I was a binge drinker some of the time, and a moderate drinker most of the time and a light drinker when I ran outta time.
Looking back at the last 20 years, I’d say alcoholism is the worst thing I’ve done with my life. (38 y/o now)
Most people, most of the time, “get away with it”. They drink cause everyone else is drinking, and nothing too terrible happens so they think it’s ok.
I would like to disagree. I say, It’s not OK.
It’s voluntary brain damage. Everytime we drink, we’re sort of agreeing to become a little dumber. We’re accepting that our memory recall skills are gonna be a little duller, our judgement a little weaker. We’re effectively hobbling our own cognitive abilities for a moments pleasure.
In my life, my world, I don’t see things getting easier. I see my life getting more demanding. I see my industry getting more ruthless be cut throat. All signs point to me needing to be the best possible version of myself, in order to thrive. I simply cannot afford to get any dumber, slower, sicker, weaker etc.
And I certainly can’t afford to total my truck, another drivers BMW as well as put them in the hospital. (even though I was drinking moderately)
It’s a really good thing.
You can come here just to get stuff off your chest. We’re here to help at pretty much all hours, since the group has people from all over the world
Well damn ! That was a spot on esp for the beginning stages . I have a question .
Does anyone on here have like other addictions ? I feel like over the years I have made some bad habits smoking cigs here and there and eating good for four days then binging a lot food after . It’s strange . I’m trying to tackle all these bad habits at once . So far I’m three days strong from everything . Have any of you guys had success in breaking more then one addiction at the same time ?
I’m glad you found it helpful. In AA they say that if you have to question whether you’re an alcoholic or not, you probably are. I’m an alcoholic, an addict, self-harm, porn addiction, impulsive behaviors, I could go on. Most of these were addressed when I worked through the 12 steps. That helped me get to the root of the problem. I wouldn’t say that I tackled them all at once. Working the steps helped me realize why I do what I do. It helped improve my quality of life as a whole, as opposed to one addiction at a time. When I stopped doing drugs, I didn’t watch as much porn or act as impulsively. When you start recovering as a person rather an addiction you start to see everything fall into place on its own.
For me, I have found that gaining mastery over one change helps me confidently be able to tackle other changes. If I load too many up at once, I can get discouraged, but that is just me.
And as @anon36296096 said, the goal is to address the underlying reasons for soothing thru addictive behaviors…finding healthier outlets for emotions, anxiety and stress.
Yea i realized i can’t limit drinking i had to stop completely kinda the same experience. I feel better not drinking i just wish i didn’t waste so much of mylife to figure that out
I was exactly the same as you at your age and I’m like that now in that I don’t get smashed everytime I drink and I can go without drink easier then many who have acknowledged they have a drink problem. BUT! Like you I always come back to that time I go on a complete bender, I then deal with anxiety regret and wish I’d never done it but eventually convince myself I’ve learnt my lesson and will be fine from now on. I’ve been trying to do that for about 17 years and the last 10 years I have really tried to do it even quitting for a year.
I’m 35 and last week I went on what I hope is my last drunken binge ever. I can not tell you the only way to do this is to abstain completely but what I can tell you is in my 17 years of trying I’ve never found a way to do it and I now know abstaining is the only way.
