Thread for functioning and working alcoholics

[a feel]

If you think you can quit and keep functioning, that's the real question. Some people don't have the luxury of being a celebrity that books themselves into a detox clinic for months because they've become completely incapacitated if they can't drink/take drugs. Regular people don't have that luxury.

Can you quit and keep functioning?

Dude. Seriously. If you wanna drink, just drink. No one is gonna force you to quit. No need to come up with a thousand stupid reasons why you can't stop or that Bill Gates is the only person in the world who could possibly potentially afford rehab. Btw, I am posting this on my second to last day in said rehab which has cost me exactly zero and addressed the underlying issues which led to my addictive personality, so that I may lead a much happier life. You do you. If you wanna drink just do it. No one's gonna stop you but yourself.

 

[Your Weird Fetish]

Not an alcoholic but I have a question for the ones that are. After being a teetotaler for years I've started drinking one night every 1-2 weeks. Helps me relax, etc. But now I'm starting to notice it requires more to get me buzzed. How long do I have to quit before the resistance goes away? I'm not comfortable with the required amount of alcohol escalating.

 

[a feel]

Not an alcoholic but I have a question for the ones that are. After being a teetotaler for years I've started drinking one night every 1-2 weeks. Helps me relax, etc. But now I'm starting to notice it requires more to get me buzzed. How long do I have to quit before the resistance goes away? I'm not comfortable with the required amount of alcohol escalating.

Once you've crossed that line there is no going back. Your body never forgets. Even after years of not drinking all it takes is a couple of days at most for your body/brain to require the same amount of alcohol as it does now. That's why alcoholics can't go back to "normal" amounts or have the odd glass of wine every now and then. You've already noticed this. Alcohol obviously is an addictive substance for a reason, and its withdrawals can literally kill you.

The resistance never goes away. Sorry.

 

[Karl der Grosse]

Now you need to watch out for the next stage of alcoholism, where you drink and feel completely sober until you have x number of drinks and then suddenly are completely fucked up. Once you get to that stage you will start having a lot of blackouts and doing things that have lasting repercussions.

 

[Corbin Dallas Multipass]

Not an alcoholic but I have a question for the ones that are. After being a teetotaler for years I've started drinking one night every 1-2 weeks. Helps me relax, etc. But now I'm starting to notice it requires more to get me buzzed. How long do I have to quit before the resistance goes away? I'm not comfortable with the required amount of alcohol escalating.

Alcohol tolerance seems to wear off fairly fast, I know if I go a month without drinking I get pretty buzzed off a single beer. Getting used to being drunk is different and never really goes away. It's never gonna feel the same as when you started.

 

[BoingoTango]

LOL that's so funny. Because I used to take codeine every day before I started drinking. Then the media hit us with the "opioid crisis" and every woman in my life came to me and told me how bad opioids were and started hiding them from me and nagging me about it so I was like "fine, you win" so I took up drinking, and because the media didn't tell them theres an "alcohol crisis" they are fine. Fucking morons. LOL

Uh, dude, In all seriousness maybe it's because you did have a problem. Shit ain't no joke. If you're just replacing one thing with another like that too, that's probably a problem. I don't know man, I'm not really a good person to be preaching to no body, but that's not good my man. 100% super cereal

Alcohol tolerance seems to wear off fairly fast, I know if I go a month without drinking I get pretty buzzed off a single beer. Getting used to being drunk is different and never really goes away. It's never gonna feel the same as when you started.

This is very true with any drug. I remember the first time I did weed. I literally laughed hysterically uncontrollably for at least an hour the first time I managed to get high ( I remember it took me 2 or 3 times of 'smoking' to actually get high - i didn't smoke cigarettes or anything before, so I wasn't taking it in my lungs properly)

I've never been able to recreate that feeling, even after 3 or 4 months of not getting high.

 

[Your Weird Fetish]

I've never actually gotten completely fucked up. I've never even had a hangover. Not sure if that will affect anything in terms of how long I should go between drinking.

 

[BF 388]

Not an alcoholic but I have a question for the ones that are. After being a teetotaler for years I've started drinking one night every 1-2 weeks. Helps me relax, etc. But now I'm starting to notice it requires more to get me buzzed. How long do I have to quit before the resistance goes away? I'm not comfortable with the required amount of alcohol escalating.

What are you drinking?

 

[YourFriendlyLurker]

I heard about an intrestingt algorythm of how to define the relationships "alcohol & you". Let's say yersterday in the evening you got pretty wasted. You wake up in the morn:

1) you think about the alcohol you drank in the evening and feel like you are gonna be sick --> you are not an alcoholic but you got it pretty hard. Your day is wasted.
2) you think about the alcohol you drank in the evening and think that if needed you could have some of it again later today --> you are still human and you are ok.
3) you think about the alcohol you drank in the evening and crave more alcohol to feel yourself better --> GG, you are alcoholic.

 

[Meiwaku]

I heard about an intrestingt algorythm of how to define the relationships "alcohol & you". Let's say yersterday in the evening you got pretty wasted. You wake up in the morn:

1) you think about the alcohol you drank in the evening and feel like you are gonna be sick --> you are not an alcoholic but you got it pretty hard. Your day is wasted.
2) you think about the alcohol you drank in the evening and think that if needed you could have some of it again later today --> you are still human and you are ok.
3) you think about the alcohol you drank in the evening and crave more alcohol to feel yourself better --> GG, you are alcoholic.

This is some cope dude the second one also a dangerzone alcoholic mindset. If you find yourself having to justify to an internet forum why you drink that much you have a drinking problem. If you get so drunk you pass out sick and want to drink the next day, you have a drinking problem.

I'm not an alcoholic, I don't even drink. But I've watched some people close to me die in an early by the bottle who were VERY high functioning. As in CEO of a company or high ranking stock broker. Basically your high functioning until you're not. You're like a deathfat where you can teeter in a human weight range and do people things while fat and otherwise function......until one day you can't and you ruined your life.

Addiction is very hard to break of any kind whether it's drugs, alcohol, food, sex, gambling.... It's because the addiction ends up taking part in an essential bit of your reptilian brain where the "eat, survive, fuck" level is. I've never met an addict of any kind who never slipped up and never had trouble quitting. It's normal for people to have a few different tries before they can finally kick it for good and don't let this have you give up. Go to a hospital to safely detox and get a therapist. Rehab is insanely priced and not worth it imo. As a psychfag i can tell you the most important thing is not only to STOP drinking, address your feels, but to REPLACE it with a pro-social healthy thing. If you don't replace the behavior with something you can do forever it's not going to work. Where you would drink to cope you meditate. Where you would drink to cope you walk your dog. Where you would drink to cope you post on New Zealand fruit website.

That's basically the equation that works for all mentalz. Find out why you (bad thing), stop (bad thing)by replacing with (good thing). I'm not saying there's nobody that doesn't belong in rehab. But if you're able to read this thread and are on the functioning level or the "heavy drinking" cope you realized you have a problem you might be able to do this on your own.

 

[YourFriendlyLurker]

This is some cope dude the second one also a dangerzone alcoholic mindset. If you find yourself having to justify to an internet forum why you drink that much you have a drinking problem. If you get so drunk you pass out sick and want to drink the next day, you have a drinking problem.

I'm not an alcoholic, I don't even drink. But I've watched some people close to me die in an early by the bottle who were VERY high functioning. As in CEO of a company or high ranking stock broker. Basically your high functioning until you're not. You're like a deathfat where you can teeter in a human weight range and do people things while fat and otherwise function......until one day you can't and you ruined your life.

Addiction is very hard to break of any kind whether it's drugs, alcohol, food, sex, gambling.... It's because the addiction ends up taking part in an essential bit of your reptilian brain where the "eat, survive, fuck" level is. I've never met an addict of any kind who never slipped up and never had trouble quitting. It's normal for people to have a few different tries before they can finally kick it for good and don't let this have you give up. Go to a hospital to safely detox and get a therapist. Rehab is insanely priced and not worth it imo. As a psychfag i can tell you the most important thing is not only to STOP drinking, address your feels, but to REPLACE it with a pro-social healthy thing. If you don't replace the behavior with something you can do forever it's not going to work. Where you would drink to cope you meditate. Where you would drink to cope you walk your dog. Where you would drink to cope you post on New Zealand fruit website.

That's basically the equation that works for all mentalz. Find out why you (bad thing), stop (bad thing)by replacing with (good thing). I'm not saying there's nobody that doesn't belong in rehab. But if you're able to read this thread and are on the functioning level or the "heavy drinking" cope you realized you have a problem you might be able to do this on your own.

I am not an alcoholic but thanks for your support lol. This was a thing I heard from the actual doctor who treated addictions. Especially the point 3, because it's your body sending you a signal that something is fucking wrong. Getting over drank factually is intoxication, it's extremly alarming if your body instead of avoiding the toxin starts craving it. He also said pretty much of what you wrote but all those comlicated schemes about understanding the reasons why you drink, replacement and other shit don't work for most people. For them "everything is under control", "that psychological bullshit is for fags" but one day it appears that they are true and honest alcoholics. The point 3 is a moment when shit gets real.

 

[Meiwaku]

I am not an alcoholic but thanks for your support lol. This was a thing I heard from the actual doctor who treated addictions. Especially the point 3, because it's your body sending you a signal that something is fucking wrong. Getting over drank factually is intoxication, it's extremly alarming if your body instead of avoiding the toxin starts craving it. He also said pretty much of what you wrote but all those comlicated schemes about understanding the reasons why you drink, replacement and other shit don't work for most people. For them "everything is under control", "that psychological bullshit is for fags" but one day it appears that they are true and honest alcoholics. The point 3 is a moment when shit gets real.

Lol okay. That's interesting though. I don't work with addicts much personally despite being well versed in it because it's a special type of exhausting. You burn out more quickly with certain types of psych work (addiction, CSA, and DV victims are by far the worst for burnout imo but it's very noble work and kudos to those who fulltime it).

Basically and the thing is people don't understand how powerful the addiction urges are. Professionally, I know of a man who ended up under a bridge drinking because that was better than his family or multi-million dollar ground up company. I'm positive he's dead by now.

It basically consumes you and it's usually too late if you're not vigilant on your self-awareness and being honest with yourself. You have to be honest with yourself and say it out loud and in your internal dialogue to be able to catch when it's going too far.

Nobody can make anyone else quit using (drug of choice) but I want to at least for freebs put out tools for Kiwis who might one day consider it.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

What would you consider it when you know you can't handle alcohol, but you are able to stay away from it most of the time? The only alcohol I buy anymore is to pregame with before social events, which I think probably isn't even worth it. I think of myself as an alcohol in the sense that I don't think I'm capable of keeping alcohol in my apartment without binge drinking, but I am capable of not going out and buying it.

 

[God of Nothing]

What would you consider it when you know you can't handle alcohol, but you are able to stay away from it most of the time? The only alcohol I buy anymore is to pregame with before social events, which I think probably isn't even worth it. I think of myself as an alcohol in the sense that I don't think I'm capable of keeping alcohol in my apartment without binge drinking, but I am capable of not going out and buying it.

You come from a family of alcoholics, and you know it'll just become another problem in your life if you start.

Everyone can't handle alcohol. Three or more glasses is all it takes to make a person intoxicated. Something that causes life problems but makes you feel good before making you feel shit for a fleeting moment can't possibly be good for you. There's a reason why being a drunkard used to be a bad thing: you are a walking disaster waiting to happen.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

You come from a family of alcoholics, and you know it'll just become another problem in your life if you start.

Everyone can't handle alcohol. Three or more glasses is all it takes to make a person intoxicated. Something that causes life problems but makes you feel good before making you feel shit for a fleeting moment can't possibly be good for you. There's a reason why being a drunkard used to be a bad thing: you are a walking disaster waiting to happen.

My father wasn't an alcoholic but from my grandpa's generation back there were some and my brother and sister are.

 

[Stoneheart]

2) you think about the alcohol you drank in the evening and think that if needed you could have some of it again later today --> you are still human and you are ok.

that sounds like an alcoholic...

 

[God of Nothing]

My father wasn't an alcoholic but from my grandpa's generation back there were some and my brother and sister are.

Like I said, family of alcoholics.

 

[a feel]

He also said pretty much of what you wrote but all those comlicated schemes about understanding the reasons why you drink, replacement and other shit don't work for most people. For them "everything is under control", "that psychological bullshit is for fags" but one day it appears that they are true and honest alcoholics.

Yeah, addicts obviously won't question their choices and motivations too hard as long as there are substances to be had.
Replacements aka redirections are what works when a person has managed to abstain from their substance of choice and is ready and willing to remain sober and move forward. That's when you suddenly realize you have zero coping skills and a bunch of time that was previously dedicated to being drunk and useless.
That's also when all the  feels hit you, because you no longer numb yourself over every little inconvenience you never learned to cope with.
Take it from me, you gotta pick up new hobbies fast and find activities that will de-stress you. You will level up your coping skills with every successfully resolved difficulty. You'll learn to accept that sometimes, shit sucks, but there's always something to look forward to, because you wanna do things and go places and life just sucks sometimes, but not forever.

Still sober.

That's basically the equation that works for all mentalz. Find out why you (bad thing), stop (bad thing)by replacing with (good thing). I'm not saying there's nobody that doesn't belong in rehab. But if you're able to read this thread and are on the functioning level or the "heavy drinking" cope you realized you have a problem you might be able to do this on your own.

This, a thousand times. Rehab is worth it depending on what they offer in your country of residence; but the above is true for everyone. It works, it's basic conditioning.