Is it dangerous to feel "over" drinking?
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,352
I think it can be dangerous if you (meaning anyone) starts to feel that you can drink again 'safely'.
I'm perfectly ok and tremendously at peace with the idea I've had my last drink tho.
Alcohol has nothing good to offer me.
I'm perfectly ok and tremendously at peace with the idea I've had my last drink tho.
Alcohol has nothing good to offer me.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Toronto
Posts: 3,195
It stopped being fun for me years ago, however, I do sometimes get overwhelmed with anxiety/negative thoughts. Alcohol calms my mind. It's temporary relief and leads me on a binge, but peace of mind if only for a few hours is what I seek.
bona fido dog-lover
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: SF Bay area, CA
Posts: 99,755
I never feel 'over it' but do feel allergic to it now. The thought of drinking makes me feel rotten. When I feel bad, or something bad happens to me, I never think of drinking over it.
Someone on here once said it was like recovering from a bullet wound. You're healed, but that doesn't mean you're 'bullet-proof'.
Someone on here once said it was like recovering from a bullet wound. You're healed, but that doesn't mean you're 'bullet-proof'.
Hears The Voice
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Unshackled
Posts: 7,901
I'm not sure exactly what you mean by 'over it', but last year I became complacent about working on me. The ultimate result was a very damaging bender. YMMV, but I gotta work on me daily, even if on any particular day a drink seems out of the question.
Giving up is NOT an option.
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 7,806
If it leads to complacency, it's dangerous. If you feel like you'll never want to drink again, and that leads you to be less vigilant, it could lead to relapse. I feel like I'll never want to drink again. But that doesn't mean I can let my guard down. Because I know plenty of people who thought "I got this, I have no desire to drink" who stopped going to meetings or working on sobriety through the steps or self-examination or whatever they did as their program, and they went back out, sometimes with disastrous results. So even though I feel like I won't drink again, I do not take that for granted. Ever.
Guest
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 8,674
Yeah pretty much what Dee and MLD said in particular.
I'm particular about words and I don't think I ever use "over it" to describe how I feel about drinking. I might be "over this day" and need to go to bed, or "over my stepsons attitude" or something that's temporary, if you will, but still exists in life. Alcohol just doesn't and drinking isn't on my agenda.
Any word including framing something as being over it can be negative if they do prompt an attitude of complacency.
Perhaps asking the question in the first place gives a clue that you aren't comfortable with the phrasing or some feeling it's stirring up in you.
I'm particular about words and I don't think I ever use "over it" to describe how I feel about drinking. I might be "over this day" and need to go to bed, or "over my stepsons attitude" or something that's temporary, if you will, but still exists in life. Alcohol just doesn't and drinking isn't on my agenda.
Any word including framing something as being over it can be negative if they do prompt an attitude of complacency.
Perhaps asking the question in the first place gives a clue that you aren't comfortable with the phrasing or some feeling it's stirring up in you.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 67
This is my second go at sobriety. The first time around I had thoughts of maybe one day I could drink “normally”, if xyz falls in to place, other people control it etc. I didn’t necessarily act on them but they were there growing.
This time I can’t picture any scene where I would drink again - where I would want to and it would add to my life. And the battle seems over and that is such a relief and brings such peace
Im very happy that I now feel this way, so much so that it’s worth working to maintain it. I’m not a big AAer but going to meetings and reading here reminds me how utterly broken I was 14 months ago, and is worth doing to maintain how I feel now.
This time I can’t picture any scene where I would drink again - where I would want to and it would add to my life. And the battle seems over and that is such a relief and brings such peace
Im very happy that I now feel this way, so much so that it’s worth working to maintain it. I’m not a big AAer but going to meetings and reading here reminds me how utterly broken I was 14 months ago, and is worth doing to maintain how I feel now.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 11,413
Are you using other coping mechanisms such as relationships as a “filler” for drinking?
If you are distracting rather than digging, maybe watch out?
Only you can know if you are recovering or just not drinking for now.
If you are distracting rather than digging, maybe watch out?
Only you can know if you are recovering or just not drinking for now.
Member
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 1,642
Alcohol is dangerous and alcoholism is scary.
Whatever keeps you sober and far away from that bender.
I know a lot of people that need a higher power and the peace that comes with some of the steps in 12 step programs.
I know that I have to be vigilant daily about what happens if I take that first drink. It's not that I want the drink, it's that life isn't always perfect and my brain can turn on me if something is particularly triggering.
Whatever keeps you sober and far away from that bender.
I know a lot of people that need a higher power and the peace that comes with some of the steps in 12 step programs.
I know that I have to be vigilant daily about what happens if I take that first drink. It's not that I want the drink, it's that life isn't always perfect and my brain can turn on me if something is particularly triggering.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 118
I was definitely "over" drinking, & it was a major factor in me quitting for good. I didn't wake up on Day One with a killer hangover, in jail, or in the gutter. For me it was essentially a simple realization that my drinking career was over. Never looked back since then
Member
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 259
For me, recovery means thinking of the rest of my life as being sober and accepting that alcohol can't be a part of my life. That means no drinking despite what happens in life, be it great or tragic. I don't wake up everyday prepared to do battle against alcohol and honestly I don't really think of it much at all. But there are things I do since I went into recovery like getting reimmersed in things that promote sobriety, balance and living my life in the best way I can. This is what is working for me.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: NY
Posts: 327
Cunning and baffling, stay vigilant. The thought of a drink has not come into my mind for a while. I’m sure the urge might come back again when I don’t expect it. That’s why I have a toolbox and a plan to get me through it. If it doesn’t come back so much the better,
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