Tell us a little bit about yourself..

[KatieB]

Tell us a little bit about yourself..

Such amazing life stories - thank you all so much for sharing!
We talk so much of our struggles with AL on here, and being over the internet, its easy to forget that we are "real" people! :H
I will just add about my drinking:
I am a living example of "what came first, the chicken or the egg"... As I had low self-esteem, and started self-harming from the age of 14.. I started binge drinking around the age of 18, mainly to deal with my issues of low self-esteem and shyness.. I had no confidence with people whatsoever.. I suffered with depression for years, and tried numerous suicide attempts, on top of binge drinking.. I could happily go without drinking for certain amounts of time, but my problem was when socialising.. as I would go overboard to deal with my lack of confidence.. I finally got help when I was 28 with a psychiatrist (which had never been suggested to me before).. and have received treatment (current too) for my depression and low self-esteem.. for me, I believe my low self-esteem and depression came first, followed by AL - as when I am happy (like now, with an amazing supportive partner), I find it easy to not drink.. I would love to be a "normal" drinker, but after binging most my adult life, I am not sure that will be possible as my brain only knows how to binge! and thats my issues in a nutshell..
Katie xxx

[IanRankin]

Tell us a little bit about yourself..

Hi All,
- I'm a 35 year old Irish single male.
- I'm pretty outgoing with a positive outlook.
- Great job in financial services.
- Working class background.
- Very close family incl 7 nieces and nephews.
- Love music.
- Play bit of guitar.
- Love weight training & hill running.
- Love most sports especially football (GAA & Soccer)
- Read a lot.
- Laugh a lot: like to have wee bit of fun everyday.
- Typical weekend binger since I was 18.

[franziasgone]

Tell us a little bit about yourself..

Soon to be 53 yo female, married 33 years to my high school sweetheart.
Two handsome, talented, "devoted to their mom" sons.
Love of my life 26 month old grandson. no girls in our family
Been working as a an elementary school nurse for 5 years. Love it!
Fell in to the trap of drinking wine about 25 years ago ~ and now it has caught up with me

[daybyday]

Tell us a little bit about yourself..

*I am a 47 yo active and happy single female.
*Have two beautiful children, a teenage girl and an adult son 30. I was a teenage mom probably due to starting drinking at such a young age.
*Married at 21 and raised my son with lots of fun and adventure. Divorced at 35.
*Worked my way up to Management in the finance world for 16 years, started my own successful business for 10 years, recently sold it and have a very fullfilling outdoor peaceful job now.
*Started drinking at 13 and it's always been a big tragic part of my life til I found MWO.
*Recently on July 8th celebrated 80 days of being AF but did not get a chance to share my 60 day success as my son tried to committ suicide in a very gruesome way while under the influence of drugs. When I got the phone call I dropped to my knees and my heart broke.
*My son had been to rehab in his early 20's and I thought it was all fine and behind us.
*He has been in the hospital 5 weeks now while they try to deal with his physical injuries before they even deal with his drug and depression issues.
*I thank Jesus everyday that I found MWO when I did and became AF as I think I may have drank myself away if I had tried to deal with this drinking.

[daybyday]

Tell us a little bit about yourself..

Thank you Sheri for the kind words. My mind races of the future for him and I know I have to give it to a higher power as it is more than I can fix. I can only trust that Jesus has a plan as it is so disturbing but on the other hand it took me over 30 years to get AF and I obviously need to be to get through this whole.

[Ringing Cedars]

Tell us a little bit about yourself..

Hi from Ontario DaybyDay. I too am very sorry to read of your circumstances with your son. I'm so glad that you were able to stay strong in your fight with the al through it, as you will be the best possible support you can be for him now. Sending best wishes for healing and peace for you both.:l

[wannachange]

Tell us a little bit about yourself..

Great thread, its true, sometimes we just appear like text on a screen where in true fact we are real people, breathing with lives.

I am male, have just turned 37, Irish, got married to my Italian wife in 2003, separating at the moment unfortunately. Have two sons, one died at birth the other is 3 and I see him every Saturday, am a web application developer charted out to government departments, I enjoy programming, I would be what one would call a geek, enjoy spiritual studies, love people, hate booze, love electronic mellow music, have up and down days but more up than down, I am excited about life, traveled a lot and want to do it again when I retire, lived in Holland 4 years, Italy 2 years, America 1 year.

I love this site and I love everyone here.

[patrice]

Tell us a little bit about yourself..

Hi I like this thread too, thanks KatieB
Daybyday- I'm so sorry about your son but your strength at this difficult time is a real inspiration to me. I'm thinking of you xxx

[patrice]

Tell us a little bit about yourself..

I'm 47 with a soon to be 5 year old son. Seperated for the last 9 months.
I'm from NZ but lived in the UK for 14 years and Australia for 7 years
I now live in the Borneo Jungle in a non alcohol Muslim country teaching English in a secondary school. Its very remote here but quite beautiful with untouched pristine rainforests but not much to do.
My drinking spiralled out of control when I got here ( strange huh?? non alcohol country). alcohol can be bought by expats by going to a neighbouring country which is 45 mins away and 4 stamps on the psssport!! ( not sure how many passports I've been through - started ordering the industrial size ones with 65 pages!!)
I have been here for 3 years, my husband left one day with no warning and we haven't seen him since (still in email contact etc). Thats when my drinking escalated even more. There is no support here.. no AA, no medications for Alcohol etc, no one to really talk to ( the locals dont drink, the expats drink heaps, no middle ground here)

I am on day 21 AF and generally feeling good
I'm a positive upbeat outgoing person and that side of me is slowly coming back..
This site has been a saviour for me and will continue to be... thank you all
Patrice x

[franziasgone]

Tell us a little bit about yourself..

has anyone else noticed?

It is blatantly obvious that most everyone here is a well educated professional hard working person.......not what most people depict as having debilitating alcohol issues! And a few of us are even nurses~ we know damn well what we are doing to our bodies......

[Luvwins]

Tell us a little bit about yourself..

Franzia, you are so right. I knew that intellectually but it's been one of the great insights that MWO has given me. Just who are the people with alcohol problems that you can't pick out of the crowd? They are people just like me. It takes away the isolation and puts the shame in perspective.

I'm soon to be 51 with an 8 and 10 year old. I am a professional in a helping job. In control in so many aspects of my life but continually wrestling with my relationship with alcohol and mostly letting it be in control.

Patrice - I am in awe of your accomplishment of 21 days AF in such a challenging setting. Awesome to see another mom here in the age group that most have nearly grown or grown kids.

[hazel63]

Tell us a little bit about yourself..

Just googled and found this site, I'm feeling very frustrated alone and angry at my inability to control my drinking. Why can't I stop
I'm a registered nurse during the day I talk with people about their life choices, addictions , smile and nod advise, direct them to resources . I hide my little secret from my friends family colleagues and retreat at night alone and drink. I'm single mother of a beautiful 6 year old, she what keeps me going,

[techie]

Tell us a little bit about yourself..

Hi Hazel and welcome. You found a great place here with lots of support. Here is a link to our tool box https://www.mywayout.org/community/f1...box-27556.html this will give you ideas and strategies so you can develop a plan. Please download the MWO book it's available in PDF. You can post your own thread in the just strating out forum. Go into the forum and click on thread in the upper left that will allow to add you story and you'll get the most feedback, advice and suggestions that way. Best of luck to you hazel...john

[greeneyes]

Tell us a little bit about yourself..

Hi hazel63 & :welcome:

I'm afraid your post might get lost in this thread so I'd like to encourage you to post in the "Just Starting Out" section to make sure you are recognized and we can offer you what support you may be needing. There are several nurses that I know of here - as well as people from all walks of life. Everyone has been where you are now. The secrets, lies, hiding, etc. The newbies nest and ODAT (one day at a time) are good threads for people starting out and are supported by people with more AF time behind them. Look around, post wherever you feel comfy - we look forward to getting to know you. You might start by reading the MWO book. You can download it from the Health Store at the top of this page.

[franziasgone]

Tell us a little bit about yourself..

welcome

Hazel ~
Yes you must search other threads and post to be found~ I know it's difficult navigating the sight at first.......from one nurse to another WELCOME!
Keep up with us and you will find help!:welcome: