[Jaska]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ttvetjanu /img/forum/go_quote.gif whenever I drink, I drink too much.

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Originally Posted by Superpredator /img/forum/go_quote.gif Your problem does not sound like alcoholism to me.

How can that not sound like alcoholism?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ttvetjanu /img/forum/go_quote.gif I either lose control, get drinks from friends or think that I am too sober and start accelerating the amount of drinks, which eventually spirals out of control.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Superpredator /img/forum/go_quote.gif Drink one kind of alcohol a night (i.e., don't mix liquor and beer, and don't consume drinks containing more than one kind of alcohol). Mixing tends to cause the effects of alcohol to sneak up on you.

I have seen people absolutely out of their minds after drinking nothing but beer. In fact, every weekend (no exaggeration whatsoever) I see people lying half-dead in public places, bicycles left in ditches when their drunk owners can no longer even push them home successfully, and on many occasions I have had to physically carry people in such a condition up several flights of stairs in an apartment building when they would pass out and hurt themselves trying to come home from partying. This kind of thing is unfortunately all too common in Finland, and I've never in my life seen a social epidemic like the drinking culture here. It really must be seen to be properly understood.

The OP has got a serious problem, and it's not going to be easy for him to stop since the culture here is all too supportive of this kind of behavior.

 

[blem]

Reading this thread has made me realize that I drink too much and need to stop. I was a heavy smoker (stopped smoking ten years ago), so to me the parallel with smoking is interesting. You develop a smoking habit very fast, because it is so addictive. Drinking is insiduous. You slowly develop a habit - it can take a few months, or a few years - the daily consequences however are much worse than smoking. Anyway, I feel it is time to start anew and give it up once and for all. I'll post my progress here.

 

[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Superpredator /img/forum/go_quote.gif I turned 30 recently, and alcohol hasn't been very interesting to me for about four years. I just don't like feeling inebriated, and I realized booze isn't a very impressive social lubricant after all. If I do have a drink or two, I drink water in between and afterwards to stay hydrated and prevent any trace of hangover.

I'm the other way completely. I recently turned 32 and decided that being sober every single minute of my life was unnecessary and something that i would consider an unreasonable imposition if asked.

I drink a little to relax, and i'm rarely even a little hung over. Not because i just don't get hung over, because i just don't drink that much. If i can't follow the book I'm reading or the movie I'm watching or the circuit diagram I'm trying to understand, it annoys me, so i just don't see the appeal of getting that drunk.

Quote:

Society for Neuroscience | Young Brains on Alcohol

That image is worthless and misleading without context.

I understand the point they're trying to make, but the article only says it's FMRI "during a memory task". They don't even say if either image is typical.

 

[Carmantom]

Alright, since I will not be breaking my anonymity (we all have nicknames) let me say that I have been in a 12 Step Program, drink-free for 26 years regarding my drinking.
I have come to know that if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, it's probably a duck.
Normal drinkers do not wonder about their drinking habits.
The alcoholic is always the last to know.
The great news for you is that if you are able or willing to do something now about your drinking, you will be spared of many years of agony many of us who have gone before you have.
If you care to chat more, feel free to contact me PM.
Good Luck

 

[-=Germania=-]

Personally, I only drink when I have friends or people I trust around.

One thing that my friends and I do is that we physically make drinks. It is hard to get black-out drunk when you have to operate a blender or pour individual glasses. We all take turns doing it.

Plus we have some friends who do not drink and you tend to drink 1 or two glasses when there are non-drinkers present.

I would say to avoid heavy drinking situations and if possible - go to nicer places where you have to pay for the drinks because you will be less likely to blow your wallet on that.

 

[Dzjudz]

Why can't you still go to the 'social gatherings' and just drink non-alcoholic beverages?

 

[bowraboy]

I am an alcoholic.

My drinking was probably becoming abnormal by the time I was 20 years old. At about 25 after a relationship bust up my drinking got worse until by the time I was 30 my drinking was out of control. I actually managed to work full time until the last few years.

After a marriage break up at 40 (yes someone who was not a big drinker married an out of control alcoholic), no money and no job I had to do something. After detox, rehab, 12 months in a drug and alcohol half my house I have now been sober for 8 years.

Sorry about the long story.

It is hard to know whether someone is an alcoholic or not. The usual signs are repeating the same drinking patterns over and over, getting the same bad results but not learning from them (saying: it won't happen next time, I can stop anytime I want to).

Lots of my friends and workmates drank heavily but none of them ended up in hell like me for all those years (yes, hell is on earth).

Setting yourself a task of not drinking for a few months is always a pretty good reality check, although I had managed to get of the booze for short periods of time during my life but always ended up going back until now.

I would suggest talking to a counsellor (they're not going to force you into anything).

 

[Jaw007]

Get some counseling now.

 

[Tyson]

That first drink is the gateway. Once you take it, there's no turning back.

What will it take for you to fully accept this? What's next? Waking up with a big dent in the front of your car and blood everywhere, with no memory of the event? Recognize that you are a binge drinker and the very worst thing you can do is have that first drink.

 

[synaesthetic]

If your binge drinking (and it is binge drinking, not alcoholism, two different yet also related problems) is causing you inconvenience and worry, then you should diligently attempt to curb your overindulgence.

But it is your responsibility; you are the master of your own fate, no one else. You can rely upon friends and family for moral support, but ultimately you're the only one who can rectify the issue you've identified as a problem.

As an aside I would also like to say the words "social epidemic" is utterly disgusting and merely a statist method of defining a characteristic that is unpleasant or embarrassing to a given government. But I digress... I won't get political, I promise.

 

[fordgtlover]

The single best advice I can offer is to go and talk to a professional drug and alcohol counselor.

 

[funniecow]

I think this is called binge drinking.

Uh do this, carry non-alc beer with cha when you go to meets.
Print a picture of your family on a shirt and wear it to a party
Drink tons of water b4 you go to a party, it fills you up.

 

[Kirosia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by funniecow /img/forum/go_quote.gif Uh do this, carry non-alc beer with cha when you go to meets. Print a picture of your family on a shirt and wear it to a party Drink tons of water b4 you go to a party, it fills you up.

Getting publicly beat up will probably cause him to drink more.

 

[nylan8301]

I would look into getting professional help at this point if you really want to stop. I can't think of anything that would really limit your drinking other than cutting cold turkey and admitting that alcohol and you don't mix (pun intended).

However, I know that's hard to do. And, as you get older you'll hopefully slow down on your alcohol consumption (but I realize that's not always the case).

I hope that you're okay and didn't get hurt while you got into that fight.

Nylan

 

[oicdn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirosia /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you don't seem to be able to control yourself around liquor at all, stop. Don't go near it, ask your friends not to drink around you, don't go into a liquor store, just stay away. And if you feel this problem is very serious, talk to your loved ones. You may need professional help.

+1

I would just stay away from it. I drink once in a blue moon, only socially, and when I drink, I can hold my own, but I find it is definitely in excess as well. And what Kirosia says is the easiest and best advice, just stay away from it. If all your friends goto the bars to hang out, just order water and VOLUNTEER to be the DD. Water looks like Vodka on the rocks if you concerned about looking like the oddball out. Or order OJ. People respect DDs if that's also what you're concerned about...again, easiest thing to do with it, is to just not do it...

It's what I do after I had a HORRIBLE drinking night likely a couple nights or weeks prior....which is the reason I stay away from it, I hate vomiting.