An Alcoholic or Normal?

[Kradle123]

An Alcoholic or Normal?

jackmorris23;1353532 wrote: My name is Jack - from Ireland.
I dont think I am addicted to drink as I can go for 5 day stretched without feeling much of a withdrawal. But It is the sheer amount of drink I have WHEN I drink that is worrying me. And I need to cut it out soon and get my life back.

Can anyone let me know the best thing to do first?

Hi again Jack:

I didn't think I was addicted either as I could go days without drinking even weeks. Then life happened and 20 years later I found myself here on MWO.

I asked a good friend of mine who has been sober for years how she defined Alcoholic as opposed to some one who occasionally Abuses Alcolhol and could maybe Moderate...

Her answer was pretty simply I thought. you know which is which not by when or how much you drink but how it's AFFECTING your life... I hated that answer because I know I don't drink as much as others but I also know its affected my life in the worst way...
So if you're here, at MWO wanting your life back, I think you've been affected. :h
My friend is also a judge !

I also think you are doing awesome!! And so much great advice. Onward and up ward to 30 days :l

[meadow]

An Alcoholic or Normal?

Jack, I don't know about the balance thing. I know people who can have two drinks and go home, some who can take or leave it and some, like me once they start they don't stop. So for me I think it could be all or nothing. I agree going to these events and being sober can be seen as a stick in the mud, because it makes other people feel uncomfortable. you will see how silly they are when drunk and they don't like that. I was at Bruce Springsteen last week and saw people falling over from drink, and I thought what a waste to miss such an incredible event because you were too pi**ed to enjoy it - wheres the sense in that?
I don't doubt this will take a lot of will power but I think you need to be at a stage where as Kradle123 says, you admit you don't like what its doing to your life. I have started Allen Carr's book and he has some interesting ideas - the way we fool ourselves about liking the taste or being in control - will keep you posted on that. You can certainly do things like drink a pint of water for every pint of beer, or tell people you're on anti biotics or you're in training to avoid the awkward questions until you are comfortable to say you're cutting back or cutting out. Only you can tell if there is a balance for you. I had a great time at Springsteen - no drink involved (mind you I was hung over from the previous night and almost missed it...) but you can have fun without alcohol too - just us Irish were not brought up to believe that.

[mario]

An Alcoholic or Normal?

Hi jack & meadow and welcome to MWO, As you might have noticed there is a great community here with lots of support and good advice from people who are or have been where you are now, Since drinking is so common in many cultures and the effects vary so widely from person to person, it’s not always easy to figure out where the line is between social drinking and problem drinking. But the bottom line is how alcohol affects you, If you’re ready to admit you have a drinking problem, you've already taken the first step. It takes tremendous strength and courage to face alcohol abuse and alcoholism head on. Reaching out for support is the second step. support is essential. Recovering from alcohol addiction is much easier when you have people you can lean on for encouragement, comfort, and guidance. Without support, it’s easy to fall back into old patterns when things get tough.So keep posting and reading the forum it certainly will help you as it as helped hundreds of others including me of course.
Goodluck.

[littlepinkcat]

An Alcoholic or Normal?

Sober Visitor;1353541 wrote: Hi Jack,

:welcome:

There are several folks on this site from Ireland who might better be able to answer your question about the drinking culture in Ireland, and are good examples that it can be done. Hopefully, some of them will come along soon to address your questions in this thread, or you can visit them in the Army thread too. Look for it under the General Discussion section. They start a new thread each day.

I'm not sure if you have a dependency on alcohol, but one way to tell is to see if you can go 30 days without. If it comes easy to you, I would say that you are not yet dependent, but that certainly doesn't mean you're out of the danger zone because binge drinking can be equally as harmful if not more. It can also be a stepping stone to becoming an alcoholic. Most of us here started out as weekend bingers and got progressively worse as is the nature of the disease.

The tool box is a real good place to start. Here's the link for that thread:

https://www.mywayout.org/community/f1...box-27556.html

There's a lot of great information in there that may help you see where you fit and how to make a plan for yourself.

Definitely take a look around and jump in where you feel comfortable.

Best wishes.

Sheri

I second that, i could go weeks with out Alcohol but binge drink when i drank, and caused total devistation when i was drunk, i believe i am a binge drinking alcoholic, not in the physical sense but in the mental sense, abstinance is the only way for me as modding was just teasing the alcolhic part of me and did not work

[199days]

An Alcoholic or Normal?

Nothing changes with alcoHELL it always eventually leads to the same thing

Normal drinkers are just training to be heavy drinkers who then become alcoholics. Some get there more quickly than others some take years and years to get there living a life tarred and sullied by this drug.

You have to change for good to break the cycle of drink>hangover> depression and anxiety >obsession .

Make a plan to NEVER drink EVER again, it's true freedom and liberating

Moderating or trying to do anything else's when you know deep inside your self you have a problem with AlcoHELL is just death by a 1000 cuts.

You have everything to gain and nothing to lose by stopping right now, right this second .

[Cashregister]

An Alcoholic or Normal?

Jack you sound like an extremely intelligent young man who, unlike most, has decided to question their drinking patterns early on in life. That to me is amazing in itself. Whether you choose to moderate or quit is your decision I just wanted to say kudos to you for even being aware of it at your stage of life. I'd say you have a great chance of not getting the AL bug with the sensible attitude you have. Well done mate I think you are terrific.
Cashy
BTW I'm from Australia where we inherited Irish drinking culture and then built on those foundations - since the days of convict rum drinking we never looked back lol Binge drinking by young peopke would be considered normal by 80% of the population despite tv campaigns etc