dangers of drinking alone

[nancy]

Hi all

A while back there was a thread about drinking alone at home and it seems common.

Normally, I get motivated by positive rather than negative things.

But I am wondering, what are the dangers here? I think I have been lucky. Once I woke up and there was a broken window, no idea what happened.

Anyone know of these potential dangers, either personally or through a friend?

[capricorn]

dangers of drinking alone

Hi Nancy,

I have been lucky in as much as someone is normally asleep upstairs and hears any commotion. My friend however set fire to her flat when the munchies came at 5am in the morning and she put a pizza in the oven then fell back asleep. She was lucky and the neighbours heard the smoke alarm, but could have been a whole different story....

Cap
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[Otie]

dangers of drinking alone

Nancy,

When drunk, one can do anything - burn fingers while cooking, leaving house without keys, slip in shower, fall down the stairs... etc..

Best I ever done - actually the worst - is that I have fallen asleep/passed out on the sofa while the bath has been running and woke up few hours later with the whole 1-bedroom flat covered with 1-2 inches of water. ...and I spent next 3 nights at the hotel while the carpets were being dried... :good:

Otie

[Bella]

dangers of drinking alone

What I am going to say now is a bit depressing and I'm sorry but..... I think I will say it as it might make someone think of the possible dangers in drinking alone. I drank alone and continued to do so through the night and we all know what a depressant alcohol is, so I thought it would be a good idea to hang myself. I was busy tying the cord when my husband woke and stopped me. Even now, he doesnt know what woke him up but i know I would not be here now if he had stayed asleep. I remember being clear in my head that I wanted to go. The dangers of drinking alone.

Bella xxxx

[ducky]

dangers of drinking alone

Wow Bella, that took my breath away. We are all glad your husband woke up. Thanks for sharing your story.

[zincityzen]

dangers of drinking alone

You could fall, hit your head, decide you're okay, go to bed and never wake up! Or you could vomit in your sleep and drown or choke to death. The 2nd almost happened to me. Went to dinner with my Dad, stepmom and family friend, overate, drank lots of cheap red wine (I was maybe 20) smoked pot, then I woke up with my purple vomit all over my face, caked in my hair, and all over my pillow. YUCK! Bella, I can relate to an alcohol-depression induced suicide attempt. At about the same time as that dinner, I came home drunk, depressed and feeling suicidal and thought I'd take a bath and drop a running blow dryer in with me. Luckily I was just with it enough to decide that that would be a BAD IDEA, so I got up and went to bed. Sometimes I think it's amazing that I'm still alive.

[jay42]

dangers of drinking alone

yup..... once iwas drunk and set out down the stairs to go to the store i woke up a few mins later at the foot of the stiars . with a broken rib..... then a similar thing happend a few weeks later.
worst acciendent whilest drunk was, i went to see a band and someone fell on top of me shattered my ankle nowi have a metal plate etc

[MDBiker]

dangers of drinking alone

Drinking + Cooking = cut fingers and burnt pans.
Drinking + Walking = skinned knees
Drinking + Mowing = small branches in skin
Drinking + Bar-B-Queing = singed eyebrows
Drinking + Vacuuming = stumped toes
Drinking + Moving Furniture = lost toenails

I could go on, but you get the point.

Bear

[Elizabeth]

dangers of drinking alone

Here by the grace of God

Bella... my heart goes out to you. Once after drinking very heavily alone I overdosed. Something I would normally never consider. I was alone at the time, my other half travelling. No one else was in the house. Woke up the following day, in bed, but actually could not move a single limb. I can't begin to describe how that felt. Everyone thought I was on safari so I was'nt missed. After a day & night I could shakily make it to the kitchen for some water. I can only surmise that like you, God decided to scoop us up and stop the most tragic thing from happening.

[samadhi]

dangers of drinking alone

Very good thread! Mostly I've been lucky so far - but as all of you have said it could potentially be very tragic. When my son was about 6 weeks old - he was sleeping in his basinet and I was asleep (passed out) on the sofa next to him - my husband was out of town. I woke up in the morning to look out the window and find that out neighbor's garage had burnt down overnight, burning a part our wooden fence in the process. This was about 10 yards away from the room I was in and I didn't hear any sirens or commotion. I shudder to think what could have happened if the fire spread, or even if there wasn't a fire and I had to be functioning with a sick child or other emergency.

Most of the other stuff that I have donewhile drinking has just been very embarassing, stupid or expensive.

[betty boop]

dangers of drinking alone

Oh Bella, that is terrible, thank goodness for your husband .....

[just h]

dangers of drinking alone

Wow, Bella! Good thing we do have angels and the good Lord looking after us in foolish moments. Yeah, I decided to cut myself while drinking and arguing (sp) with my dad on the the phone. I have a knack for leaving the bathroom sink running for some reason when I'm trashed and alone. Other than that, I just get bruises from things I can't remember the next day. I'm anemic so bruising is easy but I get really black and blue sometimes. Yeah, not a good time.

[retteacher]

dangers of drinking alone

I can see the many dangers of drinking alone. The internal issue for me is the secretive nature of it. It's the big lie of hiding our drinking.

[chilli]

dangers of drinking alone

Hi bella

I drink alone very often, as iam alone very often my only problems have been that i get on the phone and ring people, have no idea who or how but it happens, i tell them what think of them and then can not remember, i need a breath test on my phone

[redrobin]

dangers of drinking alone

Hi everyone,

I've been away for a while. Felt I needed a bit of a break to work out how I felt about a few things - particularly about moderating - so here's as good a place as any to jump back in!!

I reckon that the whole getting drunk and doing stupid and dangerous things aside, drinking alone is just plain DESPERATE. Like so many of you that's where I got into trouble, drinking at home alone, while cutting up the bloody veggies for dinner or folding the washing. What a waste.....Horrible green tea does quite well on such occasions (I know, it's good for me, just don't like the taste!)

So that's why I've decided that not drinking alone is a critical part of my approach to moderating. From now on my very occasional glass of wine will truly be a social drink only. Taken with friends. Something to savour and enjoy in company.

Anyway, it's good to be back....

Robin
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