Alcohol: A gift or a curse???

An alcoholic is someone who drinks more than I do, one wag once pointed out.

I used to think that was clever (well, I still do) but I drink less now, for various reasons. I go to my pub maybe once a week for a couple of pints. I have a friend, though, who invariably has three pints (never more or less), all consumed at the pub between 5:15 and 6:45 p.m. (AKA happy hour).

He never seems the worse for wear, which is a good thing, since he drives himself home...

Blah blah blah blah....

That's all I hear on this thread. Why? Because that's what I hear wheneve someone starts raving about something just ruining our society.

Alcohol isn't a curse any more than any thing else on this earth. People are the idiots who can't control themselves, with or without the alcohol. Alcoholism is a different story here....a disease is different from an addiction in my opinion. Just for the record.

It's people who won't take responsibility for their actions and blame it on alcohol. That "...sorry, I was drinking..." bullshit doesn't work on me because you are still accountable for your actions in my world.

On the note of alcoholism, I want to make sure everyone here who is a recovering alcoholic to know that my statements don't really apply to you. They were meant to be for those people who do not suffer from true alcoholism and just really like to drink. I don't think that addiction and alcoholism are the same things. Maybe I am completely wrong here but to me, they are two different things. I think we can control our addictions. Some are harder than others. But diseases are beyond our control. We can maintain them, yes, like taking medicine or staying away from the thing that triggers our disease. But with addictions, we CHOOSE to become an addict.

That's where I was coming from.

Alcoholism is a disease, a chronic disease.

"Alcoholism is a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial. Each of these symptoms may be continuous or periodic." (National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the American Society of Addiction Medicine)

More here at Classification of alcohol use disorders

whew. had me worried there for a minute bella. thought you meant me, and I was gonna hafta beat your ass :wink:

you know, maybe this sound stupid, but, sometimes I feel sorry for people who just "like" to drink a lot.

I mean, it's sort of like having a so-so marriage, where nothing much ever happens. I mean, your spouse is okay and everything, but the conversations never go really deep. You have fun, but when you really think about it, it was just laughs. You go to all the proper functions and take the right vacations, but nothing REALLY blows you out of the water.
There's nothing you can think of to change, nothing's ever out of control, you always remember anniversaries and birthdays.

Now compare to someone who got together with someone with a passion, but eventually found that it was the most horrendous relationship in the universe. You're both ugly and nasty to each other, and the only reason you don't kill each other is because it would make the other one happy to die.

Somehow you get wrenched away from this jerk, against your will, and after many moons pass, you really can look at yourself and see what a nasty person you are. Yes, ARE.

If you then do a lot of work on yourself, you may find yourself in another relationship, where now that you know how bad it can be, you find such joy in what is....

Does that make sense?

When I wrote that first post, I wasn't even thinking of alcoholism. And then it dawned on me, hm....that's a WHOLE different ballgame and I'd better clarify myself.

I wouldn't classify some of my college friends as alcoholics....but I'd classify them as dumb-ass drunks. Which is a choice. :wink:

There are alcohol abusers who drink more than some alcoholics. The difference is, they do not have the disease, and it is not progressive, as with alcoholics. They CAN stop.

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/alcohol_abuse_alcoholism_signs_effects_treatment.htm

That was in college

What/How are these dumb-ass drunks doing right now?

In the past, I've run into people from let's say college, who were dumb-ass drunks.

Now, it's 10 or 15 years later. They look like death eating a ham sandwich, and mentally haven't progressed past whooooeeeee, we're havin' FUN!

I can still remember, maybe about 2 or 3 months after I stopped drinking. I walked out of my apartment to go to work. It was a really sunny day.
I was halfway to my car when it hit me, "OMG, I'm looking at the sun, and it doesn't feel like I've got 3 ice picks sticking out of my head!"

I had completely forgotten what it felt like not to be in terminal hangover pain. To this day, I wouldn't give up that simple experience for anything. It was like being told your cancer disappeared.

Exactly. Addictions and disease are two different monsters.

Generally, in therapy as well as in diagnosis, abdiction is one of the criteria for alcoholism.

When you can stop, you are not abdicted.

Addiction and disease belong together.

It looks like we are all stunned Chai.My mouth was actually agape after reading your post and I just stared at it glassy-eyed.

I love that sort of thing.You can be as immoderate as you like with feminine wisdom as long as you either withdraw when the brandy and cigars arrive
or dance on the table with your skirt ripped off.

I'm so sad for you spendius.

and that's no joke.

It's nice to know somebody cares.Thank you Chai.

the difference Spendius, is that you're being flippant and sarcastic. I'm not.

I don't know or care how much you do or don't drink. It's none of my business.

No one can erase the first glimpse I had in decades that I was actually human.


I know though, that 20 years ago I would have been listening in rapt attention to you, trying to figure out how I could manage to keep it to 3 drinks a night, and to streach that out to an hour and a half. God, you would have been my hero.

Perhaps someone reading this is wondering the same thing.

But, they also might be wondering how it must feel to walk outside on a sunny day and not have to fight from puking your guts out every day.

Going home now everyone. good night.

I had been sober already for some years. I lievd in my native town, worked as probation officer in what is now my hometown 20 km away.

I cycled mostly to work .... and started my job in the office in summer very, very early - because I could see the sun rising and nature wake up.

I still remember how perplex I was, when I noticed that.

Chai-

I have puked my guts up too.More than once.I'm a slow learner.Once ought to have been enough to tell me about my body.But I never got into double figures.I'm not that slow.

PS- I think all of you are incredible people for beating this.

Double figures?

I'm sorry, I don't understand.
you mean seeing double?



Walter - I know what you mean.
The sun? It's coming up?
Birds?
How odd. When did all this business start?

Perhaps I should tell the authorities about this.

And not only one time: every single day!

Chai wrote-



No-not seeing double.I meant that it didn't take me so many puke-ups (less than 10) to accept the message regarding alcohol that my body was insisting on telling me.And I never allow myself to over-ride messages from that source.

Alcohol is beneficial in moderation.I actually believe that so also is tobacco.