And that is what will get you physically addicted, i tend to think of it as 30% physical addiction 70% mental, the physical is hard to beat in the beginning depending on your usage but the mental is far worse and takes much longer to work through. I feel like just the mere fact your struggling so much with the decision wether to drink or not kind of speaks for itself…i dont think people who can drink normally would give alcohol this level of importance
Outside of my personal situation it does raise the question about the level of alcohol addiction in wider society.
The level of pubs pretty much dedicated to serving alcohol and the vast amounts sold in supermarkets and especially in britain the fact they have a 'Dry January challenge" does raise the question of how many people are in a similar boat but haven’t fully realised how much they depend on alcohol.
There is a fine line I find between thinking your just enjoying it and suddenly realising that you depend on it more than you think.
Obviously Im not talking about the people with full blown addiction but people who maybe silently are heading that way.
Giving up this long has definitely made me view the whole process of sitting in a pub getting drunk as strange.
Everyone is capable of abusing substances, some factors help tip the scales. I recommend the book This Naked Mind which goes a lot into what you mentioned - the societal issue - as well as the sliding scale of substance abuse.
Have you read Allen carrs easy way to stop drinking? I listened to it early on in sobriety and it changed my mindset about drinking forever
Hello people,
I thought I would just give an update and hopefully help anyone that goes through the same thought process I had after given up booze for 3 months…
So I decided in mid December to start drinking again and hopefully see in the new year being a moderate drinker…
Unfortunately I suffered a health scare (not drink related ) and I didn’t drink for a month due to being in hospital and then recovering at home.
Once I finished my antibiotics at the end of January I decided I deserved a well earned drink and fast forward 3 months I have been drinking every day. Maybe in the 60-70 units a week range. I was managing to go to work and binge drink at night maybe 4-5 cans and few glasses of wine. And the scary thing is I felt fine! No hangover or blackouts.
Due to my health scare I had to have blood tests and certain liver function tests came back marginally outside the norm. I now have to have an ultrasound on the liver to rule out any damage from the health scare but it seems my alcohol use may be showing up on the results.
I’m still drinking but have managed to stay within 20-30 units a week so far.
My advise to anyone is if you give up for a number of months or even years you should never touch it again. I will give it up again but I will never get over the missed opportunity I had giving it up for 3 months.
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