One month sober challange - I think I´m an alcoholic
 

23 year old male here. I´ve always had a thirst for alcohol, since the first time I tried it. Usually the drunkest during gatherins, have been that way since I turned legal age.

I did not think I was an alcoholic, it never crossed my mind really, up until last week when I completed a One Month Sober Challange with my roomies. I stayed sober for a month....BUT. I had cravings for alcohol during the time I used to drink....friday-saturday. Its a sign of alcoholism right? Few times I was pretty close to opening a bottle, but I did not want to loose the bet.

And I can´t usually control my drinking, I drink to get drunk, not for the taste. not to get that 1 hour buzz from just one beer, I mean, I get drunk.

After the challange ended I got very-very drunk. It was like some kind of reward for me....finally, I can get blasterd!....I dont think normal people without a drinking problem look forward to get wasted....do they?

Am I an alcoholic?

sorry for typos

Only you can tell if you are an alcoholic.

Normal people can take or leave booze...

I used to do one month sober challenges a couple times a year, it was the in between times I realized I had an issue. So I did one and made it a lifestyle :) That was 156 days ago, I still get twinges some Fridays, or when I do something I used to drink while doing, like the first spring bbq - the point is, I know I am an alcoholic, I know I have a problem with booze, I too used it as a reward and bought into it's promises of easier sleep, more fun. They are all lies, I sleep amazing, down and out and awake and bright, I aim for 6-7 hours, but am Ok with 4 and can't go more than 8, there is no reward in feeling like crap the next day, or having to use the porcelain phone in the middle of the night and I have way more fun sober and remember it! It cannot be a factor in my life anymore. I wish I had quit younger, but I just wasn't ready.

Just because you like getting drunk or crave alcohol at times doesn't necessarily mean you're an alcoholic, especially at 23 where it's part of the normal culture for friends to get together and do such a thing. That said I don't want to normalize this, the fact that you were concerned enough to seek out this site tells me you're at high risk. If you decide to abstain great, if not I'd just try to watch yourself and be smart, don't over do it.

There's a good chance.

It's also possible that Stride is right and it's called being 23.

Do you want to chance it?

I got blasted a few times in college, and when I got drunk I got DRUNK. But most of us did.

I spent most of my 20s having drinks with dinner on weekends; I'd buy a bottle of wine and it would spoil.

Grad school in my early 30s was when I started binge drinking, which lead to daily drinking in my early 40s.

I'm a classic example of slow escalating, that ended up in medical detox and inpatient rehab in my mid 50s.

Do you want to go there?

BTW, life is better without booze.

You're a problem drinker. That's where it starts. Where and when you want it to end is up to you.

Well, of course we cannot sit here and declare anyone an alcoholic, or not an alcoholic. So, I will just share my early drinking experiences. When in college my buddies and I became frequent partiers. I loved the effect of drinking, and a lot of people drink because they like the effect. Ask someone who is drinking whiskey sours if they would continue to drink them if they were non-alcoholic, and most folks would say no, give me a coke, or tea, or water. My experience was once I discovered the effect, I wanted more and more. The first drink assured I would drink until I could no longer drink (the phenomenon of craving) and I had the obsession of the mind that led me to the first drink. I always fired for effect. Most of my drinking buddies after several months decided if they wanted to succeed in college that they had to quit drinking or moderate, and they did. I did not. That to me illustrates the difference. So, eventually, 20 years later after the hell I went thru, I surrendered. I declared myself alcoholic in need of help. If folks can moderate or quit without a problem, they may not be of the alcoholic described in the literature. For you, I have no advice, only what I went thru. I have my opinion, but that is not important. Only you can prevent forest fires, right?

It's possible that you conditioned yourself a little bit to drink more on the weekends. That's when most people drink. It would be normal to have cravings then.

Drinking to get drunk, not being able to control your drinking...the very fact that you came to this forum, those are all signs to take a closer look at your drinking habits and at least approach something a little healthier. Whether or not full sobriety is your path is ultimately up to you.

Suffering from alcoholism had two key elements, what happened to me when I drank, and what happened when I stopped.

When I drank, it was usually to get right with the world, just relax and have a good time. I nearly always overshot the mark and lost control. Getting legless and all the consequences that went with it, was usually the furthest thing from my mind when I took that drink. When things started to get bad and I wanted to stop, I found I could not. Not for month, a week or even a day. That first drink went down often without conscious thought and the cycle would repeat.

When I did manage to white knuckle a few days sober, my life got worse. Trouble was booze was not my problem, it was my solution. Without it I had trouble functioning in the world. I became progressively more unhappy until I could again experience the sense of ease and comfort that came with a few drinks. As my drinking got worse, that sense of ease became fleeting, and I would overshoot the mark with even more serious consequences.

If I was just a problem drinker, then stopping drinking would fix all the problems. A month off with a few minor cravings doesn't sound bad to me. But that wasn't my experience. Any sober time was miserable and unhappy. Seems I couldn't win either sober or drunk.

This sounds like me. I take it that it was working a program that has helped you?

As others have said, it's up to you to decide whether or not you are an alcoholic.

Is alcohol causing problems in your life? If so, then stopping drinking is the solution.

I tried, or had tried on me, all available paths. Counselling, therapy, incarceration in a mental institution, the family doctor did his best. None of that helped.

Working the AA program of recovery, the whole package of meetings sponsor and steps completely changed my life. Three months (well into step 9) in I realised I was free of the obsession an had been for most of that three months. From that point on my life without alcohol got better and better.. Never had any need to go back drinking since.

Orderfororder, I hope you can find what I did. Frankly, for me life without either alcohol or recovery was not worth living.

Hi there, Godin. If you think you have a problem with booze you most likely do. Only you can decide if you're an alcoholic. I will say that alcohol is a poison and you and everyone else is far better without it. I hope you decide you quit while you are young and ahead of the game. It's not worth it.

Day 7, good milestone. Body is almost back to normal. Hopefully no sleep issues tonight.

I definitely had a lot of urges throughout the day, but fought them off and made sure to log in here and read threads. Crazy that I'm only just recovering my physical wellbeing and my mind still considers booze a possibility. A dumb addiction.

Considering a step program of some sort. Or therapy. I need something extra to get my mind right so that I can be the best version of myself.

Hopefully you guys are powering on!

Godin,

Honestly I see some red flags in your post. Maybe I'm just reading too much of my own stuff into what you wrote. I remember in college getting drunk, too drunk, too often. Like others have said, it seems like most college kids do (probably even more back when I was in school).

But I also remember having a different relationship with alcohol than most of my friends (sorority sisters) did. Like you said, we'd make a promise to do a "sober month", or a "cleanse" or something like that, and I would just white knuckle it. I wasn't addicted to alcohol. Not physically. I didn't the shakes or withdrawal or anything. But it was an obsession of sorts.

During these dry periods my friends would go on with their lives. They would occasionally remember that they weren't suppose to drink. (Like, "OMG, I almost ordered a glass of wine with dinner. Oops. Giggle"). Not me though. I thought about it all the time.

I actually didn't drink for a long period after college. I had kids young and was too poor to consider buying alcohol.

Still as soon as the opportunity came again, I was right back to obsessing about alcohol.

Sometimes it's not how much you drink. It's about how you think about alcohol.

For what it's worth.

Sorry Godin, posted this in the wrong thread! Ha.

Hi and welcome Godin

Like others have said, only you can decide.

That being said there's a lot of red flags in your post - craving alcohol, not being able to stop when you start, getting wasted.

There would have been a time I'd have said it's just 23, but I have a neice that age now and a nephew a couple of years younger and they don't drink like this, and neither do any of her friemnds...so I think it's something to definitely think about?

D

Marvelous wisdom shared, thanks for sharing with the group

Regarding age, one of the miracles I had the privilege of witnessing was the sobriety at age 16 of a female alcoholic high school student who had been drinking for about 8 years! She was out of control. When I met her she was brand new. 11 years later she was still enjoying sobriety and living the principles and an active "old timer" in our AA group. Just a testimony for your consideration, and good luck

Everyone is different. At least you are recognizing it early, or at least exploring the idea that you don't think you're drinking normally. Drinking to get drunk is what I eventually evolved into (I was a social drinker, within the realms of normalcy, for years). That is how I knew I was an alcoholic. The lack of control started.

Also, you mentioning that though you did abstain for the month, once the timeline was over you got blitzed. Not a good sign.

As posters above have stated, only YOU can determine if you're an alcoholic. My advice is once you know for sure, quit while you are ahead and save yourself years of grief and misery. It doesn't end well.

I wouldn't class you as an alcoholic
You done one month sober
Just maybe watch your intake
Caralara ❤️