Did you know the first time?
Member
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Los Angeles, Ca
Posts: 535
Originally Posted by Obladi 
Not sure I 100% agree with this and here's why:
When I was a tiny tot, under six years of age, I vividly remember my mother offering me a choice during an asthma attack. "Would you like to take the medicine? I know it makes you feel terrible." My little inside brain was secretly thinking, "Oh yes, I kind of really like the awful wired feeling that stuff gives me." And my outside little self would say fake-reluctantly reply, "Yes, I'll take the medication."
The medication was Tedral, which contained:
Theophyllyne - which is a combination of a couple of refined plant-derived caffeines
Ephedrine
Phenobarbitol
Now I suppose I could've been learning to control my feelings at such a tender age with these substances, but I'm pretty skeptical about that idea. Though I'm certain I was an extremely sensitive young thing, I'm almost as sure that I hadn't been scarred yet. What I think is that I enjoyed the buzz and somehow knew (or picked up from my mom) that enjoying it was "wrong."
To answer to OP's question, of course I had absolutely no idea where I was headed then!
When I was a tiny tot, under six years of age, I vividly remember my mother offering me a choice during an asthma attack. "Would you like to take the medicine? I know it makes you feel terrible." My little inside brain was secretly thinking, "Oh yes, I kind of really like the awful wired feeling that stuff gives me." And my outside little self would say fake-reluctantly reply, "Yes, I'll take the medication."
The medication was Tedral, which contained:
Theophyllyne - which is a combination of a couple of refined plant-derived caffeines
Ephedrine
Phenobarbitol
Now I suppose I could've been learning to control my feelings at such a tender age with these substances, but I'm pretty skeptical about that idea. Though I'm certain I was an extremely sensitive young thing, I'm almost as sure that I hadn't been scarred yet. What I think is that I enjoyed the buzz and somehow knew (or picked up from my mom) that enjoying it was "wrong."
To answer to OP's question, of course I had absolutely no idea where I was headed then!
While my original post was meant for adults it does apply to children and research has shown even the sea slug. In 2000 Eric Kandell won a Nobel Prize with his work on Sea Slugs, demonstrating that both humans and Sea Slugs seek rewards. Trigger - Behavior- Reward. I'm not saying Sea Slugs have feelings, but they do seek reward. It's humans that give meaning to their rewards.
In my view, that is the antidote to over coming any addiction. Seek and LEARN healthy meaningful rewards of real value to you. Replace the quick fixes and mood changers of chemicals with healthy behaviors that empower you to regain control over your feelings. Addictions really are reward based learning. After all, you can't get addicted to a substance unless you have learned it does something for you! Otherwise you would not know what liquor to buy! lol.
On this Christmas day, I have to wonder, where do we get our values and purpose? Do we get them from ourself (internal) others-society (external) or (eternal) the wisdom found in the Bible? And no, you don't need God to have values. Worse yet, have we lost our values and purpose and now get them from objects of attachment, the false idols of substances and other corrupt behaviors? To be the right person, we must think, feel and behave congruent with our deepest moral and spiritual values. If we don't have values and purpose in life find them. If we have lost them, find them again.
When your values trump your addiction, there is no addiction.
Life Goes On
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Posts: 6,069
I find more than a few things to argue with in your post there, friend, not least of which is the insinuation that the single source of eternal truth is found in any one place.
But in the spirit of the season and the understanding that we have a unique fellowship by virtue of our common problem, I will concede your last point and understand that can be entirely sufficient for many many people.
Merry Christmas
But in the spirit of the season and the understanding that we have a unique fellowship by virtue of our common problem, I will concede your last point and understand that can be entirely sufficient for many many people.
Merry Christmas
Member
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Los Angeles, Ca
Posts: 535
Originally Posted by Obladi
I find more than a few things to argue with in your post there, friend, not least of which is the insinuation that the single source of eternal truth is found in any one place.
But in the spirit of the season and the understanding that we have a unique fellowship by virtue of our common problem, I will concede your last point and understand that can be entirely sufficient for many many people.
Merry Christmas
But in the spirit of the season and the understanding that we have a unique fellowship by virtue of our common problem, I will concede your last point and understand that can be entirely sufficient for many many people.
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas to you too.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Christchurch, NZ
Posts: 517
Only in hindsight can I see that I was going to have a problem.
My first unsupervised drink ended with two other 12 year olds having to hide the rest of the beer from me and carry me home.
I got like that pretty much every other time and by late teens I was already trying to figure out strategies to control it and at least not make a clown of myself.
But I didn't suffer from alcoholism for years ... I embraced it. I love everything about drinking.
My first unsupervised drink ended with two other 12 year olds having to hide the rest of the beer from me and carry me home.
I got like that pretty much every other time and by late teens I was already trying to figure out strategies to control it and at least not make a clown of myself.
But I didn't suffer from alcoholism for years ... I embraced it. I love everything about drinking.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: California
Posts: 2,693
Originally Posted by Cellardweller
I wonder what would have happened if someone had said "Hey, get your sh*t together. You're an embarassment." By that I mean, I wonder if I would have stopped earlier.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 337
My first time drunk, it was vodka, me and my mate bought this bottle, couldn't afford the mixer, so we had this wee chant while I drank she said we're gonna get drunk were gonna get drunk, and vice versa, well did we ever, we were 15, one of the older fellas help me below an old water pump to try sober me up, we're talking mid 80's in a very small village, population couple of hundred, some one came running down said your ma is on her way looking for you, well I'm there like a drowned rat, boking my guts up, and walked to meet her because I knew if she had to come find me it was gonna be worse, worse lol she bate the crap outta me, oh yes I front of everyone and marched me home, now my ma was only 5 ft but she had big hands, that didn't stop me though, I stopped at 17 when I got pregnant with my first daughter 14 months later we had our next daughter, and I never drank much until I was 28, it started OK at 28, but by my early 40s I was starting to get bad, and now at 48 we'll I'm back to starting getting sober again, me and my big lad are still together, xx
Member
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 104
Originally Posted by Accord1
Merry xmas eve sr folks. 21 months sober today. I'm sure this has been talked about many times here but did you know the first time you drank that you were going to have a problem?
Congrats on 21 months sober btw.
Giving up is NOT an option.
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 7,809
I was actually somewhat abnormal where I grew up, in that almost everyone I knew in high school partied with alcohol pretty much every weekend. It was just what kids did in a small Wisconsin town. I stayed away from it until I reached legal age (18 at the time) the summer after I graduated from high school. When I did start, I was a lightweight in comparison to everyone else who had been at it for a while. Didn't take long before I was right there with them, though. Did I know I was going to have a problem? Not really. It was just what everyone else did. Looking back I can see the signs, of course. But I'd say it took several years before I got to a point where I even thought I might be drinking too much on occasion.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Big City
Posts: 3,895
Hindsight being 2020 and all, sure I can see that kid who started to drink in HS liked it a little too much, was always up for another and never said no. When it evolved to hiding the drinks I certainly should have known there was a problem but the addict is so good at self-deception that it took years of the hidden bottles increasing in size and frequency before I admitted it to myself.
How long do we carry on knowing we are acting in ways that hurt ourselves? Drinking is just one tool of self-destruction. Procrastination, sex, food etc etc - we make choices all day long that are not in our best interests. In a sense, it's really just a matter of degree. And the degree to which alcohol ravaged and sabotaged my life increased to such a degree that what I knew for so long became a life or death decision. I chose life and here I am.
But I knew for a long time before I accepted. And I hurt my self and lots of people before I changed.
Interesting thread OP, thank you.
How long do we carry on knowing we are acting in ways that hurt ourselves? Drinking is just one tool of self-destruction. Procrastination, sex, food etc etc - we make choices all day long that are not in our best interests. In a sense, it's really just a matter of degree. And the degree to which alcohol ravaged and sabotaged my life increased to such a degree that what I knew for so long became a life or death decision. I chose life and here I am.
But I knew for a long time before I accepted. And I hurt my self and lots of people before I changed.
Interesting thread OP, thank you.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 11
Hmm, well yes. I knew the very first time I drank that I should not drink. I was sitting there drinking me weight in Smirnoff ices and I remember that they tasted like sprite. Yum. I was with my older sisters boyfriend and we were playing Mario cart- It was my first time drinking and driving and not even old enough to have my license- how irresponsible I know. Well I remember I was trying to get up to get another ice. When I stood up- my whole world started to spin- what should have been a sign and I should have been worried about the consequences I just laughed and laughed and laughed- since then I have been on and off of alcohol. I remember saying things like I don’t want to drink because I’ve seen what it did to my parents, I’ve regretted hangovers, spent most of college in a stupor. Yeah I knew... but that’s the thing about alcohol and me. Since the beginning it has clouded the consequences and had me laughing off the damage I was(have) done. Happy to be here. I will be sober today.
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