Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiebell
What I don't understand is that I used to drink a lot and use drugs, but now I have a major aversion to any substance that alters how I feel. Why do I feel this way now? Shouldn't it still be somewhat of a daily struggle even though I've been clean and sober almost 7 years?  |
What are you doing to stay clean and sober everyday?..Do you go to AA?
If not, in some cases some people go through a phase where they drink and drug like and addict/alcoholic, and for some reason they can put the booze and drugs down without a struggle
I had a friend in high school, who I drank and drugged with during our high school years, and quite a few years after..We drank, smoked pot, did acid, etc..During the time we drank and drugged together, one day he told me that I was an alcoholic!!..I thought to myself, "If this isnt a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black, then I dont know what is!!"
Well my friend met a girl, and eventually they got married, bought a home, and had a couple of kids, and lived a normal life..My friend would come to the bar occasionally, have to Miller Lite beers and go home..Then I didnt see him for years
Quite a few years later I got sober, and after going to AA meetings for a few years, I realized that the reason why my friend told me I was an alcoholic, was because he wasnt an alcoholic, even though he drank and drugged like me..But the difference between him and I, was that he was able to stop drinking and drugging without a problem, and I could not stop untill I self destructed, and the pain began to be worse than the pleasure, and actually, the pleasure had been gone for years, but I continued to drink in spite of it..I tried to quit many times..I would last a few days, and I had pneumonia a couple of times and couldnt drink for a few weeks, but when I started drinking again, it was like I had never stopped..I now have 22 years of sobriety
This is from our AA text book "Alcoholics Anoymous", aka known as the "Big Book"
It describes the 3 types of drinkers
Quote:
'Now these are commonplace observations on drinkers which we hear all the time. Back of them is a world of ignorance and misunderstanding. We see that these expressions refer to people whose reactions are very different from ours.'
It begins to explain the three... types of drinkers. It said: (p. 20, par. 6) 'Moderate drinkers have little trouble in giving up liquor entirely if they have good reason for lt. They can take it or leave it alone.' This is the one we talked about last night, the moderate or social drinker. It's not a big deal for them. They have one, two, or three drinks. They get a slightly tipsy, out of control, nauseous feeling, and they just stop drinking. They can take it or leave it alone. They really don't much care one way or the other.
(p. 20, par. 7; p. 21, par. 1) 'Then we have a certain type of hard drinker. He may have the habit badly enough to gradually impair (top of p. 21) him physically and mentally. It may cease him to die a few years before his time. If a sufficiently strong reason--ill health, falling in love, change of environment, or the warning of a doctor--becomes operative, this man can also stop or moderate, although he may find it difficult and troublesome and may even need medical attention. '
We see this person all the time. We call him the hard or heavy drinker. This is the guy that said, when I was in the service I was an alcoholic also, but then when I got out of the service I got married, and I just quit drinking and I don't see why you can't either. They drink exactly like us. But if a sufficiently strong reason present itself to them, they will either stop drinking entirely, or they will learn to moderate their drinking. These people are not alcoholics.
Now then it says: (p. 21, par. 2) 'But what about the real alcoholic?' If you're a drinker, you're going to fit into one these three categories. Now what about the real alcoholic. We just love that term there, real alcoholic. (p. 21, par. 2) 'He may start off as a moderate drinker... ' And many of us did. (p. 21, per. 2)
'... he may or may not become a continuous hard drinker...' Some of us were binge drinkers, we didn't drink every day. (p. 21, par. 2-3) '... but at some stage of this drinking career he begins to lose all control of his liquor consumption, once he starts to drink.'
'Here is the fellow who has been puzzling you...' Remember now, we're describing the people who make up this fellowship. (p. 21, par. 3-4: p. 22, par. 1) '... especially in his lack of control. He does absurd, incredible, tragic things while drinking. He is a real Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He is seldom mildly intoxicated. He is always more or less insanely drunk. His disposition while drinking resembles his normal nature but little. He may be one of the finest fellows in the world. Yet let him drink for a day, and he frequently becomes disgustingly, and even dangerously anti-social. He has a positive genius for getting tight at exactly the wrong moment, particularly when some important decision most be made or engagement kept. He is often perfectly sensible and well balanced concerning everything except liquor, but in that respect he is incredibly dishonest and selfish. He often possesses special abilities, skills, and aptitudes, and has a promising career ahead of him. He uses his gifts to build up a bright outlook for his family and himself, and then pulls the structure down on his head by a senseless series of sprees. He is the fellow who goes to bed so intoxicated he ought to sleep the clock around. Yet early next (top of p. 22) morning he searches madly for the bottle he misplaced the night before. If he can afford it, he may have liquor concealed all over his house to be certain no one gets his entire supply away from him to throw down the wastepipe. As matters grow worse, he begins to use a combination of high-powered sedative and liquor to quiet his nerves so he can go to work. '
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