Alcoholism Support Thread - Down the hatch

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You don't lose those 4 and a half years by joining a program and doing work. If you want to give back, it's possible to do commitments without being all-in on informal programs, such as AA. The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking and they always need speakers for commitments.
 
Saw a short of one of those Sidemen retards and he was like "we drink all the fucking time so I got checked and he said my liver was fine", so I think it's more durable than one would imagine. I used to drank 3/5 ish of a vodka every other friday. All things considered it's not beer full of calories
I know someone who got below average health rating for their liver on account of drinkiny but somehow my kidney and liver both returned "perfect" results some fucking how... Maybe I should pick up drinking again (that's a joke
 
To not have to rely on a sponsor or program to keep me straight is a source of pride. However, I am also aware that being too prideful is a sin and that I wish to remain humble in my sobriety
tbh I don't think there's any magic in THE PROGRAM or THE BIG BOOK

I recommend AA/NA to people who want to get sober because that's just what is around. The number one aspect is social support. If you already have that through your concert buddies I don't think there would be much benefit in a structured program.
 
tbh I don't think there's any magic in THE PROGRAM or THE BIG BOOK

I recommend AA/NA to people who want to get sober because that's just what is around. The number one aspect is social support. If you already have that through your concert buddies I don't think there would be much benefit in a structured program.
Not quite true. The group I'm part of really helps facilitate sober socializing, not just a support structure, which is golden if you're trying to get sober and all your old friends are still animals. I understand that some groups aren't like this, though. Plus, some people simply don't like 12 step programs.
 
Going to meetings or any recovery group, once you have a good amount of time under your belt, isn't always just for yourself. Sharing your story, or just what's on your mind that day, can help another person. Finding someone who takes an interest in you, let alone someone you can sponsor, is pretty amazing and is the magic of the program. There's long stretches of time I really don't "need" the program, but others can benefit from my experience.

Inversely, when I was new to sobriety, me showing up and sharing my woes, pains and regrets is a great reminder to those with years of sobriety. Those feelings of misery fade and we forget how it felt. The new guy helps the old guy, the old guy helps the new guy.

And that's one of the keys to life, I think, in maturing from someone who used to live 100% for my own whims and desires. Living for others is what makes life worth living. The less I ask "what can I get out of it", the more I put in with no expectation of a return, the more I get out of it.
 
Going to meetings or any recovery group, once you have a good amount of time under your belt, isn't always just for yourself. Sharing your story, or just what's on your mind that day, can help another person. Finding someone who takes an interest in you, let alone someone you can sponsor, is pretty amazing and is the magic of the program. There's long stretches of time I really don't "need" the program, but others can benefit from my experience.
Yeah, but if you never did AA it's not like you can share how the program helped you. In fact I'd say it would be counterproductive for any newcomers since most of them are looking for any excuse to not do step work anyway.

Now, if you did get sober through AA/NA, then yes there is an expectation that you stick around to at least share your experience.
 
Oh man, let me tell you about my life as a heroin addict. It started innocently enough – just a little hit here and there to take the edge off after a rough day. But before I knew it, I was chasing that dragon every waking hour. I'd wake up in cold sweats, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane, desperately needing my fix. My arms? Covered in tracks, man. My wallet? Emptier than a politician's promises. I'd sell my grandma's dentures on eBay just for one more sweet, sweet dose.
Friends? What friends? They all bailed when I started nodding off mid-conversation, drooling like a Saint Bernard in July. My job? Fired after I showed up high as a kite and tried to "optimize" the coffee machine by injecting it with who-knows-what. And don't get me started on the paranoia – every siren is the cops coming for me, every shadow is a dealer who shorted me last time. But oh, that rush! That warm, fuzzy blanket wrapping around your soul, making everything feel right in this crapsack world. I'd do anything for it. Rob a bank? Sure. Wrestle a bear? Bring it. Eat kale voluntarily? Okay, maybe not that.
I've hit rock bottom so many times I've got a frequent faller card. Rehab? Tried it thrice, but I always relapse because nothing compares to that pure, unadulterated bliss. If you're thinking about trying heroin, don't – it'll own you faster than you can say "just one bump." Save yourself, bro.
 
You can take AUDIT online which has been clinically validated.

Two tallboys can mean a lot of things though. 16oz tallboys of regular beer is quite a bit different from two Four Lokos, so make sure you figure out how many units you're actually consuming.
God damn I haven't thought about four lokos in years lol but yeah I get that it's just beer tho (Heineken) but I took the test and scored low , I just feel like I picked up that habit out of nowhere and I guess I'm just overthinking shit again thank you
 
Is two tall boys a night after work alot?
That's technically too much. Two tall boys is like 3 standard drinks. Multiply by five and that's fifteen a week, just over the medically recommended fourteen per week and two per day. That said, no hard drinker would say that's terrible. Some guys do your weekly intake for breakfast.

It's really about your attitude. Can you stop it without cravings or irritation? Does your drinking lead to or cover up bad behaviour or personal issues like anger, depression, or anxiety? Do you ever plan your day around drinking or cover it up? If you can't get your drinks, does that fuck up your day?

A lot of people just drink a little too much but it's not a problem. They can put it down, take it or leave it, and it doesn't mess up their life. What can happen is a person goes from a few beers a night, to a lot of beers, to hard liquor, and then it gets out of control.

There are a lot of perspectives on alcoholism, but mine is that people have personal problems and alcohol is either the trigger or the solution. People then obsess about alcohol and that leads to ruin.
 
I used vaping to help with binge drinking and now I am addicted to vapes.... I have to stop vaping and using crutches period.

Now that when I stop vaping I want to go back and drink again to fill that gap.

I know the alcohol or the fuck ass vapes are going to kill me one of these days and I am legit scared.

I really thought I had more mental strength that this.

fuck my life
 
people just drink a little too much but it's not a problem. They can put it down, take it or leave it, and it doesn't mess up their life. What can happen is a person goes from a few beers a night, to a lot of beers, to hard liquor, and then it gets out of control.

There are a lot of perspectives on alcoholism, but mine is that people have personal problems and alcohol is either the trigger or the solution. People then obsess about alcohol and that leads to ruin.
This one has been eye-opening especially this part, thank you this is exactly what I needed to read
 
Hi all, just checking in to say that I didn't make it to a hundred days like I planned. I did eventually get 1000 rated on chess.com. But the only reason I really thought of this thread is that it's midnight on Sunday, my son is in bed upstairs, and I'm
currently drinking calvados and lucozade - a combination that I think is so bizarre that it at least deserves documenting somewhere.

It's funny to go back and read the messages saying thst I would fall off the wagon and how natural it would feel. Those posters were right, are right. What else is there for me to do but to incorporate this into my life? I've done alright so far, I'm doing alright now. I can't see a no drink future for me. The only wake up call would have to come from some medical professional, but then I also know alkies who had that and carried on going, so... ?
 
I used vaping to help with binge drinking and now I am addicted to vapes.... I have to stop vaping and using crutches period.

Now that when I stop vaping I want to go back and drink again to fill that gap.

I know the alcohol or the fuck ass vapes are going to kill me one of these days and I am legit scared.

I really thought I had more mental strength that this.

fuck my life
Go to a support group. Even a local AA meeting can do wonders.
This one has been eye-opening especially this part, thank you this is exactly what I needed to read
Glad I could help.
The only wake up call would have to come from some medical professional, but then I also know alkies who had that and carried on going, so... ?
You don't have to wait until hitting rock bottom or getting a jackpot to change your ways. There is always a better way.
 
There are a lot of perspectives on alcoholism, but mine is that people have personal problems and alcohol is either the trigger or the solution. People then obsess about alcohol and that leads to ruin.
Yeah pretty much. I've heard a lot of shrinks say as much. The inconvenient truth is that substance abuse is an effective coping mechanism, it's just a really costly one; and part of recovery is learning better strategies to accomplish the same thing; and another part of recovery is addressing the problems that make you feel the need to cope in the first place. Which sucks -- having to face your demons without your chosen crutch. But it's the bed you make when you hide from them.


I used vaping to help with binge drinking and now I am addicted to vapes.... I have to stop vaping and using crutches period.

Now that when I stop vaping I want to go back and drink again to fill that gap.

I know the alcohol or the fuck ass vapes are going to kill me one of these days and I am legit scared.

I really thought I had more mental strength that this.

fuck my life
You never stop using crutches, you just gradually replace them with progressively more innocuous and socially acceptable ones, and sort of ratchet your way up. When my drinking got really bad, it was in part because I had cut every other vice out of my life, and it the result was that I went all-in on the last remaining vice. I learned from that, and put a ton of work into cultivating healthy coping strategies and distress tolerance and resiliance factors, but there have been a couple real no-shit life-altering tragedies where I still just had to permit myself to be a lazy fat fuck in order to keep from drinking or shooting myself. And it worked. Shit, there's a guy in my group who buys a pack of cigarettes every time he knows he's going to be tempted to drink because it's the lesser evil.

All that to say, "no crutch" is about as realistic a goal in the metaphorical sense as in the literal. Yeah, the long term goal is to eventually not need a crutch, but you don't get there by raw-dogging life on a broken leg. That shit has to heal, and in the mean time you're gonna need something to lean on, just work on finding something that isn't actively stabbing you in the armpit or whatever.

As for what that looks like, I found George Vaillant's hierarchy of defense mechanisms helpful. But I'm a fucking nerd.
 
You never stop using crutches, you just gradually replace them with progressively more innocuous and socially acceptable ones, and sort of ratchet your way up.
Yeah, the vast majority of people have a "thing" and it either actively tries to kill you (tranq dope) or slowly kills you (alcohol, cigs) or part of your peer group (video games, vintage cars, clothing, hoarding Funko Pops and anime figurines) or is socially acceptable (exercise, work.)

It's no mystery why people in AA chain smoke or are incredibly religious or both. Addiction transference is real, and at least Jesus won't give you cirrhosis. For example bariatric surgery patients have a much higher rate of alcohol use disorder compared to the general population because they just transferred their food addiction to alcohol.

I collect books now. That's my boring-ass vice.
 
I've posted here before. But I just wanted to say that I gave resigned myself to always being a regular drinker. No amount of pharmaceuticals or therapy have helped me with my physical and mental pain. The bottle has. I'm 23 days dry. Started the 27th, and I intend to make it to the 1st. It's mainly to manage my tolerance, for health, and to prove to myself I'm not a true addict. But still never gonna truly put it down. That's what happens when you accept that your mind and body are broken beyond repair instead of staying in denial. Any potential I had I hope manifests in my children because my dreams were taken from me by injury and trauma. That's really all that matters to me anymore is my kids. I'll be sure too keep healthy enough to not go out early, and to be able to have more in future. Looking forward to my fourth in March. But I'm checked out otherwise.
 
I've posted here before. But I just wanted to say that I gave resigned myself to always being a regular drinker. No amount of pharmaceuticals or therapy have helped me with my physical and mental pain. The bottle has. I'm 23 days dry. Started the 27th, and I intend to make it to the 1st. It's mainly to manage my tolerance, for health, and to prove to myself I'm not a true addict. But still never gonna truly put it down. That's what happens when you accept that your mind and body are broken beyond repair instead of staying in denial. Any potential I had I hope manifests in my children because my dreams were taken from me by injury and trauma. That's really all that matters to me anymore is my kids. I'll be sure too keep healthy enough to not go out early, and to be able to have more in future. Looking forward to my fourth in March. But I'm checked out otherwise.
I've met a lot of hopeless guys like you, who said the exact same stuff, and they found their way to long-term sobriety. I always suggest trying meetings, but all I really wanna say is don't give up hope.
 
I used vaping to help with binge drinking and now I am addicted to vapes.... I have to stop vaping and using crutches period.
Seeing an adult with one of those zoomer pacifiers is hilarious. I swear if you went through life avoiding things that're cringe; being addicted to a substance, relapsing, entertaining 'social glue' in general, you'd be off really well. It's the peak of humiliation to wake up hungover, just having waddled around your own apartment saying dumb things. For our high school graduation, we tour all the classmates' homes in the back of a bus, drinking and eating along the way. I don't remember visiting my own parents and that alone is enough to make me cringe.
I've met a lot of hopeless guys like you, who said the exact same stuff, and they found their way to long-term sobriety. I always suggest trying meetings, but all I really wanna say is don't give up hope.
I feel like I actively choose to relapse whenever I do, mostly out of boredom, but the longer it goes on, the more I realize I prefer getting up 6AM on saturdays as opposed to sleeping til 11. What I actually do fear is the alcohol situation itself becoming a thing. Not to be addicted but to even be one of those losers who has that as a point in their life. Always the before/after going sober.

Surely it's already a problem to me, but as they say in South Park, if you fight every day not to drink, alcohol still controls your life. I tried that online test and other than amount/frequency, all those "ARE YOU RUINING YOUR LIFE!?" questions just fall flat to me. I guess thankfully I haven't had alcohol actively affect my life outside isolated fridays.
 
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