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It means he is a "Hard Drinker" who may have drank like
an alcoholic for a period of time but was able to successfully use
will power to stop drinking.
Not it doesn't. It could be someone who hardly drank at all but had the good sense to end it quickly before it became a serious addiction. You say willpower had nothing to do with your being recovered. If that's true, you wouldn't be recovered. You'd be drinking right now. Your willpower is what is keeping you sober.
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Originally Posted by Charles
So circling back to the original question of this thread, wouldn't they have been alcoholics at birth? Meaning, if an alcoholic is a person who can't stop drinking then aren't they an alcoholic if they aren't drinking and they are an alcoholic if they never had a drink?
I don't think so. They are AT RISK at birth. Not everyone AT RISK becomes an alcoholic. It depends on how they respond when they first feel cravings. Some give into those cravings. Some people avoid it like the plague because they know it's going nowhere good. I've known people who have tried very hard addictive drugs, like heroine, and not been addicted. You don't get addicted the first time. You get addicted when you turn around and do it immediately when you crave it. That's how someone I know became addicted instantly to crack. He didn't avoid it when he craved it after the first time.
And Pawporri, I know what I'm talking about because I am an addictive personality and I have other addictions that I can't control, like caffeine. It's surely a less addictive drug than alcohol but I have zero willpower in not drinking caffeine. If I had only used it on rare occasions and never gave into that very first craving, I wouldn't be where I am today. And I know that the same applies for alcohol for me. I was just more aware of avoiding an alcohol addiction. It's easy to be more aware via growing up with alcoholism in the family.
Not it doesn't. It could be someone who hardly drank at all but had the good sense to end it quickly before it became a serious addiction. You say willpower had nothing to do with your being recovered. If that's true, you wouldn't be recovered. You'd be drinking right now. Your willpower is what is keeping you sober.
I don't think so. They are AT RISK at birth. Not everyone AT RISK becomes an alcoholic.
Right, but my question only concerns alcoholics, not people who are at risk, might be, could be, etc become alcoholics.
With that, it sounds like a person who is an alcoholic will always be an alcoholic must have always been an alcoholic - even from birth. Is this not correct?
Right, but my question only concerns alcoholics, not people who are at risk, might be, could be, etc become alcoholics.
With that, it sounds like a person who is an alcoholic will always be an alcoholic must have always been an alcoholic - even from birth. Is this not correct?
You're going in circles. It must be a game for you.
Alcoholics were AT RISK when they were born and before they had their first drink.
It's what each AT RISK person does with the risk that determines if they become alcoholics.
Not it doesn't. It could be someone who hardly drank at all but had the good sense to end it quickly before it became a serious addiction. You say willpower had nothing to do with your being recovered. If that's true, you wouldn't be recovered. You'd be drinking right now. Your willpower is what is keeping you sober.
Excuse me, I know what the hell is keeping me sober and its not will power. You have no business whatsoever telling me or anyone else who is sober what keeps them sober. Especially if you are not an alcoholic yourself as you indicate below. Contrary to your faulty "belief system" will-power is what kept me drunk.
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I don't think so. They are AT RISK at birth. Not everyone AT RISK becomes an alcoholic. It depends on how they respond when they first feel cravings. Some give into those cravings. Some people avoid it like the plague because they know it's going nowhere good. I've known people who have tried very hard addictive drugs, like heroine, and not been addicted. You don't get addicted the first time. You get addicted when you turn around and do it immediately when you crave it. That's how someone I know became addicted instantly to crack. He didn't avoid it when he craved it after the first time.
I don't disagree with this, nor do I totally agree.
Quote:
And Pawporri, I know what I'm talking about because I am an addictive personality and I have other addictions that I can't control, like caffeine. It's surely a less addictive drug than alcohol but I have zero willpower in not drinking caffeine. If I had only used it on rare occasions and never gave into that very first craving, I wouldn't be where I am today. And I know that the same applies for alcohol for me. I was just more aware of avoiding an alcohol addiction. It's easy to be more aware via growing up with alcoholism in the family.
Any regular earth person can be an "addictive personality" type. Caffeine addiction or smoking are completely different than an illness like alcoholism. If I were dying of a malignant incurable tumor you would'nt walk up to me and say "Just use your will power and you can cure yourself !" If you did you would be considered a very callous person by most societal standards. I have an illness called alcoholism and I would appreciate it if you would desist from treating me like a weak willed derelict.
When you read the symptoms of alcoholism, they evaluate a person's drinking habits, so no, a child who never drinks alcohol cannot be an alcoholic, any more than it can have atherosclerosis or breast cancer already just because its parents or grandparents do. There may be a predisposition based on genetic factors, but that's not the same as actually having the disease.
Does that mean yes or does it mean no? Was today's alcoholic an alcoholic when he was six months old?
I know this would be a great escape from one having personality responsibility when it comes to alcoholism but, no, an alcoholic is not an alcoholic before they take their first drink.
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