TheForce

Dee74

I'm sorry to hear that TF.

what's your plan, going forward?

D

TheForce

Dee74

I dunno.,..member of a recovery board and a DUI - the 'not alcoholic' things not looking good to me man.

You seem to have given a fair few years to drinking, yeah? why not give some time to not drinking?

You can still get sober for you
You might like the results?

D

AAPJ

Hi Force. Hope things improve for you. A lot of folks focus on the question:

Am I an "alcoholic"?

But is that even the right question to ask to decide if drinking is for you? Perhaps a better question to ask is:

Will my life improve if I stop drinking?

At least that was a better question for me to answer.

SoberRican

Hey whatever pushes you to recovery. Me I learned the hard way I have multiple DUI s . but you know whats weird? That's not what got me sober..... I am now on day 75.

Misssy2

Oh crap!

August252015

Hope this is your personal prompt to quit drinking. It will only get worse if you don't. Promise that.

DayTrader

While it's been a handful of years, I remember how horribly i felt after getting a DUI. I can share that as bad as it felt, #2 felt exponentially worse - quite suicidal to be frank. Luckily for me, I picked up DUI #3 before I was even sentenced for #2. That combination helped bring my ego down to size and I FINALLY got some willingness and desire to actually do something about my drinking.

They felt pretty bad at the time but looking back now, I'm suuuuper grateful for all 3. They were just what I needed.

SoberRican

Keep coming back

DayTrader

I wondered too.... I've found that "wondering" is super common among alkies but not so common among those who aren't. That said, wondering in and of itself isn't proof.

I tend to stick with AA's "definition" of what is and isn't alcoholism. I figured with the combined experience of millions of members over 80+ years, they probably know as much or more about what it is and what it isn't than anyone.

At my core, I wasn't sure IF I was a real alcoholic for a while.....but I WAS SURE that my life's trajectory needed to fricking change - big time. That was blatantly obvious.

I too was "forced" into abstinence by the Michigan court system and that was cool for a while. It was nice to not be getting arrested anymore. Eventually it started to become clear that something still wasn't quite right. As I eventually found out, there's a mile of difference between not drinking and being in recovery. Turned out, I hadn't really tried recovery up until that time....... and it was recovery that made all the difference in the world.

desertkid

I hear you on wondering if you're an alcoholic. I struggle with that as well. Sometimes I stop after one or two drinks, other times I keep going. What I have learned is that I am way more apt to go overboard with hard liquor than with beer. I almost never have more than one or two beers and if I do I can't finish the third. The other issue is I live alone and drink at home so I don't have anyone to keep me in check like a lot of my male friends do.

nightshade131

Sorry to hear that Force, it can be a scary time and I feel for you.
Do you know what you are going to do?

least

Much better question to ask myself than "am I an alcoholic"? Better to ask what I'm going to do about it.

TheForce

Thanks everyone. Im going to deal with this head on.

Delilah1

I’m glad you’re back, sorry about the DUI, I hope you didn’t hurt yourself or someone else.

I have been sober for three and a half years now, and when I decided to stop I didn’t worry about labels, or question am I an alcoholic or not. I thought s out alcohol and the impact it was having on my life, there was absolutely nothing good coming from it. It was definitely having s negative impact on me.

Although you are being forced to get sober. It’s the perfect time to reflect on how much better life is without alcohol.

DriGuy

I asked myself if I was an alcoholic for years before I quit drinking. I never answered the question because I didn't have an answer. But not drinking for the last 25 years has made my life much better in surprising ways.

I still ask myself if I'm really an alcoholic. The best answer I can come up with is that I think I am, but as someone pointed out earlier, the right question might be, can sobriety improve your life? I have a clear answer to that one.

My sponsor said one time, "I sometimes wonder if I was really an alcoholic, or just a slob." I spent so much time laughing at this absurd sounding thought, that I never spent much time considering the importance hidden in the humor: Is it better to be an alcoholic or just a slob? Or in less vulgar terms, is it better to be an alcoholic or just a guy that drinks so much that he creates problems for himself?

Now ask yourself who was responsible for your DUI? Hint: "The Cops," is the wrong answer.

ImNotThatGuy

One way of looking at a DUI is that it's better than having to face the consequences of a horrible accident + DUI.

Doesn't matter if you're an "alcoholic." Drinking has caused you to make poor decisions that have resulted in consequences. Doesn't it follow that not drinking will help you avoid that?