Schizophrenia.com

Alcoholics anonymous

Health and Recovery
#1

So I started the drink a little bit (feels like a lot on my meds) after finals and so I went to my uncle who has been going to AA for a decade and now they want me to go every day. I just dont feel like I am an alcoholic as badly as they are- I mean I was but I went from 20 drinks a night to 1 or 2 in a couple months last summer.

Do I even belong there? Its so intensive that it feels like outpatient treatment. And it makes me want to drink, being in a room full of alcoholics and talking about drinking and â– â– â– â– .

I mean I drink a little bit sometimes but I do not feel like I really need to go, I chose to go because I will be 21 within a month and was planning on getting shitfaced, which I thought was a bad idea because then I would probably relapse completely.

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#2

That’s exactly what happened to me when i was 18 and went for about a month. just once a week. Talking about drinking triggered me to want to drink and I did.
1 or 2 drinks isn’t going to get you in trouble and won’t even cause health problems, especially if its just that in a month… In fact some doctors say 1 or 2 glasses of red wine a day helps your health.
If you can maintain that moderation there isn’t a problem. except the age factor. Best not to get loaded on B-day or any other time. Alcohol is tricky in large amounts when you get drunk. Sometimes you can have fun, other times you can get stupid and say or do things you’ll regret later.

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#3

mrs sith reminded me that when i first met her i used to drink two bottles of wine ’ just ’ at dinner, now i don’t drink and am happier for it .
i used to drink like a fish, beer, wine, baileys’ basically anything, i drank and only stopped when i could not hold myself up, it was very attractive.
but mrs sith said i was a happy drunk !?!
what i am trying to say is, my life is better without it.
take care

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#4

I used to go to AA. I thought it was great therapy and it sure did control my drinking. The thing about AA is a lot of people are sick of the thought of having to give up alcohol altogether. But this is not the case. My drinking is a lot more subdued now. Yes I was an alcoholic. I used to get shitfaced, drinking about 12 pints a night. But thanks to AA, I no longer have that craving. I no longer desire alcohol like I used to. The group therapy has helped me.

What Im saying is don’t think that when you go to AA, that alcohol is out for the rest of your life. Its not true. I disagree with the saying that “once an alcoholic always an alcoholic”. In truth, when you resolve your underlying emotional problems through therapy you no longer desire alcohol like you used to.

Now years after doing AA, I am able to enjoy a drink without getting drunk. I don’t get shitfaced. I don’t have the desire to. But I am able to take a drink socially which is good.

#5

thats kind of where I am at…I dont get drunk every time I drink. I havent been shitfaced in over three months, Ive been buzzed since then. I dunno, im feeling like i might be “recovered”…but ■■■■ dude, I keep wanting to drink a fifth of fireball. Its like an anesthetic for me, it makes me not give a ■■■■ or feel pain or anger. Just makes me tranquilized and go to sleep.

Im gonna be 21 soon and I have been fantasizing about whiskey more than sex…

#6

Some people have done great with AA and it’s helped a lot of people. But it’s not the only way.

Only you know how you feel, but just for ideas, maybe just look at SMART

They have a 4-point program instead of a 12 step. They have a lot of on-line resources, and on-line forums. I don’t see any religion in their agenda.
Their 4 points are:
1: Building and Maintaining Motivation
2: Coping with Urges
3: Managing Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviors
4: Living a Balanced Life

AA has been very good for some of my family, and not so good for others. Keep your options open and get other ideas.

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#7

I dunno, yesterday they said that you can be agnostically inclined but you cant be an atheist. Im straight up Charles Darwin, so that pissed me off. I mean I do drink a little bit now, its 6am and i woke up at 4am so im having a beer right now to make me get some sleep, but I control my drinking- I mean yeah, my meds make alcohol feel stronger, but I havent been drunk since late February. I drive my college age friends around. They’re tipsy by the time I show up.

There are some â– â– â– â– â– â–  up people there and they want me to come at the same time every â– â– â– â– â– â– â–  day. Im not exactly â– â– â– â– â– â–  up right now. I am afraid of relapsing with liquor on my 21st in a month, but other than that my drinking is pretty tame and just 1-3 beers.

Do you guys thing I even need to go? I mean I could have used it a year ago back when I was carb loading on liquor every night and then training the next morning (I shit you not) but I just dont feel like the alcoholic I used to be. I mean yeah, I used to me Alky McAlky, but now I just have a drink to help me sleep.

If I had a drink last night I wouldnt have woken up at â– â– â– â– â– â– â–  4am, I can tell you that. I mean I have â– â– â– â–  to do, Im on a competitive organized powerlifting team now, I have to sleep well and do what the coach says, waking up at 4am is â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– 

I see my brilliant psychologist today, he’s super atheist and also elitist. I bet he will be like “the ■■■■ why are you going to AA? You have like one beer a day”

This is all because I almost binged on xanax and beer on the night before my two hardest finals. Well no I DID binge on both but made myself puke it all up and felt tranquilized as â– â– â– â– , drank a â– â– â– â–  ton of coffee and made an A on one and an A+ on the other. But my friends and I are notorious for functioning while on drugs and alcohol. My graduating class from my high school was the high-functioning druggies/alkies class, with me as the stoner/drunk/martial artist and literature expert. My buddy who is a heavy pill popper and alky today was the science wiz tied with my hippie stoner/lsd user friend.

We were all high when we took our AP/IB exams. I got 4/5 on all of mine and my friends did the same. I was schizophrenic and high. I get bonus points for tripping twice as hard.

#8

If you have this nagging suspicion about what could happen when you turn 21, I think it’s a very valid concern. So AA might not be for you. It’s not for everyone. But if your concerned about the future, of course you have every right to address that and kick it down.

Maybe talk to your pdoc and tell him your concerned and does he have any CBT or ideas for urge control and avoiding triggers.

You have mentioned in many of your post you have some concerns about when you turn 21 and there are no barriers between you and alcohol. So, have your beer a day… but maybe see if there is some trigger avoiding therapy or CBT so you stay at a beer a day.

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#9

Maybe forget the myth that being an alcoholic means that you have to binge drink every weekend or whatever else we thing being an alcoholic means. If drinking is interfering with someone’s ability to cope and manage life then it is a problem. If it is being used as a crutch then it’s a problem. If someone spends all week looking forward to that weekend drink(s) and can’t miss it then it’s a problem. If you think it’s a problem then it probably is.

I’m not saying you need AA. Maybe try not to judge people in AA or what their meetings are until you have gone to a couple. AA works for those who want it to work.

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#10

Alcohol just makes me sleep without waking up…It doesnt interfere with anything.

NOT having a beer last night interfered with my sleep, ive been up since 4am.

They keep talking about “our lives being out of control” at AA but im like “Im a badass, just look at me dammit”

#11

I’d say since you are even questioning it, there is a problem. I like kidsis’s suggestion of Smart Recovery maybe that is the way to go instead of AA if you can’t get past the believing in a higher power bit.