I didn't know candy cane came in diet form.
Posted on 03/18/2012 3:47:30 PM PDT by nickcarraway
What's the secret to getting sober and repairing the other broken parts of an alcoholic's life? It starts with setting your own terms, writes Paul Carr.
For years I'd told myself I wasn't an alcoholic. I never drank alone. I didn't wake up with fierce cravings, and sometimes I went for one or two days without drinking. A need to drink all day, every day, was never my problem.
My problem was that once I had a drink—whether it was at 7 p.m. or 9 a.m.—I couldn't stop until my body shut down and I passed out in a pile on the floor. I still had plenty of friends and still managed to hold down a job, but my relationship with alcohol was very obviously different from most people's. I was an alcoholic.
As of Saturday, the counter on my website says "878 days." Eight hundred seventy-eight days since I had my last alcoholic drink. Eight hundred seventy-eight days since I declared—very publicly—that my drinking had passed the point where it was funny, crazy or even merely dangerous. In fact, my addiction to alcohol had reached a stage where it was highly likely to kill me.
Enough was enough. So I decided to quit. But I didn't do it in the typical way.
For one thing, I didn't go to Alcoholics Anonymous. Not a single meeting. I have several friends who attend AA and have found it to be a highly effective way to quit. I have plenty of other friends who attend AA meetings every morning and are blind drunk every night. I almost attended a meeting at the suggestion of a friend, but first I decided to read the organization's Twelve Steps, the program that members must follow. The first step was enough to confirm that this form of
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
“once I had a drink—whether it was at 7 p.m. or 9 a.m.—I couldn’t stop until my body shut down and I passed out in a pile on the floor”
Why do some assume that _everyone_ responds to alcohol this way?
Yeah, it’s tough. I cut myself off and only drink beer on weekends.
Once you take that first drink, it usually leads to you passing out somewhere till morning.
Nothing wrong with a nice glass of wine with dinner so long as you can recognize when you’ve had enough. If you can’t, you’re in trouble.
I don’t understand your question.
Interesting read. I don’t think it would work for everyone, but AA doesn’t work for everyone either.
I have a different kind of a “problem with alcohol”. It gives me a headache. I don’t mean a headache the next morning like a hangover. I mean almost immediately after taking even a sip. It used to take a glass of wine, then a half a glass and now even a small sip gives me an immediate headache. I finally stopped trying, when every one else is having a blast, I am sitting there with a Diet Coke.
You should try popping pills. (j/k)
When I was about 19 I woke up saturday morning turned on bugs bunny and popped open a cold bud...
I was sitting their watching cartoons drinking a beer at 8 am in the morning and realized I had a problem
What scared me was it was so naturally didn’t think twice about it
I stopped drinking for 5 years...
Still can buy a case (not Bud) and it will long me a month
Although I am happy this guy has stopped drinking. 2 1/2 years is not that long of a time in the scheme of life.
Why people like him need to tear down AA is astounding to me. AA is the most successful program for alcoholics. Tried and true. I laughed when he scoffed at the idea of powerlessness.
If I were a betting man, I’d say without a support system this man will probably drink again. I truly hope he doesn’t. Declaring you are an alcoholic publicly... Even writing a book will mean nothing when you
become powerless (there’s that word again!) over the first drink. But judging by his story, he is pretty full of himself. A dangerous state of mind for an alcoholic.
I have a lot of allergies to medications, I am sure that is what is going on with alcohol, so I would never “pop a pill”.
Who said everyone responds that way? Nobody did.
However, I frequently have to ask redemption for my additive visits to FR. Please, no interventions...It won't go well!
I didn't know candy cane came in diet form.
Who assumes that?
Most people don't respond to alcohol that way and I don't think the majority of people assume they do.
Saying that, there really are some out there don't know how to drink in moderation. Many of these folks may not even have a noticeable problem because they don't indulge very often, but when they do they get hammered drunk instead of just consuming enough to take the edge off.
I don't have that problem, but I think I at least understand the feeling. I don't drink much, am not the kind of person who wants a couple of beers after work or whatever. For me, if I am going to drink I generally intend to make sure to get a serious buzz out of it. 1 or 2 drinks just makes me tired, several makes the effort worthwhile. Thankfully I don't like being too drunk so I never took it to extremes like the author of this article did. I could never have a drinking problem because I am too lazy to deal with hangovers anyway.
For adults with addictions, the most effective program is Teen Challenge. Despite its name it’s for adults. Faith based, it’s a 12 month residential program.
http://teenchallengeusa.com/
Oh BS, I can stop drinking anytime I want, I’ve done it a hundred times!
They cut it with more laxative than usual. You use Euros huh?
I was making a joke, thus the j/k. (just kidding)
Are you sure it’s the alcohol? Wine has stuff in it besides alcohol that does (to some people) what you describe.
What if you have a vodka/soda?
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