100 Day Club members/Maintenance Thread

[CanToo]

100 Day Club members/Maintenance Thread

hi KYyyyyyyy.

Once again this site validated my thoughts.

:hug:

CT

[CanToo]

100 Day Club members/Maintenance Thread

Sun, I hear what you're saying. I see myself as a woman with a problem and I no longer choose to drink alcohol. Period.

[Lavande]

100 Day Club members/Maintenance Thread

Sun & CanToo -
I agree with both of you! I never put labels on other people so I don't want one on myself

[kuya]

100 Day Club members/Maintenance Thread

I, too, dislike the connotation associated with the word. I also struggle for a better way to describe it as 'person with a problem with alcohol' is somewhat long winded and there is no other term that is short.

I am also 'a person with a problem with weight' so I can say I am fat, obese, stout, pudgy, stocky, big boned, lard arse, overweight, rotund, curvaceous, reubenesque, or ..........'bubbly' :H
Some of these terms are NOT too negative.

What have we got for 'a person with a problem with alcohol' ? ......alcoholic , wino, drunk, pisshead, alky, dipsomaniac,

Unless someone has an alternative, perhaps we ' people with a problem with alcohol' should use the term alcoholic and perhaps it will lose its negative connotation.

Just to add though, I am very clear that I am a human being with problems with alcohol, not an alcoholic with problems cause by drinking.

But, for the want of a better word ...... I am an alcoholic.

[Catbuddy]

100 Day Club members/Maintenance Thread

HI guys,

I don't use the term either, because it is like saying you had cancer in the 50s. I just say I don't drink. People are asking for an explanation (new suitors). This is a dicey subject. I'm saying it was compromising my health (true) and that it is a part of an overall issue with sugar (also true). So I stay clear of it (and true). So far, so good.

In truth, I know there is more I could say, but maybe, as with children, the shorter answer is better.

Kathryn

[Mick]

100 Day Club members/Maintenance Thread

Yep I am with you on that dont like the label issue...but I wonder why that is? it is a label and it is actually the reason why we are here..I think it is because some labels conjure up an image of what we have seen /believed in in the past...think of the word alcoholic ,and what does it conjure up for you? what connotations does it bring both in picture form or possibly in your childhod /upbringing

What do we call someone who smokes? ..a smoker..and yet does that send a shiver down your spine

Drug addict..the perception being someone jacked up all the time on h and coke committing crime etc to feed the habit...and yet the truth is there are many more people addicted to "prescribed drugs in normal and everyday society

[Nelz]

100 Day Club members/Maintenance Thread

You can call me AL....or you can call me alchoholic..........you can call me a lush....just dont call me late for diner................:H


I really am ok with whatever any person wants to call me in any facet of life, because at the end of the day it really means nothing what others think about me. I gotta be me!!

[kuya]

100 Day Club members/Maintenance Thread

Actually, after reading Mick's post, I think the most correct description is

DRUG ADDICTS.

The media always makes a distinction by saying 'drugs and alcohol' but that is nonsense, semantics. A distinction made to vilify one group whilst leaving 'normal' society comfortable in its own ubiquitous drug use .....alcohol

Because drug addicts is truly what we are, no more, no less.

That thought is kind of sobering.

[Sunbeam]

100 Day Club members/Maintenance Thread

I'll stick to saying I have an alcohol addiction (here), and the fact that alcohol isn't good for my health problems (true) to the rest of the world.

[Byrdlady]

100 Day Club members/Maintenance Thread

Sunbeam, what a interesting topic for an ALK site!!! It's a tough label to swallow...I don't know that I've ever uttered the words in real life, just on here...Like everyone said, it has a big stigma still...hells bells, even I think like that when I hear someone's an ALK, how messed up is that???
We are Non Drinkers.

You know, when the idea for this thread came along I worried that our Newbie's, and even some of the Oldbies might be put off by it... Who do they think THEY are?? But I'll tell you, in the 2 weeks it's been up, we've gotten some really good insight!! I hope the Newbie's aren't put off at all...in fact I hope they are reading and will be able to SEE into the future and just how much better that future can be without the overglazing of AL!! I thought this might be a place to just blow off steam...but gosh it has stregthened my AF Resolve even more! It is a thrill just to be happy again!!! And even more of a thrill not to be struggling along because of AL...it's just NOT an option! And I see that's the mindset of you all as well!! If the thread fizzles tomorrow, it's been worth it to get this reinforcement!! I wonder what our comibned sober time here is on this thread? 50 years?? Maybe more! Thank you for being on this journey with me! Byrdie

[satz123]

100 Day Club members/Maintenance Thread

kuya;1456597 wrote: Actually, after reading Mick's post, I think the most correct description is

DRUG ADDICTS.

The media always makes a distinction by saying 'drugs and alcohol' but that is nonsense, semantics. A distinction made to vilify one group whilst leaving 'normal' society comfortable in its own ubiquitous drug use .....alcohol

Because drug addicts is truly what we are, no more, no less.

That thought is kind of sobering.

Agree TOTALLY here with KY.
Just thought about this the other day.
AL is a socially acceptable drug - just like tobacco.
If AL / Tobacco were to be introduced now to society both would be illegal

The END

[Catbuddy]

100 Day Club members/Maintenance Thread

Okay, just a thought on "drug addict."

Agree 100% that AL is a drug, so when I was drinking heavily, I was a drug addict. I no longer drink, at all, so I'm not a drug addict. I'm not addicted to it, I don't take it everyday, I don't hide my consumption, etc.

I think this is a really important stage to acknowledge in our awesomeness.

Cat

[FlyAway]

100 Day Club members/Maintenance Thread

Mick;1456584 wrote: Yep I am with you on that dont like the label issue...but I wonder why that is? it is a label and it is actually the reason why we are here..I think it is because some labels conjure up an image of what we have seen /believed in in the past...think of the word alcoholic ,and what does it conjure up for you? what connotations does it bring both in picture form or possibly in your childhod /upbringing

What do we call someone who smokes? ..a smoker..and yet does that send a shiver down your spine

Drug addict..the perception being someone jacked up all the time on h and coke committing crime etc to feed the habit...and yet the truth is there are many more people addicted to "prescribed drugs in normal and everyday society

I think the reason is because of the belief that once you're an alcoholic you're an alcoholic for life. And it's not like that with any other addiction. Like Jason Vale says, I don't go around introducing myself by saying, "Hi, I'm FlyAway and I'm a smokeaholic." "How long has it been since you last smoked FlyAway?" "Oh, about 25 years." If someone hasn't smoked in 25 years they are considered a nonsmoker. If someone was addicted to crack 15 years ago and hasn't touched it since, you don't consider that person to be a crackhead. But with alcohol it's considered a life sentence. No wonder people are afraid to seek treatment! Who wants to be labeled as having an incurable disease? I was addicted to nicotine at one point, but I'm not anymore. If I had a cigarette I'd probably feel horrible, but I'd probably get rehooked quicker than I did the first time. But I will never smoke again. I don't want to. And I will never drink again. I don't want to.

I personally think the term "alcoholic" and the idea of having a life sentence is a detriment to many people who would seek help if alcohol addiction were viewed the same as cigarette addiction.

[Hippyman]

100 Day Club members/Maintenance Thread

CanToo;1456409 wrote: Sun, I hear what you're saying. I see myself as a woman with a problem and I no longer choose to drink alcohol. Period.

I see us as people who have a disease that once had us!

[kuya]

100 Day Club members/Maintenance Thread

Catbuddy;1456713 wrote: Okay, just a thought on "drug addict."

Agree 100% that AL is a drug, so when I was drinking heavily, I was a drug addict. I no longer drink, at all, so I'm not a drug addict. I'm not addicted to it, I don't take it everyday, I don't hide my consumption, etc.

I think this is a really important stage to acknowledge in our awesomeness.

Cat

I agree Cat, and I personally disagree with the term 'recovering' which implies that you are still not a 'normal' person. And worse, according to the recovery industry, we never will be.

Since a vast swathe of society is on a medication or drug of some sort or other ( nicotine, antidepressants, caffeine, heroin, painkillers, cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana) I always have and always will consider myself as 'normal'.

When I was a child my foster father smoked,drank and took aspirin daily. He was considered a 'normal' man. Now he would be labeled as suffering from THREE comorbid diseases.

He lived to 86.