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.
Hi everybody. I'm a 47 yo husband and father of 2 in East TN, oh and a recovering alcoholic, sober since May of 2018. Addiction and alcoholism run in the family, of course. Passed down through the men only. For some reason us males are fucked up and the women are just fine. None of them are addicts and just a little depression.
So alcohol slowly became my drug of choice prob around 2012 and it escalated quickly. I was going through a half-gallon of vodka in less than 3 days at the end. But seeing my dad wither away from booze, and have a complete lack of desire to quit drinking (he had his demons but he was incredibly arrogant), in the back of my mind I think I always knew having to be stone-cold sober some day was a real possibility for me. Fortunately, I've been able to make that happen. Not a drop since, though it's been really, really close a few times. But understand that I avoid any possible triggers like the plague. I won't even watch "Cheers" anymore and I love that show. .
Oh, did I mention I'm bipolar 1? Yeah life's been an adventure to say the least.
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I invited Bill to have dinner with me last Sunday. He wasn't willing to drive 7 hours to mid Michigan and teased me with his beautiful ribs!!! So, of course I ate alone and had cedar salmon
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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.....
Ironically, my dad's name was Bill W.
It's ironic because the few times he faked interest in AA, he always rejected it saying it was for "losers" and never once took it seriously. In reality, AA members are the winners because they actually have the desire to quit and somehow find the strength to pick themselves up off the ground and put in the effort it takes to put the bottle down for good. .
I haven't been to a meeting in over 3 years. Got my 1 month chip and stopped going a week later because I knew I had kicked it and I just didn't want to keep thinking about alcohol so much.
And personally I'm not into the 12 steps - in the traditional sense anyway. By that I mean 3 days before I quit for good, I had a very, very long and wide-ranging conversation with myself about my problem. I'm a very self-aware person, I just had to make myself admit a lot of ugly truths that I had avoided thinking about for a long time. So when I read the 12 steps, I realized I had already done almost all of them in that conversation with myself. Sounds strange but it's true. I don't knock the steps for others at all. I think they're incredibly powerful and can be very transformative for most alcoholics. They can be the difference between really getting their lives back in order for long-term success, or continued failure. So I believe in the 12 steps for others, just not for me and I just felt out of place there. Maybe I'll go back just to check in this week sometime.
Again, I fully support AA. I think it's a revolutionary organization that has saved countless lives since its creation. I think I was just super-fortunate that I actually finally quit smoking once and for all about a year before and had sort of stumbled upon a very powerful way to do that. I just applied it to drinking and it worked somehow. I won't go into detail here (I ramble enough as you can tell) but it's really a mindset you can create that makes you move past the addiction. I truly believe that, if it's applied correctly, it can probably work for others. Maybe I'll do a post on it later or something.
Also, I take Bupropion (Wellbutrin) for my bipolar depression and I really believe that drug provides tremendous assistance in breaking many addictions. At least the physiological part. Not sure if it's widely used for alcoholism but maybe it should be investigated. So maybe it was a combination of the two but, either way, it worked.
It was the women in my family who drank. Like you, seeing my mom break herself down was a big motivator and wake up for my sobriety.
I’m coming up on 45 months without a drop. I love being sober and there is nothing that would take that away.
Nice of you to say hi and maybe after the summer this site will be more active.
When I quit I really began looking at my habits and tendencies and am now very aware of what true mental health means and how fragile it can be. I have been building that health day by day and can only imagine the additional work that bi polar adds. Keep it up, life is worth going through it with the most clarity we can muster. It’s all about the mental health isn’t it?
Love that handle. That's truly how I feel. You and I have the same mindset. Maybe the biggest reason for my sobriety success is being so aware of how happy I am and can still be without the booze. The feeling of true, chemical free happiness is indescribable. It's euphoric on levels I never knew existed. It's also incredibly refreshing to experience my brain working so nicely again, as it was designed by nature. I started drinking and doing drugs around 14 years old (1988 ouch!) so I really had never had full use of my brain's potential. What an amazing difference!
And of course treating my bipolar disorder while I was still drinking was literally impossible. It took getting sober to really see that.
Huge congratulations on your 45 months without a drop of alcohol! I really appreciate your kind words my new friend!
There are amazing people in this group that provide lots of support & love, and we all have the same thing in common, to overcome our drinking addiction, and set ourselves free.
I have been watching 'Homeland' where the lead character 'Carrie Mathison" has bipolar - it gives a good insight into the disorder & shows how important the right medication is.
You are doing great, take care and have a great day