Congrats on 3 days!
It’s true for me as well. If I’m in for an inch, I’m in for a mile. The nature of addiction. Making abstinence the goal makes the whole thing a lot easier to keep in check. The first one’s the easiest one to leave be. No clouded judgment or false perceptions, just good clean livin’! 
Yes l know but l know for myself l can’t just have one. Not everyone is the same and a lot of people can have just one. For me that’s not possible so l am best not to. I will next week try different things to deter me from having one. Start up running again and keep busy. This forum is very helpful too so will keep with this too.
I guess i am to dense to get your point…at one point you couldn’t have 1 drink. You can now? But choose not to because of the cravings?
Congrats on 3 days. It gets better!
That isnt normal. An alcoholic has that problem, a normal drinker does not. I get you are trying really hard to justify your personal behavior. You do you, its a free world. But once again, horribly dangerous advice.
Abstinence? That isnt what you circular thought is talking about. You are trying to prove your behavior is ok. Again, you do you. But, outside of a 12 step program, its still realized an addict cant have just 1. This isnt about you helping others, its about you justifying your behavior
This is not a forum to teach people how to drink safely. It never will be. Get over it.
It’s talking sober, not talking moderation.
I’m saying this in a friendly way… I’m not sure what you’re hoping to achieve here? This forum is full of people offering encouragement, support and advice for people who have relapsed and relapse frequently. There is the occasional dose of tough love, always from a place of love. If that’s what you’re advocating then it is already happening. Edit: there is also a seeking help group for those who are actively using.
As this is an abstinence forum of course the main message is always going to be to encourage people to abstain. This point has been made many times. If you don’t think thats the right message then that is fair enough, but you must see that constantly suggesting it shouldn’t be the message is only likely to stir the pot and get people’s backs up? It also then looks kind of like you are stirring the pot intentionally.
One argument against the DSM 5 categorizarion of Alcohol use disorder is that depending on the indiviudal, and where they are at, the diagnosis could actually change. Therefore, a mild diagnosis could be fundamentally flawed. The person could actually be in the severe category, but because of current life circumstances they “test” as mild.
So are you comfortable, giving out advice…when licensed professionals are currently debating the DSM 5?
Hey @Janine_King your thread has gone a bit off topic 
How are you getting on? I don’t know if you’ve seen the FAQ thread on here but it has lots of links to common questions and some good topics and suggestions that might help you.
AA has never said I was powerless. Quite the opposite actually.
Instead of knocking other programs of recovery why don’t you try talking about what works for you? I think you said you do counseling right? How often? Is it someone familiar with addiction?
Ok but you did say this:
And I’m just saying I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect that isn’t the advice that’s going to be given out on a sobriety forum. There is a group on here for active users called seeking help though so again some of what you’re advocating is kind of already here to the extent it will be.
Also there are lots of folk here who don’t use AA. But it clearly works well for a lot of people and it’s understandable that they are passionate about an approach that has worked for them. Stick around, keep checking in, search, read, you will get a feel for the place as time goes on and hopefully you will find it to be a good thing.
There have been many debates on the forum about the virtues or otherwise of AA and they often end up getting heated… Maybe as we are all here to support each other we could just accept that there are differences of opinion and if anyone REALLY feels like they want to look at old arguments they can use the search bar, I’m not sure anything new is going to be said here.
To that end I will bow out gracefully and wish everyone a nice evening 
Idk…I don’t do AA… and I’ve gotten nothing but support on here (even from the most pro-AA people on this forum) it’s just love, honesty and support on here all day everyday… and it has saved my life. And in my opinion…the answer to why is simple. No one on here gives a fuck HOW you stay sober…hell, they don’t care if you relapse…the ONLY requirement for being on this forum is WANTING to be sober and…having the agenda of being sober. If you’re agenda, if your focus, is to want a sober life for yourself, then people on here will help you with any advice they have on the subject. What people don’t like is an agenda other than sobriety…so
Just my two cents but…
I think that’s where your “push back” is originating from.
Wishing you all the best in your fight.
Much Love,
Ely
I think what he’s saying is that he thinks that there are varying degrees alcoholism, like a scale of 1 to 10; where 1 is moderation, and 10 is about as bad as you can get.
He’s saying most people fall on the lower end of the scale where he believes its habitual, not an addiction (yet) and with some “re-education” one can slide left on the scale and end up at a 1… BUT
The thing he is not understanding is alcoholism, whether a disease or disorder (splitting hairs), it is progressive.
Not one of us started on the number of that scale we ended, and I know there is no possible way I can go backwards, I can only be a 0, outside the scale, sober. Even if I could go back to a 1 I’d be back where I was eventually. Even if I could go back to a 1, I wouldn’t want to.
Listen to naked mind on kindle it helped me alot when nothing else did
I drank alcoholicly the very first time I drank. I got hammered drunk. I chased that ever since.
There were times where I drank and didn’t get blitzed, but it wasn’t for a lack of wanting too.
I like the way @MoCatt put it. “Once you’ve become a pickle, you can’t go back to being a cucumber”
Indeed! My first time was 6 warm cans of Schmidt that I swiped from my parents when I was 12 and made me sick as shit, and like you, chased that since.
Hi ya, I’m doing fine again. I know l don’t understand what’s going on here but all l know is l was at my lowest last Thursday. I slipped up again and felt bad and ashamed. A lot has been on my mind and am suffering from anxiety. It is no reason to drink but that day it made me forget all the shit for a while. Now l dusted myself off and starting again. 4days in!!