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I could never be an alcoholic, alcohol does nothing for me except dulling the senses. But there were kids I knew, from the first drink of their lives, it made t

I could never be an alcoholic, alcohol does nothing for me except dulling the senses. But there were kids I knew, from the first drink of their lives, it made them a different, less stressed, happier person. It was like heroin (I imagine, never tried it). Point is, some people genetically have an alcohol problem. And this person is writing about it, exposing themself to potential criticism like this, and taking action about it. Does judging this person make you feel like a better person? Because it's not helpful in any way. If you've avoided problems, good for you. If you haven't, and you've had struggles, it doesn't make you a hero, and it doesn't make you a bad person, it makes you a human being.

smtddr 11y ago
>>I could never be an alcoholic, alcohol does nothing for me except dulling the senses. I think one of the common(if not primary) ways people become alcholics is when their senses keep delivering overwhelmingly negative signals and they want it to just stop. When you feel that your life is awful in every way imaginable and you just don't want to feel anything anymore...
Devthrowaway80 11y ago
Interesting to hear that. The first time I ever had unrestricted access to alcohol was a revelation - like I'd suddenly found the cure for everything that ailed me. I lost count at something like 26 standard drinks. Fast forward about two decades and surprise, I'm an alcoholic!
fredkbloggs 11y ago
> kids I knew, from the first drink of their lives, it made them a different, less stressed, happier person. > Point is, some people genetically have an alcohol problem. Can you explain how you got from point A to point B above? I don't understand how your observation implies dependency, addiction, or any of the numerous problems that alcoholism causes in someone's life. It is also true that some people have inherited traits that interfere with processing alcohol. But I don't understand how you can conclude that someone has such a trait from observing their behavior when drinking, nor how you conclude that such a person is an alcoholic. In fact, perhaps the most common genetic quirk (it's not really a defect) is a missing encoding for alcohol dehydrogenase, which according to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_flush_reaction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_flush_reaction) is correlated with lower rates of alcoholism. Of course, others exist also. Not really interested in the emotional reactions here on either side. Just interested in why/how you conclude that these three things are strongly correlated/causal.
- RockyMcNuts 11y ago
  What are you arguing exactly... no one has an exceptional reaction to drinking that suggests a possible future problem, so I couldn't have seen one? alcohol has the same effect on everyone? no one gets addicted? alcoholism doesn't have a genetic component? I observe someone undergoes a huge personality change after drinking and seems a lot happier. I get a sense that this person might have difficulty consuming in moderation. It seems consistent with a physiological or genetic basis. Not trying to win a prize in genetics or logic, just to use common sense to understand the human behavior I'm seeing. I guess it's also possible something our mothers did while pregnant made the difference. I believe Occam's Razor and the body of evidence point to a genetic basis. What do you think the evidence points to?
  - RockyMcNuts 11y ago
    Another drunk memoir ... > As a lot of drunks report, introducing alcohol into my body just felt like "Ooh, there we go. Here I am." Sort of like it elegantly completed a chemical equation of some kind. http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a25749/rob-delaney-red-flag/ http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a25749/rob-delaney-red-... I can't relate to that at all...alcohol has no interesting effect on me. There's a science in studying genes and chemistry, and a sort of science in just observing people and life and storing things and noticing patterns and developing hypotheses.

smtddr 11y ago

>>I could never be an alcoholic, alcohol does nothing for me except dulling the senses. I think one of the common(if not primary) ways people become alcholics is when their senses keep delivering overwhelmingly negative signals and they want it to just stop. When you feel that your life is awful in every way imaginable and you just don't want to feel anything anymore...

Devthrowaway80 11y ago

Interesting to hear that. The first time I ever had unrestricted access to alcohol was a revelation - like I'd suddenly found the cure for everything that ailed me. I lost count at something like 26 standard drinks. Fast forward about two decades and surprise, I'm an alcoholic!

fredkbloggs 11y ago

> kids I knew, from the first drink of their lives, it made them a different, less stressed, happier person. > Point is, some people genetically have an alcohol problem. Can you explain how you got from point A to point B above? I don't understand how your observation implies dependency, addiction, or any of the numerous problems that alcoholism causes in someone's life. It is also true that some people have inherited traits that interfere with processing alcohol. But I don't understand how you can conclude that someone has such a trait from observing their behavior when drinking, nor how you conclude that such a person is an alcoholic. In fact, perhaps the most common genetic quirk (it's not really a defect) is a missing encoding for alcohol dehydrogenase, which according to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_flush_reaction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_flush_reaction) is correlated with lower rates of alcoholism. Of course, others exist also. Not really interested in the emotional reactions here on either side. Just interested in why/how you conclude that these three things are strongly correlated/causal.

RockyMcNuts 11y ago
What are you arguing exactly... no one has an exceptional reaction to drinking that suggests a possible future problem, so I couldn't have seen one? alcohol has the same effect on everyone? no one gets addicted? alcoholism doesn't have a genetic component? I observe someone undergoes a huge personality change after drinking and seems a lot happier. I get a sense that this person might have difficulty consuming in moderation. It seems consistent with a physiological or genetic basis. Not trying to win a prize in genetics or logic, just to use common sense to understand the human behavior I'm seeing. I guess it's also possible something our mothers did while pregnant made the difference. I believe Occam's Razor and the body of evidence point to a genetic basis. What do you think the evidence points to?
- RockyMcNuts 11y ago
  Another drunk memoir ... > As a lot of drunks report, introducing alcohol into my body just felt like "Ooh, there we go. Here I am." Sort of like it elegantly completed a chemical equation of some kind. http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a25749/rob-delaney-red-flag/ http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a25749/rob-delaney-red-... I can't relate to that at all...alcohol has no interesting effect on me. There's a science in studying genes and chemistry, and a sort of science in just observing people and life and storing things and noticing patterns and developing hypotheses.