Any functional alcoholics hanging out in ATOT?

[chin311]

I mean, why did you even post that? Why judge someone you don't know? Does it make you hard? Does making someone feel worse about themselves make your dick twitch?

lulll!

i'll have a few beers when i drink, and sometimes a few shots as well. few nights a week.

nothing compared to what i used to do....

but by no means an 'alcoholic', i can stop for weeks at a time if i choose to, and it happens frequently.

 

[imported_Champ]

Well I am a 2nd year collage student, so I wouldn't say I'm an alcoholic because I don't go to meetings

 

[surfsatwerk]

no doubt. I do believe that AA works for certain people and that's great.

I also believe that calling alcoholism a disease is straight-up lie based on nothing. --certainly not based on science or medical knowledge.

From my experience the AA program uses the term "disease" as a tool to communicate to people that addiction is not simply a lack of willpower. That after a certain point the addict becomes as helpless to combat their addiction alone as a person suffering from the flu or cancer. Most of their literature was written back in the 30's so you got to take most of what they write with a grain of salt regarding medical and scientific explanations for alcoholism.

Thinking about it this way frees the individual from needless shame and guilt about their addiction and encourages them to seek out help. It is no longer a moral problem but a physical and mental problem. This by no means frees them from responsibility for past actions, but gives them a jumping off point to start changing their lives. Since AA is non-political I doubt they would ever try to get alcoholism classified as a disease, though others may have used their literature as justification to do so.

 

[InflatableBuddha]

Firday night poker night it's on. I feel like crap next day though but it's worth it. Saturday is my day off from running. If you're a runner you can't be an alcoholic trust me you'll get tired of leaving your guts on the street.

Haha, yea I'm a runner and I agree with this. After a long night, it's rough slogging out a run the next morning. I learned that the hard way in university. Some of the guys and girls I ran with could really pound the beers though, holy smokes. Train hard, party harder .

Now I'll have 2-3 drinks one night a week, and maybe one drink another night. Some weeks I don't drink at all. Training is more important, and I can still have fun when I'm sober or lightly buzzed.

 

[rudeguy]

:thumbsup; I couldn't agree with this more.

the invalid labeling of alcoholism as "a disease" has done a great disservice to many, many people.

However it has saved many, many lives. There is plenty of scientific data on it.

I wont go on too much but I can tell you that I am proof that alcoholism is a very real disease. I realized that I was never going to be able to drink like a normal person, so I admitted defeat and gave up the fight.

21 months and 10 days by the grace of God.

 

[KeithTalent]

However it has saved many, many lives. There is plenty of scientific data on it.

I wont go on too much but I can tell you that I am proof that alcoholism is a very real disease. I realized that I was never going to be able to drink like a normal person, so I admitted defeat and gave up the fight.

21 months and 10 days by the grace of God.

Congrats man, good work.

I guess I understand how someone could get addicted to alchol, but I really do not get why it would be called a disease, that really makes no sense to me.

Not trying to diminish the severity of alcoholism in any way (I know people very close to me that have been affected by it), but I just don't get how an addiction can be classified a disease. I know it can help cause diseases, but a disease on it's own?

Again, no offense intended to anyone, but my little brain just finds that odd.

KT

 

[meltdown75]

You're a drunk. Hopefully your not married so you won't also have to go through a painful divorce.

If you'd ever been through one, you wouldn't wish it in your worst enemy. Not cool, not something I like to see here at all.

 

[meltdown75]

However it has saved many, many lives. There is plenty of scientific data on it.

I wont go on too much but I can tell you that I am proof that alcoholism is a very real disease. I realized that I was never going to be able to drink like a normal person, so I admitted defeat and gave up the fight.

21 months and 10 days by the grace of God.

keep it up good work

 

[Theb]

Generally 1 - 3 beers a night, sometimes 0, sometimes more on weekends.

 

[Red Dawn]

IDoes it make you hard? Does making someone feel worse about themselves make your dick twitch?

Why are you asking him about his dick?

 

[meltdown75]

oh me....... um......

i usually get smashed once on the weekend. i don't drink during the week, but i smoke pot. so, i'm inebriated... twice a week for sure. once drunk, and once baked.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I thought all the members of ATOT were functional alcoholics...

 

[surfsatwerk]

I thought all the members of ATOT were functional alcoholics...

In fairness I post from the gutter near a Starbucks, so I'm not the most functional person on the block.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I self medicate regularly due to chronic pain but am not an alcoholic. A long time ago, when I'd just been married a few years, my wife and I hit a rough patch. The counselor we went to tried to convince my wife I was an alcoholic so, I made her a deal. I would go a year without having a drink if, at the end of a year, I could go back to drinking what and when I liked.

We later found out the counselor had been in a failed marriage with an alcoholic so, she might have been a tad biased.

So, a year later and several months, my wife brought home some good beer and I've been happily drinking ever since.

 

[rudeguy]

Congrats man, good work.

I guess I understand how someone could get addicted to alchol, but I really do not get why it would be called a disease, that really makes no sense to me.

Not trying to diminish the severity of alcoholism in any way (I know people very close to me that have been affected by it), but I just don't get how an addiction can be classified a disease. I know it can help cause diseases, but a disease on it's own?

Again, no offense intended to anyone, but my little brain just finds that odd.

KT

I know you didn't mean anything bad by it! Zin's posts I am going to leave alone since they are obviously filled with ignorance on this subject.

Alcoholism is a disease, as someone posted the definition above. The way I understand it, the way my body breaks down alcohol is completely different than a normal person's body does. Basically there is something in me that, after I ingest any amount of alcohol, will crave more alcohol until I am passed out. I have NEVER had enough to drink. There are plenty of studies that show there are genes that make a person more likely to be an alcoholic as well. I don't know about all that stuff...but I do know that what happens to me when I drink is not normal.

I wish this was just a matter of self control or something along those lines. I would LOVE to be able to have a beer or two after a hard day. I would LOVE to go out to the bar with the guys from work. I would FUCKING LOVE to be able to offer to buy girls drinks as an ice breaker. But I can't. I have a disease. The only treatment for the disease is abstinence from the substance it makes me crave.



EDIT:
Thanks for the kind words guys. I appreciate it but didn't post in this thread to get pats on the back. I put myself and my story out there in the hopes that I can give some EDUCATED input on this subject. My fucked up life is an open book.

 

[Legendary]

Canadian club rocks checking in

at the warehouse liquor store in my neighborhood a 1L of cc is 22.99 yet somehow 1.75L is 23.99 :thumbsup:

 

[Zebo]

Haha, yea I'm a runner and I agree with this. After a long night, it's rough slogging out a run the next morning. I learned that the hard way in university. Some of the guys and girls I ran with could really pound the beers though, holy smokes. Train hard, party harder .

Now I'll have 2-3 drinks one night a week, and maybe one drink another night. Some weeks I don't drink at all. Training is more important, and I can still have fun when I'm sober or lightly buzzed.

I used to drink like a fish as in half gallon of Crown a day till I started running. Long story short I was almost killed in an accident in my 20s and self medicated. Then my health problems went down hill from there. back pains, migraines in addition to the accident pains. One day I said fuck it and got on track - run-walk run-walk at first and months later all my pains went away. I have not had a headache in 10 yrs or been sick. Running is the best thing that happened to my life and can't go more than 2 days w/o.

 

[JulesMaximus]

How much do you drink a day and when do you drink?

I don't drink during the day. Only at night.

 

[Zebo]

I know you didn't mean anything bad by it! Zin's posts I am going to leave alone since they are obviously filled with ignorance on this subject.

Alcoholism is a disease, as someone posted the definition above. The way I understand it, the way my body breaks down alcohol is completely different than a normal person's body does. Basically there is something in me that, after I ingest any amount of alcohol, will crave more alcohol until I am passed out. I have NEVER had enough to drink. There are plenty of studies that show there are genes that make a person more likely to be an alcoholic as well. I don't know about all that stuff...but I do know that what happens to me when I drink is not normal.

I wish this was just a matter of self control or something along those lines. I would LOVE to be able to have a beer or two after a hard day. I would LOVE to go out to the bar with the guys from work. I would FUCKING LOVE to be able to offer to buy girls drinks as an ice breaker. But I can't. I have a disease. The only treatment for the disease is abstinence from the substance it makes me crave.



EDIT:
Thanks for the kind words guys. I appreciate it but didn't post in this thread to get pats on the back. I put myself and my story out there in the hopes that I can give some EDUCATED input on this subject. My fucked up life is an open book.

It's totally chemical. There are studies out there that have proven it with similar people class/professions/intelligence etc. Some people can binge two months straight and stop in an instant. Some can't.

Congrats and continued strength to ya.

PS nothing good ever comes out of a bar anyway.

 

[MrMatt]

just picked up some gordon's dry gin & tonic water. For tonight.

 

[rudeguy]

It's totally chemical. There are studies out there that have proven it with similar people class/professions/intelligence etc. Some people can binge two months straight and stop in an instant. Some can't.

Congrats and continued strength to ya.

PS nothing good ever comes out of a bar anyway.

No...but I had some awesome nights with the bad that came out of one

I miss it...but would never go back to it.

 

[StageLeft]

I drink maybe once a year, sorry. I just hate feeling like crap the next day

Main reason I stopped last year. I was never more than a moderate drinker but with a rare propensity for hang overs. Occasionally as little as two beer and I could feel it quite badly the next morning. One day last year I just decided I had had enough of that rubbish so I'd take a break, then it turned into indefinite. I can now wake up every morning feeling fresh, it's fantastic. There is a good chance I'll never drink again. I do like the taste of a cold beer but being hangover free is better.

I consider stopping at 3 beers a victory. I was a dangerously heavy drinker who got drunk at home alone virtually every night for 4 years. It seems to me that complete abstinence of the sort that is recommended in AA is a surefire way to fall flat on your face when temptation finally overcomes your willpower. I'm afraid that constantly telling myself that alcohol is the one thing in life that I can never ever ever ever ever have will make it more attractive than it has any right to be. Instead I am committed to mastering it as a minor, unimportant part of my life.

Psychologies are different in all of us, but how is that working for you? Perhaps well but I have found that instead of trying to only have a certain number of beer on, say, a Friday that but completely eradicating it from my existence I hardly even think about it at all. Granted I am not around people who drink and it would be a great dealer harder if I was.

The problem with alcohol is that a lot of people who are alcoholics don't realize it. They don't get DUI or sent to the emergency room so they think they're fine but if you see what they are doing they're drinking most nights out of the week, they are damaging their organs and it is so ingrained in their life that the thought of going through it without booze seems inconceivable. I know several people like this.

Our society considers alcohol so normal now that amazingly some people think those who don't drink are strange. My mother in law I believe actually looks down on me for not having anything. I should note that I never, ever bring attention to not drinking even when around a lot of people who are (very rare) because people don't want to hear it. I simply say no thanks. No "I do't drink" or any other attention-whoring. I attention-whore enough as it is with inappropriate jokes.

 

[JulesMaximus]

It's totally chemical. There are studies out there that have proven it with similar people class/professions/intelligence etc. Some people can binge two months straight and stop in an instant. Some can't.

Congrats and continued strength to ya.

My Mom married an alcoholic a couple years after she and my Dad divorced. He was a good 10+ years older than her and he was charming at first but it didn't take long before things went downhill. He was strict as fuck...too strict actually.

My Mom's marriage to him lasted a year and a half and he just got worse and worse and worse until the last straw...which was his attempt at suicide (his second attempt I found out later) by putting a loaded 30/30 rifle under his chin and pulling the trigger. I was 10 years old at the time.

He lived...I saw him again a few years later and he looked older and more creepy than ever. I don't know if he recognized me or my brother and sister but we sure recognized him. He didn't say a word to us. I still think about him from time to time, despite the torture he put our family through, but I'm guessing he's probably dead by now.

 

[x-alki]

I'm an X-alki. I drank becaused I loved it. I loved getting fucked up. Woke up one morning and decided I didnt want to drink anymore. Havent had a drink since.

 

[x-alki]

Edit- Sorry Rudeguy, you are getting a pat on the back. I know at times it wasnt easy. Anyone who has a drinking (or abuse) problem and quits, by whatever means they have, I tip my cap to you!