think alcohol is too dangerous to abuse. They probably just don't feel the need to abuse anything. And it seems like alcohol affects them in a different way to how it affects me. They don't get the same relief and rewarding feeling when they drink. So they don't seek that feeling or maybe get it from somewhere else.

Sober'sBest

Thanks, your perspective gives me more to think about.

How about: most normal don't like being drunk, but infrequent careful tipsy is ok?

While before I FALSELY thought I needed regular drunkenness.

Now I'm happier substance FREE. (mentally and physically)

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noneever

Normals don't really think about alcohol- they can take it or leave it. Alcoholics think they'll die without it.

kevlarsjal

I didn't think I'd die without it but I didn't know how (or why) to live without it. Now I'm trying to learn just that.

kevlarsjal

Yes, I think that's probably what normal people drink alcohol for. To get a bit tipsy, to maybe giggle a bit more and relax. I think the social part of drinking is probably more important to most of them than the effect of alcohol to their body. And most of them probably don't aim for being drunk.

Sober'sBest

How about:

Some may benefit to UNLEARN FALSE motivation; and LEARN normal motivation.


Again, my breakthrough is: . . . I DON'T NEED SA . . . and good will follow!


Any thoughts please?

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tekink

normal people can have one and not care if they don't have more.

alcoholics have one and then can't stop until they're wasted. I didn't really like to be stumbling drunk, I would have preferred a slight buzz. Come every day by bedtime I'd be slurring and stumbling.

juppe

Some alcoholics CAN die without it though

Berrybean

I wonder if yiu might find the AVRT Rational Recovery statements helpful or at least interesting while you're devising your statements. I'm AA myself so it's a bit different from what I've used personally, but I know many here have spoken of how useful it's been for them...

Nonsensical

For another perspective...

I never thought I needed booze, but I sure felt like I did.

Now I think my feelings about booze are inconsequential, and I treat them as such.

Learning the difference between thinking and feeling saved my life.

I like what you're cooking here SB. Its tough to get your head around the problem when the problem is also living in your head.

Keep up the good work.

Sober'sBest

My BREAKTHROUGH is:




. . . . . .I DON'T . . NEED . . BAD!

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NoelleR

I'm a recovered drunk, and I never felt I 'needed' booze;' but I did 'want' it.

,,,,and your numbers need some rechecking. For better/accurate numbers, check out the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.............................:

http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publicatio...acts&Stats.pdf

P.S. None of my non-alcoholic friends have reported to me that they see alcohol as bad.

soberlicious

Although that may your anecdotal experience, there are millions of people around the world who have never been addicted who do view use of alcohol as big negative. Many Muslims, Orthodox Jews, Pentecostal Christians, Straight-edgers, Buddhists, (to name only a few) do not imbibe based on moral principles.

Sober'sBest

The current US NIH statistics are:

"Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) in the United States:
Adults (ages 18+): 16.3 million ... (6.8 percent) had an AUD in 2014".

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How about: normals don't like being drunk . . . drunks do.

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I dropped the FALSE BELIEF that I need poison booze.


I'll live a SATISIFIED SOBER LIFE.

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kevlarsjal

I can very much relate to the feeling of "needing" booze. It felt like I needed it to get through the day, to be productive, to think clear (eh?!) and basically to function.

But I learned that I don't need it. No one needs it. We survive without it. In fact, we live way better and our bodies function way better without it. But because of what it does to our brains, it felt like we needed it. It's just the natural consequence of drinking in certain ways or for certain reasons, at some point you will get addicted and it fools your brain.

It's some harmful behaviour we learned in the past. But we can unlearn it and replace it by better, more healthy behaviour.