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.
Hello everyone. I think that I have a drinking problem but am not positive if I'm an alcoholic. I don't drink on a daily basis and sometimes will go for like a month without drinking. Whenever I do drink once I start I want to get drunk. I've never gotten violent when I'm drunk but sometimes I can't remember parts of the night and end up feeling really embarassed and ashamed the next day. I do things that I wouldn't do when sober. Currently I'm drinking 1 - 2 times per week, usually by myself and usually a 6 pack of beer. If I get a 12, I'll end up drinking the whole thing so I can only by a 6 pack at a time. I tend to get in a cycle of something will happen (just basically feeling embarassed because I can't remember everything from the night before and people tell me embarassing things I did) and I'll feel really bad about my drinking. I'll vow to quit and will for a while (even have been to AA before)but then some time goes by and I think I just need to be more moderate. Eventually the whole cycle happens again though. So I have two questions, do you think I'm an alcoholic, and if so do you think that treatment would be a good plan? I'm just wondering if everyone that goes to treatment is more of a daily drinker and if I were to go if I'd be taking up space for someone that would need it more. If you've been to treatment were there people there that were more binge drinkers versus daily drinkers? Thanks for any comments/feedback anyone has, I'd really like to hear from anyone that has thoughts.
"Hello everyone. I think that I have a drinking problem but am not positive if I'm an alcoholic"
I don't know if you are an alcoholic, perhaps it is just a habit.
Even if you are not, the most important thing to watch out for, is progression in your drinking habits. If you are alcoholic it is 100% certain to get worse.
Alcoholism is a progressive disease. It ALWAYS gets worse. It never gets better in the long run.
i wouldn't worry about taking someones bed in a treatment ctr.
i was in treatment with binge drinkers like myself, pill heads and a few just had chronic pain.
it was a good introduction to the tools i needed to stay sober.some serve really good food . i didn't maintain sobriety afterwards but that wasn't their fault
Druid: That's a good point. It does seem to be getting worse. I never used to drink during the week but I do now, and can drink more.
Crabit: I'm definitely a binge drinker. If I'm anxious I do find it goes down much quicker, which makes the cycle worse because I get drunker and then end up not remembering which makes my anxiety skyrocket the next day...
Bran5: That's good to know. I'm thinking I'll do outpatient. I'm very fortunate in that Hazelden is close to me and my insurance will cover it all so I do have an assessment scheduled in a couple weeks. The phone assessment came up that I'd fit the program, I was just afraid people would be thinking like what's she doing here, she doesn't have that big of a problem. It helps to hear that there were others that weren't daily drinkers in your treatment program.
I also tried to treat depression with alcohol. it did not work for me either, but it really doesn't matter why you drink, if you want to quit you can do it.