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OT- Ok so I am an alcoholic

When I first started work it was definitely a cultural thing, the pub was next door and as a first year apprentice, I found myself to be the only person in the building on a pay-day afternoon. The union rep often had to be carried to his car and when placed inside it and the engine started for him, the car would disappear in half an hour or so. I gave up drinking when I developed sleeping disorders and other health problems. It was while before I stopped automatically slowing the car down near the bottle shop out of habit. Alcohol is a class one carcinogen and recent studies show there is no safe level of consumption, just like ionising radiation.
 
You are right SAG, it can be a cultural thing with lots of peer group pressure.

Have a beer. No I do not want a beer. What are you bloody poofter or something. It can be hard to refuse if you do not want to be castigated, but now it is more accepted then decades ago.
 
1985 here..
If you hook up with the right guys, there's some humor to be found in the rooms..

Two friends at a wake for another friend[add accents as appropriate]

#1..sad to see, was it the drink that killed him?
#2 'twas
#1 didn't he try AA or something?
#2 nah, it never got that bad!
 
help? dont you enjoy it? winston churchill e.g. was a notorious alky and that for 100 years or so. they made him prime minister at least twice. there are others. (churchill btw, when staying in the states at the time of the prohibition, had a doctors prescription for using alcohol every day.)
 
1985 here..
If you hook up with the right guys, there's some humor to be found in the rooms..

Two friends at a wake for another friend[add accents as appropriate]

#1..sad to see, was it the drink that killed him?
#2 'twas
#1 didn't he try AA or something?
#2 nah, it never got that bad!

I'm not generally adverse to humor but after having lost a sister and a brother as well as several close friends to King Alcohol, I never laugh at that kind of stories.
No offense intended, j.lewis.

rokbottom,there's hope for you as long as you can face your situation, i think. My relations could not.
Best regards, fusker
 
#1 rokbottom

The first step in solving a problem is conceding that there is a problem.
You have also been brave enough to publicly admit your failings.

I still drink beer. Spirits no, when the score got to Scotch 100 me zero I gave up spirits. It was not so hard, I had lost two good friends both of whom died young from the booze and had already lost their jobs, homes, marriages and families.

I also went from 50 fags every day to zero nearly 40 years ago, and still had sufficient will power to lose 35lb in weight this year.

As you see, on PM you not only get help with machining issues, you get suggestions and moral support and encouragement, from people who speak from experience. I am sure more help will be available should you need it in future.

A truly great site filled with great, real, people.

Good luck with the struggle ahead.
Rich
 
You are right SAG, it can be a cultural thing with lots of peer group pressure.

Have a beer. No I do not want a beer. What are you bloody poofter or something. It can be hard to refuse if you do not want to be castigated, but now it is more accepted then decades ago.

Fortunately I never could stand the taste of ethanol, but I know what you mean about social pressures. My wife's family is on the more solid end of what they call social drinking and my co-workers are as well. It makes for some unpleasant situations at times, and I'm fully aware that I miss out on a few things since I don't drink beer with my father in law.
I've found that a glass of orange juice or cranberry juice keeps people off my back when I have to socialize at a bar. I have a full glass of something colored and other than water so people stop offering me drinks. If I don't want to go through it I'll get cranberry or grapefruit juice. I can't drink either of those much faster than a tall glass per couple hours and I always have a full glass in my hands. The in-laws assume the OJ is a screwdriver so they don't think to ask me why I'm not actually drinking with them.
 
Some of you folks just can't resist the chance to make a joke out of this. Ain't Fuckin Funny!

If you've ever had to battle addiction or live with one then you know it's not always as elementary as it may seem to people without the problem.

It's been explained to me as a chemical imbalance in the brain that make some people more apt to have addiction problems. It's harder for them to stay clean afterwards and actually can be a life long battle.

OP you really have to want it. Good luck pal...

Brent
 
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Some of you folks just resist the chance to make a joke out of this. Ain't Fuckin Funny!

If you've ever had to battle addiction or live with one then you know it's not always as elementary as it may seem to people without the problem.

Brent

Amen to that, smartass comments to anyone in the OP's position are neither helpful or funny
 
^ some of us non addicts are not so much trying to make jokes or wise cracks or anything else as to simply understand.

Whilst i know several people i would consider addicts to various things i have never found anything im seriously addicted to, im certain a lot of other people like me find it just as hard to understand what your going through. I do drink, but its maybe a bear or 2 one night then none for a while, just some times i like the idea of one, but its not for the alcohol, its more just because say a nice glass of red wine with a nice pasta dish. I have been drunk, but its just not something i like being, i much prefer being sober!

I do get the whole party thing and having to have a drink in your hand thing does piss me off at times, especially when im around friends who at best are describalble as heavy drinkers and some arguably using the drink as a major life prop. i can only imagine how much worse it is when you are also addicted to the substance and trying to stop.

I also find the whole idea of then totally abstaining totally even harder idea to grasp, as a non addict, surely it would be way easier to drink sensibly in some degree of moderation? Or is it a case that once you start you just can not stop again? I spouse thats the bit thats hardest to grasp if you have never been there.
 
AA has an abysmal failure rate. But it is free. It works for some. Not for the vast majority. Start there, but don't be surprised if it is not for you. The dynamics between groups in AA can be vastly different from each other. If you like the idea, but not that particular group, find another.
 
AA has an abysmal failure rate. But it is free. It works for some. Not for the vast majority. Start there, but don't be surprised if it is not for you. The dynamics between groups in AA can be vastly different from each other. If you like the idea, but not that particular group, find another.

Good point Gobo, I had to swop groups - all down clash of personalities.
 








 
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