It may make you forget the pain as you pass out but when you wake up the pain is ten times greater - I know I have been there an it's hell but we can only try and try never to go there again and I feel I have now reached by rock bottom and want to climb up to the top. Mairi

To drink to forget doesn't help except while in the moment. It only worsens the situation. Bet you knew that tho. I have to change my way of thinking so I don't turn to drinking. I do this through the AA 12 steps. If not for that, I wouldn't be where I am today...free from guilt, self absorbtion, hurting others, allowing others to hurt me, etc...

I thought to live was to drink and to drink was to live. Quite the opposite is true.

Nope, for me and from my experience drinking not only did not make the pain go away, in many cases it makes it worse. I did what you do, I drank to forget, would pass out and wake in the morning with a horrible gut feeling of what did I do?? I would frequently come to my computer and find e-mails, awful embarrassing things that they were that I had sent later then 12pm. I very rarely remembered an event of "intimate relations" with my husband (which over a five year period Im sure we had! LOL)and I made some terrible mistakes. And some not so terrible ones. I mean its not life or death if your kids have marmite or honey in their sandwhiches for their school lunches of course, but I hated the feeling of getting it wrong just because I was smashed. Those sorts of things just add up to (and Im only talkin about the little day to day stuff, we all make bigger mistakes too) more pain, more humiliation, more feelings of failure and in effect MORE pain. Add that to the struggle to deal with relationships, events and things that often come from past trauma or emotional instability and you've got a recipy for disaster. It doesn't make it go away, it just delays it - and the next night, often its so much worse that you make the same mistake and you can't see a way out from the drinking cycle. The only way to make the pain go away is to break free from the grog, and begin healing your mind, spirit and body.
God bless.

i fight two killers drink and depression but i know getting drunk is not an option.that being said, those who persevere through hard, difficult times and yet, stay sober are my heroes.today, i do not drink - no matter what.and pray God will help me through and the fellowship helps me discover my solution. and so ,yes, we drink to forget but not one thing becomes better because of it.love, devonh

What you descirbe is familiar to many of us. The episode of forgeting what you have done or "losing time" is know as blacking out. It can be a sign that we have a problem with our drinking.

Eventually those things we do while we are blacked out can come back to haunt us. It is scary not knowing where we have been or what we have done.

To answer you question in an indirect way Drinking does not solve the problem of how we feel except for the short term. The price we pay for that temporary relief can be extreemly high. I can't afford to pay that price in my life today and am thankful I don't have to use alcohol anymore to numb or fogert unpleasant events or issues. Today I am happy joyous and free because I don't drink. Good luck to you and God Bless.. We are here for you if you have any questions. Please just know that you are not alone!

hopeand growth said it all ,i drank like you i have walked in your shoes ,thank god i found AA with my willingness and AA i have remaind sober for23 yrs ,but i still d it one day at a time ,you are not alone please seek help ,you are worth it xx

Kristina its like Mairi said if I drank with one problem I would come too with another five.

I would also come too with more guilt, shame and remorse, fear and derogation because of the things I had said or done.

Alcohol for an alcoholic is like a double-edged sword one side is telling you everything is going to be o/k that you are in control while the other side is killing you or sending you insane slowly in most cases.

I am not saying you are alcoholic but ask yourself this. Are you living the life you want and if not why not. And does alcohol have anything to do with it.

If it does and you want help there are people who can help. You cant be too young to be alcoholic.

These are only suggestions you might try talking with someone from AA there number will be in your local phone directory. There are a lot of young people who go to AA male and female and there lives have changed.

There is also your local heath centres that have trained drug and alcohol counsellors they can also help.

If you want to drink that is your business if you want to stop then there are people who can help.

Keep posting there are a lot of people here that can help and who care.

Karen that photo is something else.lol

God bless
Lionel

thank you all very much for your help. i have been making up reason not to sort this out.. but im going to, i want to feel good with in myself like everyone that has give me advice.

thank you all.
xxx

The drink take the pain away.... okay.... it really does..... until one day you wake up and the pain not only doe not go away with the drink but it gets worse....then you do one of two things..... you get sober or you DIE.

I heard a lot of good things here. So I don't have to say a word. Just read it all it's there, your answer.

Yeah, drinking makes me forget... Then I wake up and all the situations and problems I was drinking to forget would be sitting on my bed screaming at me. Drinking is a temporary solution to a life long problem as far as I am concerned. Being someone who didn't like himself that much didn't help either. I hope you can get to a meeting and hook up with some people that you can relate to. I'm going to one tonight. I love em. I've been in black outs too. You're in the right place.

Drinking for me only masked the pain for a little while.[while I was drunk] The pain was back the next day only usually more so. While self medicating I would do things that would make whatever reason I drank for worse, physically and mentally. After drinking for 37 years I was a complete mess.

field goal i could use some help here

(Overworked what is a feild goal?)

Kristina - With your second note you have said that you have realised this is something you need to sort out - that maybe you can relate to some of what we (as most of alcoholics in some form of recovery)describe in our feelings towards pain, adn teh reasons to drink. Darl - if you relate you have to find a way out. Somewhere on this board (go through a few pages of posts) are a list of questions that will help you determine if you are in fact an alcoholic. Any one of us could say, yep I recognize that feeling you must be one of us, but we don't know you - YOU do. YOU are the only person qualified to make the decision of whether or not you are an alcoholic, and YOU are the only person who can know if you are desperate enough to find a way out. Accountability to me, means forming a plan, sharing with someone and then sticking to it and reporting back. So darl, I ask you to be accountable to us... Where do you plan to go from what may be a revelation to you? I could make some suggestions... Assess your state of being, seek help if you need it... where can you find help?

By far the most recognized and successful programme for alcoholics is AA - or Alcoholics Annonomous. I don't think t matters where you live, you will find a meeting nearby and I encourage you to go along, and let them reach out to you. You will need some sort of support net and fellowship, adn without knowing your background Id say you'll find thats the most readily available place to find love caring support and tools for recovery.

If you have a faith or church that you are affiliated, why not seek out some sort of spiritual mentor (like a Pastor, Priest or Elder) and let them guide you towards a good choice for you either ithin or not what you alredy believe.

If all that fails, perhaps go to your health care provider, discuss your situation and your drinking habits with them with complete honesty and see what advice they have. There are drug and alcohol counsellors and all sorts of other people and groups to help your recovery. You Dr will know best whats available and be able to advise you.

Please report back on how you're doing, you could either wallow in this for a bit longer or reach out to helping hands trying to catch you as you fall. I have you in my prayers. Bless.

WHEN YOU WAKE UP, YOU DON'T REMEMBER THE WORDS OR ACTIONS IN DETAIL, BUT YOU KNOW, BELEIVE ME!! IT'S THIS FUNNY "HUNCH" EARLY IN THE DAY TELLING YOU SOMETHING WENT BADLY. AND YOU ARE AFRAID TO ASK ANYONE BECAUSE WHAT'S LEFT OF YOUR DIGNITY IS ALL YOU HAVE LEFT. THEN THE SHAME, THE SHAME IS STILL THERE, IT'S JUST YOU CAN'T SUPPLY THE DETAILS.