Alcoholism Support Group
Alcoholism is the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, even when it is negatively affecting your health, work, relationships and life. If you think alcohol is causing you to lose control, it's time to seek help. Our group is a safe place to vent, check in, get back up if you fall, and reach sobriety.
This is really hard for me to admit, but I think I have a drinking problem. I have been drinking for ten years. The first few years, I would just binge drink with friends at parties, and have an occasionally night-cap, but once I turned 21, things got out of hand. The year of my 21st birthday, I had a roommate who kept me constantly supplied with alcohol, even in the months before my birthday. He and I partied together a lot, which I enjoyed, because it was still social drinking. After I moved out of that house, however, I continued drinking, sometimes with my girlfriend or at parties, but just as often alone. I picked up home brewing as a hobby in grad school. Once I started making beer in 5 gallon batches and wine in 6 gallon batches, there didn't ever seem to be a reason not to go back for another round. I've never gone to work drunk, although some friends and I would frequently have a couple beers between classes in both college and grad school. I have been at work hungover more than I would care to admit (I think I still have enough fingers to count them all, but just barely). I consider myself high functioning. I have a good job, and haven't let alcohol get in the way of that. But, I find alcohol absorbing a lot of my time and money in evenings and on weekends. I'm not productive when I've been drinking, which is almost every night, and I've had friends need to drive or otherwise take care of me more than I would like.
Part of why this has come to a head lately is because I've been thinking about some of my experiences with an ex-girlfriend that happened not too long ago. It was not uncommon when I was with her for me to go to sleep and wake up a few hour later, or even the next morning, to her still drinking (heavily), alone. I never want to become that kind of drinker.
For me, as I assume for many people, a major challenge is that so many social engagements revolve around alcohol. I've definitely worked on cultivating hobbies that don't involve drinking, but it's always easy to suggest having drinks with coworkers after work, or catching up with an old friend over drinks. I'm not very good at meeting people or keeping in touch, so I really hate to cut myself off from that avenue of socializing. I'm desparately trying to find a balance where I drink with friends, don't have too many, don't spend too much, and don't drink alone.
This post got far longer than I intended. I've kept this bottled up for a while, and I guess I had a lot to say
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check out that smoke ring. It tasted really good. I smothered it with Maulls BBQ sauce which is Local to St. Louis and one of the best I ever had.....
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I was recently separated from my wife of 33 years and it's complicated. Anyway I rented a room about 15 minutes away and I see my kids about once a week. I see the people who own the house I live in once in a while but other than that I stay in my room where I do my cooking, wash dishes in the shower, read, color, and sleep. I get out at least once a day. I grocery shop and I attend 2 meetings...
I thought I could drink normally and I thought I didn't need help but after hundreds of attempts to quit on my own, I knew I needed help so I checked myself into treatment. There are several ways to do this. First is through the ER, another is with a referral from your doctor, or you can just call your local hospital and ask for the alcohol and substance abuse center. When someone answers the phone, just tell them you think you might have a drinking problem so you would like to be evaluated. They will make an appt. for you to go down and they will ask you alot of questions to see if you have a problem, how bad your problem is, and what your underlying triggers are, so they know how to treat you!
This is what started me on my path to recovery. 8 years later, I am happier now then I have ever been. I wish the same for you!
God Bless!
It is good that you have recognised and admitted that drinking has become a problem. Now, you need to make some changes if you are to avoid a great deal of future trouble.
If you are a heavy drinker but not an alcoholic it should be relatively easy for you to cut back on your drinking. Get a clear idea in your mind of what you want to do and stick to your plan. If on the other hand you have crossed the line into alcoholism it will require a different approach which will involve abstaining completely from alcohol. An alcoholic cannot control his or her drinking over any prolonged period of time due to a physical change in the body that produces a craving for alcohol once a drink is taken.
As for social engagements, while many do indeed involve alcohol, this does not necessarily have to be a problem. Drinkers tend to be drawn to events and places where drinking takes place but you may be amazed at how many non-drinking events actually exist. If you are an alcoholic, it may be wise for you to cultivate some new non-drinking friends and it may be necessary to part company with some drinking buddies.
There is a link in another thread, Understanding the Insanity of Alcoholism, to a website that gives good information regarding the difference between heavy drinking and alcoholism.
I am working on cultivating non-drinking hobbies and more relationships that don't center around drinking. That certainly has helped, thus far, and hopefully will continue to do so. Part of my motivation to quit, or at least drastically cut back, is that most of my hobbies relate to fitness, and alcohol can present a major obstacle to achieving fitness goals, both because it makes me lethargic and not want to work out, and because it interferes with the fairly rigorous dieting that I am otherwise keeping up with. Learning to be okay with ordering a Coke at a bar would definitely be a big step for me.
two things strike me about your post. First, like I did when I was actively drinking there is justification even as you say you "might" have a problem. If you think you have a problem, then stop. If when you stop, you arent agitated, its not an issue, then perhaps you *don't* have a problem. If when you stop staying stopped is hard, agitating, and you find yourself thinking of drinking a lot -- then you are no longer a social drinker. You have a problem.
Second thing that strikes me is the "I don't want to be that bad." We can all do that - -there is the homeless person on the street with a brown bag. We can be drunk 7 days a week, and still keep a "job." I did. We can still be drunk most nights, hung over most days, and have a "great career." I did. So just be aware that for some of us, who are "high functioning" -- we have to set our OWN bottom.
Personally I got sober with a great family who loved me, and didnt think I had a problem. I have/ had a great career and made/ make a ton of money....I had never had a DUI, never missed a day of work etc. But the things that I *did* do for booze, and how it ran my life, and how I felt -- sick, tired, demoralized -- these were the reasons I quit.
Anyway, ask yourself if you want to be a high "funcitoning" drunk -- or if you want to live a rich, full, healthy and unencumbered life?