Posted on 08/28/2009 1:31:53 PM PDT by RKV
In August 1979, I took my last drink. It was about four o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, the hot sun streaming through the windows of my little carriage house on Dickens. I put a glass of scotch and soda down on the living room table, went to bed, and pulled the blankets over my head. I couldn't take it any more.
On Monday I went to visit wise old Dr. Jakob Schlichter. I had been seeing him for a year, telling him I thought I might be drinking too much. He agreed, and advised me to go to "A.A.A," which is what he called it. Sounded like a place where they taught you to drink and drive. I said I didn't need to go to any meetings. I would stop drinking on my own. He told me to go ahead and try, and check back with him every month.
The problem with using will power, for me, was that it lasted only until my will persuaded me I could take another drink. ...
A.A. believes there is an enormous difference between bring dry and being sober. It is not enough to simply abstain. You need to heal and repair the damage to yourself and others. We talk about "white-knuckle sobriety," which might mean, "I'm sober as long as I hold onto the arms of this chair." People who are dry but not sober are on a "dry drunk."
...
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.suntimes.com ...
I think that you realized that sobriety was only going to be temporary if it depended upon being away from alcohol. More booze is as close as the nearest store.
My last drink was over thirty-two years ago. I left half of a margarita in a restaurant. I had been recognizing that my drinking was affecting my life in negative ways. That is the definition of being an alcoholic. I decided that I would quit right in the middle of that drink.
“Key symptoms - grandiosity, judgmentalism, intolerance, impulsivity, and indecisiveness which leads to mood swings, self absorption, detachment and escapism.”
Does sound like a liberal
I knew I was never going to escape from contact with alcohol so I forced myself to be around it without drinking. I even carried an unopened beer around with me for several months. Its been nearly a decade since I last drank.
It doesn't really matter what method is used, as long as it works!
Good for you. My husband is a recovered alcoholic/addict. He started going down hill after two spinal surgeries in two years. Yep. Followed in Brett Favre’s footsteps down ‘The Old Vicadin Mine-Strewn Path.’
Yee-Gawds. I’m glad I stuck it out, but what a nightmarish hell it was for the year it took him to get it together again! (Ten years ago.)
I went to a few Al-Anon meetings (for families) and what a bunch of enabling whiners! I couldn’t take it, so I did some one-on-one therapy with a psychiatric nurse who is also a dear friend of mine, and I did a lot of reading and research on my own. A lot. We went through couples therapy, too.
I thank God he chose me and the boys over alcohol and drugs. Al-Anon/AA is NOT for everyone, but it sure helps many.
**But as I tell newcomers, when you work it the way it’s written, it gets even better than you could have imagined.**
Sober since 10/10/1979
“Key symptoms - grandiosity, judgmentalism, intolerance , impulsivity, and indecisiveness which leads to mood swings, self absorption, detachment and escapism. “ Pot calling kettle black
As far as I can tell once an alkie always an alkie ( even though we have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body)
What I don’t like about Ebert is that at a level of the press he has violated the traditions and not remained anonymous. There is a reason for that tradition.
Very well said. I’m so sick and tired of these hypocrites who take the rest of us for granted.
And what poor business judgment these loudmouths have. I barely turn my TV on any more. I’m sure their sponsors really appreciate it.
Good for you Roger that you’ve beaten an addiction. Now work on your immaturity.
“I went to a few Al-Anon meetings (for families) and what a bunch of enabling whiners!”
And that’s not to say that I hadn’t obviuosly been one, too. But enough was enough. I was waaaaaay past mad and ready to split with the kids and they were still in the ‘poor me’ phase. Me! Me! Me! Blech!
A lot of my life long friends are heavy drinkers. I wanted to give up the alcohol but not the friends.
AA doesn't like the idea that some can stop w/o AA and some can. I'm not a dry-drunk, I'm a nondrinker. Seven years since my last sip is all the proof I need.
Or, some self-righteous "conservatives"...? (not you)
What makes you think that people in AA don’t have ‘contact with alcohol’?
You really never gave AA a chance. I don’t care one or the other. Good for you that you aren’t drinking. We have no corner on the market.
Just wanted to set the record straight. For example a friend of mine is in a band that will be playing at a local watering hole this weekend. me and some of my friends will be there dancing and drinking (iced tea -— not LI—and sodas) and having a grand old time. Nothing prevents me from doing this. There will be drinking and drunks and other folks there. that is part of life.
No you truly don’t. But that’s okay continue to spout
Sorry to hear that. It is in direct contradiction to what is taught in the Big Book. Congratulations. I hope your life is happy jouyous and free
Taking responsibility for your own wrongs is an important part of the AA program.
That aspect is “conservative” but I admit I see liberals and conservatives both having experience with the program.
By the way, the programs specifically for non-using family members are also very helpful -- Al Anon for wives or husbands, ACOA (Adult Children of Alcoholics) for those whose parents or grandparents had issues with alcohol. There are also the NarAnon (drug abuse) and Overeaters Anonymous programs.
I just ran through the checklist linked at the bottom of the article, and it appears I have a computer addiction; and my "drug of choice" is FR.
Actually the definition ( at least in AA since that is what started this) is as follows “We are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking.”
Certainly The Doctor’s Opinion does a better job of giving detail and a Vision for You tells our stories well.
Glad that you are not drinking today
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