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When did you realize it was too much? Number of drinks? Hangovers? What was "heavily" 3/4 nights a week? What precisely was the moment you were brought to your

When did you realize it was too much? Number of drinks? Hangovers? What was "heavily" 3/4 nights a week? What precisely was the moment you were brought to your knees as you say?

ccsnags 7y ago
Number of drinks is not a good way, in my experience. It’s a detail that isn’t important unless you are trying to game your own standard. You will convince yourself that your arbitrary line makes you ok. Hangovers turn into waking up drunk at some point. For me, they were a reason to drink. Withdrawal is like a hangover that lasts for weeks. The whole time, you will want a drink. My bottom was the realization that my alcoholism was a way of checking out of my life. Once I realized that, I just had to start doing other things and dealing with the problems I tried to drown. When you are in the pit of addiction, the first things you need are positive alternatives to drinking. It could be AA but I went a different route. I am not a meticulous scheduler, but I had a rigid schedule for the first few months. I even planned out my free time. I put myself back out into the world, and found that I loved it and the people in it.
- 0x8BADF00D 7y ago
  Taking a bath as they say (my uncle used to do it until he developed cancer) is indicative of a problem IMO. When you wake up at 9 AM and start drinking, get drunk the whole day, sleep and repeat the whole cycle, that's when you definitively have a problem.
  - relativeadv 7y ago
    Yes and no. I know many people that would be well served if they removed this idea of, "Well, i can't be an alcoholic because i don't drink beer for breakfast" notion from their minds. I was never like that either, but I did use it as an escape at almost every opportunity I could. I would spend an enormous portion of my waking life rumination about alcohol and strategizing over how to get away with it. When will i start drinking today? How much will I drink and not have a hangover? Well, theres that dinner at 7 tonight. Do you think they'll each have one or two drinks? Would i get some stares if i have three drinks? I'll be a year sober next month.
    - 0x8BADF00D 7y ago
      Sure, that is definitely a justification one can use. My point is that you need some reference point to compare your own behavior with. There are some people that should have never started drinking in the first place. That I agree with. It's a nexus of genetics and environment. A lot of it is influenced by cultural norms.
  - agumonkey 7y ago
    Pardon the side step but it reminds me of my life not long ago. Replace browsing with drinking. Obviously less harmful 'addiction' but the 'do a single thing to somehow avoid life everyday' sounds like an interesting diagnosis pattern.
katzgrau 7y ago
Realizing it's too much and being brought to your knees are usually two different times. "Realizing it" happens gradually after an established pattern of behavior. Usually, years. You're like, I seem to drink a lot more than everyone else and maybe that's not good. Eventually other problems kick in like sleep issues, anxiety, possibly weight gain - and the solution is always drinking because you stop worrying about it, or can at least say "well this is one of the last times." You realize that this is a bigger issue and then decide to stop, but something inevitably draws you back in. There's always something. And since you slipped back in, you somehow find your way to drinking as much or even more than you did. And then you realize the issue is even bigger - you've established a pattern of trying to stop and it never sticks, no matter how sincere you were in that moment of decision. No matter how much you poured down the drain. No matter how much you know that being sober is actually the good life and that your problems are much easier managed when staying away from drinking. And after many attempts of this, trying and failing, but probably knowing that deep down there's a part of you that doesn't want to stop, you hit a point where you feel the worst you've ever felt in your life, hurt someone, or instigated another serious problem. And if you're honest, you know where it all started. Then you are on your knees. Some people try to fix the problem themselves in earnest, some seek help, some stay in the cycle and break out down the road, and some stay in until the (statistically early) end.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

When did you realize it was too much? Number of drinks? Hangovers? What was "heavily" 3/4 nights a week? What precisely was the moment you were brought to your knees as you say?

ccsnags 7y ago

Number of drinks is not a good way, in my experience. It’s a detail that isn’t important unless you are trying to game your own standard. You will convince yourself that your arbitrary line makes you ok. Hangovers turn into waking up drunk at some point. For me, they were a reason to drink. Withdrawal is like a hangover that lasts for weeks. The whole time, you will want a drink. My bottom was the realization that my alcoholism was a way of checking out of my life. Once I realized that, I just had to start doing other things and dealing with the problems I tried to drown. When you are in the pit of addiction, the first things you need are positive alternatives to drinking. It could be AA but I went a different route. I am not a meticulous scheduler, but I had a rigid schedule for the first few months. I even planned out my free time. I put myself back out into the world, and found that I loved it and the people in it.

0x8BADF00D 7y ago
Taking a bath as they say (my uncle used to do it until he developed cancer) is indicative of a problem IMO. When you wake up at 9 AM and start drinking, get drunk the whole day, sleep and repeat the whole cycle, that's when you definitively have a problem.
- relativeadv 7y ago
  Yes and no. I know many people that would be well served if they removed this idea of, "Well, i can't be an alcoholic because i don't drink beer for breakfast" notion from their minds. I was never like that either, but I did use it as an escape at almost every opportunity I could. I would spend an enormous portion of my waking life rumination about alcohol and strategizing over how to get away with it. When will i start drinking today? How much will I drink and not have a hangover? Well, theres that dinner at 7 tonight. Do you think they'll each have one or two drinks? Would i get some stares if i have three drinks? I'll be a year sober next month.
  - 0x8BADF00D 7y ago
    Sure, that is definitely a justification one can use. My point is that you need some reference point to compare your own behavior with. There are some people that should have never started drinking in the first place. That I agree with. It's a nexus of genetics and environment. A lot of it is influenced by cultural norms.
- agumonkey 7y ago
  Pardon the side step but it reminds me of my life not long ago. Replace browsing with drinking. Obviously less harmful 'addiction' but the 'do a single thing to somehow avoid life everyday' sounds like an interesting diagnosis pattern.

katzgrau 7y ago

Realizing it's too much and being brought to your knees are usually two different times. "Realizing it" happens gradually after an established pattern of behavior. Usually, years. You're like, I seem to drink a lot more than everyone else and maybe that's not good. Eventually other problems kick in like sleep issues, anxiety, possibly weight gain - and the solution is always drinking because you stop worrying about it, or can at least say "well this is one of the last times." You realize that this is a bigger issue and then decide to stop, but something inevitably draws you back in. There's always something. And since you slipped back in, you somehow find your way to drinking as much or even more than you did. And then you realize the issue is even bigger - you've established a pattern of trying to stop and it never sticks, no matter how sincere you were in that moment of decision. No matter how much you poured down the drain. No matter how much you know that being sober is actually the good life and that your problems are much easier managed when staying away from drinking. And after many attempts of this, trying and failing, but probably knowing that deep down there's a part of you that doesn't want to stop, you hit a point where you feel the worst you've ever felt in your life, hurt someone, or instigated another serious problem. And if you're honest, you know where it all started. Then you are on your knees. Some people try to fix the problem themselves in earnest, some seek help, some stay in the cycle and break out down the road, and some stay in until the (statistically early) end.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]