Recovering Drug/Drink users ?

aproctor said:
I'm inclined to agree.

I don't think dm was being dismissive, but getting drunk once a week is not a massive problem in itself, 50% match that.

Imagine every time you felt hungry, you needed a very large vodka.
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I'm not suggesting that someone who binge drinks once a week is necessarily an alcholic at all - just this misguided idea that you have to be 'waking up in your own pee', 'reaching for a bottle first thing in the morning' & 'passing out in your own vomit' to be classified as one.

This is a very dangerous way of thinking.
 
deSade said:
As I said before - Wiki is not the best way to formulate your ideas & beliefs!!!
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Please read my post -
I have a Level 3 NCFE in Drugs Awareness at least 50% of the 54 lessons over 54 weeks course was spent on alcohol.
I also worked closely with Consultants & Doctors who gave lessons to my students for 2 years.
My ideas were formulated from the above but Wiki also summed it up since it matched my course + Clinicians.
 
Devrij said:
As much as it grated a bit to read some of the things people have posted, I understand why people have feelings of anger towards addicts/alcoholics. They call it the lonely disease in the fellowships because you end up pushing people away and hurting them, and eventually you're just left with yourself, with nothing to stop you from drinking or using. You try to stop, but these insane thoughts of "itll be different this time" seem to make perfect sense when you have that first drink, just to calm you down so you can go sort your life out. Of course you end up many drinks in and even worse off. Rinse and repeat every day as your self esteem and will to live ebb out and you resign yourself to waking up in your own **** every day. It all started off quite manageable, alcohol and drugs made life easier to live, people easier to talk to, you aren't sure how you got where you are, and you don't understand any other way of living. That's your life. If you're lucky you find help because you're willing to try one last thing before you kill yourself. I was lucky, and i'll be 5 yrs sober on Nov 2nd.
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No-one will be able to describe it better than that. Exactly the same as happened to my Dad. The doctor found him on Christmas Eve on his couch in a pile of his own **** and called the hospital. He lost almost half his bodyweight but luckily he'd done no lasting damage to his liver. He'll be eight years sober this year.

He'd been an alcoholic for around 3 years by the time it got to this point. Seeing your Dad turn from the life and soul of the party to a gibbering crying wreck who'd drink half a bottle of Southern Comfort by 11am is something I wouldn't wish on anyone. Drinking cost him his wife, son, homelife and almost his own life.

Some of the replies in this thread made me quite annoyed. Wanting to go to the pub at the weekend is completely different from seeing someone wake up in their own **** (literally) and then instantly wretch and writhe in pain until they're given alcohol as their body needs it, the same as any other chemical addiction.
 
@ dmpoole

My post above still stands though, and if that was what was taught to you by your 'peers', then yes - I would say that they were wrong.

Generally everyone agrees that when you get get to that stage you are an alcoholic, but to put a dividing line there, where you should not be classified as an alcoholic before that is just plain ignorant of the disease & dangerous.
 
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deSade said:
I'm not suggesting that someone who binge drinks once a week is necessarily an alcholic at all - just this misguided idea that you have to be 'waking up in your own pee', 'reaching for a bottle first thing in the morning' & 'passing out in your own vomit' to be classified as one.

This is a very dangerous way of thinking.
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I see your point, but when it's a member of your own family that has gone through serious alcoholism and had to be nursed back to health over months and years, it's easy to be annoyed when it appears to be being trivialised by others who just like a drink. Nuts to what the proper definition is.
 
deSade said:
@ dmpoole

My post above still stands though, and if that was what was taught to you by your 'peers', then yes - I would say that they were wrong.
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Sorry, but I've had an Alcoholic in the family, and getting drunk once a week compared to what she used to do I can see a very firm line between them both.
 
My dad has a drink problem. It's not so bad now I'm older, can easily slip out the house. When I was little it made me and my brothers&sisters life a bit of a living hell, especially my brothers and oldest sister (I'm the youngest so I got it pretty lightly).

But my oldest brother had a crack problem for about 12 years. I didn't know any better because I was really young when he got into it (he's quite a bit older than me) so I didn't notice that things were better unil after he came off it.
 
Sinny said:
Sorry, but I've had an Alcoholic in the family, and getting drunk once a week compared to what she used to do I can see a very firm line between them both.
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Didn't I just say that :confused:

Do people just read what they want to in these posts?!!!
 
deSade said:
But it doesn't does it, it's one personal example (a very sad one), but that doesn't make for a definition!
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You really need to read up from proper sources what an alcoholic is and what they do.
You seem to be talking about binge drinkers and people who drink a lot.
An alcoholic is somebody who has both a physical and mental addiction to alcohol and usually ends up like the stories from at least 3 people above.
 
Paul11 said:
this is just so so wrong

that is one type of alcholic, sure, but not all
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Why didn't you read the post after it, surely you can do that before replying?
Basically it is a saying for somebody who can't function without it on a day to day basis.

I'm interested to know what other types of alcoholics there are?
 
dmpoole said:
You really need to read up from proper sources what an alcoholic is and what they do.
You seem to be talking about binge drinkers and people who drink a lot.
An alcoholic is somebody who has both a physical and mental addiction to alcohol and usually ends up like the stories from at least 3 people above.
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"proper sources" ?

binge drinkers can be alcholics who are dependant on drink, but the frequency of drinking is less than the type of alcholic you are talking about

its not so black and white as you are making it out to be

wikapdia say " Alcoholism is the addiction to or dependency upon drinking excessive amounts of alcoholic beverages"

it does not mention frequency of consumption
 
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Fact is the term alcoholic is labelled more with drunks in the park, drinking special brew and living in a dumb of a home, I don't know any alcoholics like that, most work, keep it hidden, even drink and drive, I know one guy that took a bottle of wine to work with him.

Culture to booze has changed over the years, everything is super strength, its cheaper to drink at home and drink more of it then it is in pubs/clubs, I can go out and get 45 cans of lager (400ml) for £15 but in the pub you are paying nearly £3 for one pint, to me that is crazy and you just have to look the way society has change from drinking in a pub for a few hours to having access to shed loads of alcohol.

Worthy said:
No-one will be able to describe it better than that. Exactly the same as happened to my Dad. The doctor found him on Christmas Eve on his couch in a pile of his own **** and called the hospital. He lost almost half his bodyweight but luckily he'd done no lasting damage to his liver. He'll be eight years sober this year.

He'd been an alcoholic for around 3 years by the time it got to this point. Seeing your Dad turn from the life and soul of the party to a gibbering crying wreck who'd drink half a bottle of Southern Comfort by 11am is something I wouldn't wish on anyone. Drinking cost him his wife, son, homelife and almost his own life.

Some of the replies in this thread made me quite annoyed. Wanting to go to the pub at the weekend is completely different from seeing someone wake up in their own **** (literally) and then instantly wretch and writhe in pain until they're given alcohol as their body needs it, the same as any other chemical addiction.
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I know what having a family member with an addition can cause, its awful and no matter what you say or try do is good enough and the worst thing is they dont care about family or the pain they cause, glad they are out of my families life. I went passed carrying a long time ago.

Maybe if was blood related family I would care more but its not.
 
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cheets64 said:
Fact is the term alcoholic is labelled more with drunks in the park, drinking special brew and living in a dumb of a home, I don't know any alcoholics like that, most work, keep it hidden, even drink and drive, I know one guy that took a bottle of wine to work with him.
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Bang on 100%

Paul11 said:
binge drinkers can be alcholics who are dependant on drink, but the frequency of drinking is less than the type of alcholic you are talking about
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If they're binge drinking once a week they're not alcoholics.
Like cheets described above - an alcoholic will need top ups all day.
 
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dmpoole said:
You really need to read up from proper sources what an alcoholic is and what they do.
You seem to be talking about binge drinkers and people who drink a lot.
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No I don't - I haven't said that at all. :rolleyes:

I have said that the term 'alcoholic' should not just be given to people who at the lowest ebb of the disease (rock bottom perhaps). An alcoholic can be defined as anyone where alcohol has real negative psychological, physical, and/or social impacts on their (and others) life & wellbeing.

Not just waking up in your own poo & reaching for a bottle!
 
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