Ariesagain

I believe that alcoholism or dependency or whatever you want to call it is a continuum. I also believe that most people who seek out a board like this one are on that continuum and on some level recognize it leads nowhere good.

My consumption was 3-5 drinks a day. Every day. Starting late afternoon. My days revolved around it...no phone calls after dinner. No early appointments. Is there enough in the house because it’s a half hour drive to the store.

By your standards, I’m not an alcoholic, because I wasn’t big or bad enough?

Look, I don’t give a rusty god damn about what you call it or where any one individual is on that continuum. It’s none of my business.

My business is not drinking today, day 744.

MindfulMan

Binge drinking is a very real phenomenon. Not sure where that falls on the spectrum, but there's research showing that drinking to blackout and then having a multi-day withdrawal on repeat has more long term health effects than steady drinking.

There are also people who have drunk more in the past, and see where their daily or binge drinking is leading them. Or people that see a slow and steady escalation of their drinking and don't want to get to a bottom like some of us have experienced. Or people that are taking legal prescription drugs like benzos or opiates on top of their drinking. Or who, despite drinking that some of us would describe as moderate, have experienced consequences such as DUIs, job performance issues, damage to relationships, etc.

Or or or.

EliL

Interesting thread.

Ive been going to AA for almost a decade and there you are the only person who can decide whether or not you are an alcoholic. No-one will offer any diagnosis other than perhaps advising that you listen to the similarities on others and then make a decision whether you fall into the label of alcoholic or not. In this respect i have met once a month drinkers and 24/7 drinkers who all share that label and the program of AA is the same for all of them.

Outside of AA I'm not sure how using the label alcoholic is particularly helpful for the exact same reason as the OP pointed out. Lets say an individual has a drinking problem of whatever degree and goes to get professional help would the quantity of alcohol consumed dictate the treatment? Very much so. A dependent daily drinker would detox, rehab would be advised or inpatient services and thereafter outpatient services. A periodic drinker, which one could label functional, may not need that level of support or therapy and may have several issues to work on whilst they continue their daily routines. On that note a person with diagnosable mental health illness would be treated very differently to a problem drinker without which seems obvious; but if one uses the label alcoholic for all problem drinkers assuming that one glove fits all those people with potentially diagnosable mental illness would suffer immeasurably and do.

I think it is up to each of us to use whatever label we feel comfortable with if we feel we have to use a label. Personally i don't like labels at all, i think everyone on this planet has issues and one of mine is that my default is to turn to alcohol as a coping mechanism so my goal is to continue to grow in terms of developing different coping mechanisms. Its not my only issue though, alcohol didn't raise me, create me or teach me how to live!

As for my previous alcohol consumption i have earned the label alcoholic if i wanted to use it

Berrybean

When alcohol addiction causes us....

Poor physical health / sickness
Initial drinks leading to unplanned 2-3 day binges
Depression and anxiety
Blacking out
Being unable to resist the compulsion to drink despite wanting to stop
Behaving in ways when drinking that needs apologies at a later date
Being ashamed of ourselves

This is a manageable lifestyle???!?

Really?

BB

geturfreakon

Check in tomorrow and see how you got on with that ;-)

Ghoster18

My primary problem exists when I'm clean and sober
Drinking/ S addiction were my solution.
So my point is
Abstinence brings to the surface my primary problem
Me clean and sober that's where my condition originated and that is where I find my way solution!
Alcohol porn escorts smoking drugs food
Are where I go for relief they are my solution ( they don't work obviously)
I don't have a problem with them if I did I'd just quit and skip off into a bright and breezy life.
My problem is as I said ' ME UNMEDICATED'

Get that seen to.. happy days!
G

DarklingSong

Thank you for this thread. It highlights the many differing views on addiction. For me, I think it is important that the members here can express different perspectives and constructively discuss them. SR is surely at its strongest when it embraces diverse views.

Dee74

I hate anyone to think that they didn't belong here for whatever reason.

If you've gone to the trouble of looking us up and you want help, SR is for you.

I'd also hate people to think that they have to reply to every thread.

If you don't feel a connection, or can't find anything useful to say, then it's ok to move on from that thread - someone else will feel that connection and post.

If someone else bugs you on a regular basis, for whatever reason, it's ok to use the ignore function.

Fortunately, there's an infinite supply of love and support here - for everyone from the person waking up after their first blackout, the binge drinker, to those who drank around the clock....and not forgetting those of us who used drugs as well or are family and friends...

We work on peer support - noone is better then, or worse than, anyone else.

This thread was not one of my favourites but I appreciate that some people found it helpful.

I think its run its course now tho.

I want to spend what time I have here today helping others, not playing marshal here.

I hope everyone got a chance to vent.


Dee
Moderator
SR