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Well thanks. I'm not upset about any of this, just passionate.
If folks want to call it a disease, fine with me. But believe me, I've been on the firing line for the recovery of alcoholism and my "technique" of getting and staying sober has met with much disdain and persecution and I'm punchy.
I will respect your believe in alcohol being a drug, but I still think it's a food as well. I see absolutely no need to make booze out to be the bad guy. Most folks can enjoy it and drink it with "impunity". Hats off to them.
Some of my colleagues call alcoholism a disease and I just personally believe that it's not necessary. Nor do I believe that it's a behavioral problem. I think that the over-use of alcohol, like the abuse of drugs, is a matter of seeking a higher state of consciousness, and all that entails.
I look forward to conversing with you about this here and elsewhere, thanks for the friend request, I will reciprocate.
Thanks, new friend. I am so new to this forum, I am not sure how to get your friend request.
Shoot me a message and teach the newbie something!
Most people can. Mui is not an alcoholic or have any basic understanding of what one is.
The original post didn't mention alcoholism. And many people who aren't alcoholics fall into patterns of heavy social drinking if that's what their friends are into.
And I do have a good understanding of alcoholism. My mother is one and her late father and late brother had bad drinking habits. My ex-husband used alcohol to calm his nerves and his dad and sister are both recovered alcoholics.
Then there is my bf. His dad is an alcoholic in denial. His youngest sister is a recovered alcoholic. So he makes a conscious effort to keep his drinking to a minimum.
So with all of this, I've used logic to see through all that BS that the liquor industry spews in ads showing how alcohol is necessary to make parties and life great. And I do have an addictive personality, and my weakness is antique hunting and food... but I make an effort to keep that all in check.
Well, a close friend and my boss referred me to a psychologist, or else I was history. I interviewed the psychologist. He told me that he didn't know much about substance abuse, but he told me that "these people might be able to help you" and gave me a slip of paper with the phone number of the Johnson Institute. So, i called them; made an appointment; prepared my interview questions and showed up. The person to whom I was referred was wearing a lab coat. That was good. But his face looked like he'd gone 15 rounds with Mohammed Ali. He certainly did not look like he could give me the professional help I needed to get people off my back about my social drinking. So, I sit down in front of his desk and begin to rehearse my interview questions in my head. He has his back to me. He turns around, and asks, "Do you want to quit drinking?" I start to sob uncontrollably, gulping for air between stomach contractions. He picks up the phone and dials a number. "Dorothy, I've got a live one here, do you have an opening at St. Mary's" (a Minnesota Model treatment center in Minneapolis)?
That was in May of 1975. I was 32. Today, I'm 70. I don't drink
But seriously... to anyone trying to get sober I say...just get right and go in a positive direction. Don't obsess about the past and don't believe people who harp on 'no matter where you go there you are!'
Many bad environments and dysfunctional relationships, including surrounding yourself with ex-'druggies' and alchies, will sink a newbie on the water wagon quick as spit.
Also, for many people it really is a disease. Naltrexone and Ondansetron were the only way I could piece together a week of sobriety for a long while there.
AA had the exact opposite effect on me (and many silent others).
Could go into a long diatribe here...but why? Not healthy. Not good for 'my sobriety'. :-) Which brings up another point: Avoid unnecessary drama at all cost. Especially at the beginning.
Read somewhere that no matter the method, after 20 years people just seemed to magically 'get sober' where once it seemed beyond their control.
Lastly, you're talking to someone who once shot up stale beer, so...if I can do it...maybe you can. Probably not. lol
What else?
That's about it.
*puts away soap box*
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
Last edited by willy_mays; 12-05-2013 at 01:08 AM..
The good thing about A.A. for me is that I was able to achieve release not relief... freedom, not comfort.
I can go where people drink or not. Either way, the obsession has been removed... aka I don't want to drink.
I also don't play doctor in here. It's against the TOS anyway. If drugs got you off craving, that's great, but for the real alcoholic like me, that's only half of the equation. What works for you may or may not work for anyone else, but no matter how you get off booze, you may want to get down to causes and conditions... aka take care of your internal world.
If sitting around watching soap operas works for you, get down.
If that crap is not working for you, dm me and we'll talk about it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by willy_mays
AA had the exact opposite effect on me (and many silent others).
Orly? I don't consider advocates of the pharm industry to be too silent. I think of the majority of TV commercials we see today, a pill that cures death, aging, vanity, sexual prowess, diabetes, high blood pressure, weight gain, etc.
Why not just learn to eat, drink, breathe, and sleep and live right?
Once I got and stayed sober, there was a whole dimension of freedom that I'd acquired. For example, what I put into my mouth has become my last bastion of freedom. I don't have to smoke, eat candy, use margarine, drink soda pop... artificially sweetened or not, etc. I can now play a huge part of my own well-being.
But when I drank booze, it is my belief that I was seeking a higher state of consciousness. This may be the tricky part for folks with a host of other problems. Once I straightened out spiritually, I started to straighten out mentally and physically.
Problem is, I don't know how to bottle this stuff into a pill and charge MONEY for it. Get it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Amy1190
Never started. Never will either. The food out there is full of enough man made chemicals without wanting to willfully ingest more for 2 hours of high only to feel like crap the next day.
I haven't read all of the replies, so forgive me if I state something that someone else said. I quit smoking nine years ago. What I thought was important for people to know is that you have to be ready. I had thought about quitting for around seven years prior to me actually quitting. I didn't take a whole lot of steps to quitting. However, once again, I had to put it in my mind that this was something that I eventually wanted to do.
When I was ready. I decided to use the patch. I woke up the morning I was going to quit and smoked my one and only as well as last cigarette. Then I put on the patch. I wore a hoody that day, so the patch was rubbing into it and was getting lose. I took it off. I was under the impression that the nicotine was already in me. I was wrong. I never wore a patch again and I never had another cigarette.
What I did the day I quit. It was a day off, and I knew sitting around in my apartment doing things that I did when I smoked would not help. So, I went for a long walk. Walked up a large hill. Went to the courts. I am an athlete. I have always been athletic, so I played basketball. Then I went home. By then it was already six in the evening.
Tricks that helped. I was an athlete. I wrestled and ran x-country, and played basketball all summer long. I took myself (meaning my psyche' to another time). I grew up in the eighties. I was remembering all the years that I lived without smoking and used that thought process. I remembered how I played sports and never needed a cigarette. I really wanted to quit, so I hung onto those thoughts. Every time I thought about a cigarette, I thought about how I went many years without them just fine. It worked. I can honestly say that I rarely had thoughts within the first year to light up. I think that this is because, "I was ready". I didn't want cigarettes to be any part of my life anymore. I had absolutely no desire for it in my life. I have asthma too. I would often get light headed standing up to go to the bathroom to pee at night getting out of bed. Since I quit, I have never experienced that again. Bottom line: You have to want it. You have to do it for yourself. Not your friends, family, etc.
If you have to go to meetings multiple times a week for the rest of your life...to 'achieve freedom'...well. Maybe its better than drinking but still sounds less than free to me.
What do I know?
:-)
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
Last edited by willy_mays; 12-05-2013 at 11:37 PM..
I go to one meeting a week, unless some new guy wants to go check out other meetings.
One meeting a week. What a huge commitment. All the work done in A.A. happens outside of meetings.
It's sort of a "Pass it on" program anyway. It's good to see that someone is there to open the door the same way it was when I first walked in.
Go to A.A., recover and leave forever? That's kind of selfish, no?
To someone who has never worked steps, the concept of selflessness might slide on by.
I see that you have many many other threads to tend to so I'll stop with those couple of considerations.
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Funny.
