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There's an old Irish saying that goes "A man takes a drink, the drink takes a drink, the drink takes the man." If you have a drinking problem, you just need to

There's an old Irish saying that goes "A man takes a drink, the drink takes a drink, the drink takes the man." If you have a drinking problem, you just need to avoid drinking period. I have some close friends that have drinking problems and what I learned from their experiences: 1. If you're an alcoholic and think you can handle a single drink, you're lying to yourself. 2. It's honestly not worth it. Life is better than being stuck in a multi day binger. The physically effects are taxing on the body. 3. You'll always have those urges and that feeling of wanting to drink isn't as bad as the act of actually drinking and the damage the follows. If you have those urges, attend AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and refresh yourself on why you don't drink. I remember going out to dinner with a friend and the waiter knew my buddy. During the conversation he asked would I like something to drink. When I said no, he asked if I was a "friend of Bob". At first I had no clue what that meant and asked who was Bob. Later I found out he was referring to the founder of AA. I personally don't drink around those that battle with drinking. I understand the struggle. Stay sober. Reading about Tristan and it reminds me of all those people I lost as a child. I watched so many friends OD to heroin and other drugs.

debatem1 8y ago
One thing I'd put out there: AA is great if it works for you, but it's not the only game in town and can be hard to love. If it doesn't work for you, SMART and lifering are both popular and well-validated options.
- cmos 8y ago
  Another AA alternative is Alan Carr's book "The Easy Way to Stop Drinking". It's a logical approach to repositioning alcohol as a poison that somehow 90% of our population embraces as normal.
  - atlasunshrugged 8y ago
    It's been mentioned below but I also recommend checking out the Sinclair Method using Naltrexone and CBT https://cthreefoundation.org/resources https://cthreefoundation.org/resources
  - superplussed 8y ago
    99% (I'm saying this as a non-drinker who can count on one hand the number of other non-drinkers I know)
- mrburton 8y ago
  I agree it's not the only game in town for sure. One close friend actually has learned to replace his addiction with working out. There's certainly a strong correlation of Alcoholism and OCD. Once in a while he'll have dreams of drinking or the urge to drink. Whatever works to keep you sober and healthy, go for it!
caymanjim 8y ago
AA is a religious organization, full stop. It's certainly not for everyone.
- mrburton 8y ago
  It certainly has it's roots in religion, but it is also effective. I have 2 friends that attend AA and both are atheists. One friend has been attending AA for nearly 35 years and the other 10 years. The latter friend did have a relapse after 6 months of not attending AA. So he now makes it a point to attend AA only to remind himself why he's sober. In any case, it's not a bad starting point. If it doesn't work, I'm sure you'll find suggestions there for alternatives.
- aecmagn 8y ago
  What's wrong with religion?
crsmithdev 8y ago
> 1. If you're an alcoholic and think you can handle a single drink, you're lying to yourself. 2. It's honestly not worth it. Life is better than being stuck in a multi day binger. The physically effects are taxing on the body. 3. You'll always have those urges and that feeling of wanting to drink isn't as bad as the act of actually drinking and the damage the follows. Worth noting that #1 is AA dogma and is certainly not a medically proven thing. About 5% of people who go through AA eventually get sober, roughly the same as other treatment approaches (many of which skip the disease model of alcoholism entirely). IMO, the AA notion that you are diseased for life unless you turn your life over to a higher power (which looks suspiciously like the personal god of Western Protestant Christianity) is poison.
- iceninenines 8y ago
  Magical thinking is the poison, be it cargo culting some arbitrary behaviors against physical dependence or praying to a bearded sky god.
- mrburton 8y ago
  There's so much I would like to say about this, but let me try not to let this get out of hand. a. The people I know attend AA are not religious and they don't enjoy that aspect of AA. b. They refuse to take medication like Disulfiram (Antabuse) and rather deal with their addiction by attending meetings. c. I'm not sure if you are an actual alcoholic, it sounds like you're not, but I would advise you to be cautious about what you're saying here. If you deal with Alcoholism, there's no "final" cure. You are aware of that right? People who deal with Alcoholism don't view their addiction as being "diseased" and AA doesn't suggest that as well. You might want to read the Big Book which is available online. I read it to understand what my friends actually deal with. I'm not even sure what you mean by "disease model of alcoholism". It sounds like your knowledge is not only superficial, but poorly researched.
  - andromedavision 8y ago
    > If you deal with Alcoholism, there's no "final" cure. This is precisely it. You fight it continuously and always assume you are going to mess things up even when you think you're 'finally' strong enough. Just being constantly paranoid about slipping back into old habits. It's no joke and there's no panacea.
thebigspacefuck 8y ago
Yeah, he could also have issues with PTSD, Bipolar, Anxiety, Depression or other mental health issues where going to see a professional and getting medicated or going through therapy is far better than going to AA meetings and just hoping he'll figure it out.

debatem1 8y ago

One thing I'd put out there: AA is great if it works for you, but it's not the only game in town and can be hard to love. If it doesn't work for you, SMART and lifering are both popular and well-validated options.

cmos 8y ago
Another AA alternative is Alan Carr's book "The Easy Way to Stop Drinking". It's a logical approach to repositioning alcohol as a poison that somehow 90% of our population embraces as normal.
- atlasunshrugged 8y ago
  It's been mentioned below but I also recommend checking out the Sinclair Method using Naltrexone and CBT https://cthreefoundation.org/resources https://cthreefoundation.org/resources
- superplussed 8y ago
  99% (I'm saying this as a non-drinker who can count on one hand the number of other non-drinkers I know)
mrburton 8y ago
I agree it's not the only game in town for sure. One close friend actually has learned to replace his addiction with working out. There's certainly a strong correlation of Alcoholism and OCD. Once in a while he'll have dreams of drinking or the urge to drink. Whatever works to keep you sober and healthy, go for it!

caymanjim 8y ago

AA is a religious organization, full stop. It's certainly not for everyone.

mrburton 8y ago
It certainly has it's roots in religion, but it is also effective. I have 2 friends that attend AA and both are atheists. One friend has been attending AA for nearly 35 years and the other 10 years. The latter friend did have a relapse after 6 months of not attending AA. So he now makes it a point to attend AA only to remind himself why he's sober. In any case, it's not a bad starting point. If it doesn't work, I'm sure you'll find suggestions there for alternatives.
aecmagn 8y ago
What's wrong with religion?

crsmithdev 8y ago

> 1. If you're an alcoholic and think you can handle a single drink, you're lying to yourself. 2. It's honestly not worth it. Life is better than being stuck in a multi day binger. The physically effects are taxing on the body. 3. You'll always have those urges and that feeling of wanting to drink isn't as bad as the act of actually drinking and the damage the follows. Worth noting that #1 is AA dogma and is certainly not a medically proven thing. About 5% of people who go through AA eventually get sober, roughly the same as other treatment approaches (many of which skip the disease model of alcoholism entirely). IMO, the AA notion that you are diseased for life unless you turn your life over to a higher power (which looks suspiciously like the personal god of Western Protestant Christianity) is poison.

iceninenines 8y ago
Magical thinking is the poison, be it cargo culting some arbitrary behaviors against physical dependence or praying to a bearded sky god.
mrburton 8y ago
There's so much I would like to say about this, but let me try not to let this get out of hand. a. The people I know attend AA are not religious and they don't enjoy that aspect of AA. b. They refuse to take medication like Disulfiram (Antabuse) and rather deal with their addiction by attending meetings. c. I'm not sure if you are an actual alcoholic, it sounds like you're not, but I would advise you to be cautious about what you're saying here. If you deal with Alcoholism, there's no "final" cure. You are aware of that right? People who deal with Alcoholism don't view their addiction as being "diseased" and AA doesn't suggest that as well. You might want to read the Big Book which is available online. I read it to understand what my friends actually deal with. I'm not even sure what you mean by "disease model of alcoholism". It sounds like your knowledge is not only superficial, but poorly researched.
- andromedavision 8y ago
  > If you deal with Alcoholism, there's no "final" cure. This is precisely it. You fight it continuously and always assume you are going to mess things up even when you think you're 'finally' strong enough. Just being constantly paranoid about slipping back into old habits. It's no joke and there's no panacea.

thebigspacefuck 8y ago

Yeah, he could also have issues with PTSD, Bipolar, Anxiety, Depression or other mental health issues where going to see a professional and getting medicated or going through therapy is far better than going to AA meetings and just hoping he'll figure it out.