Is alcohol causing a problem in your life, yes or no? You don’t have to drink every day to have a problem with booze, you don’t have to get in trouble every time you drink to have a problem with booze. If you’re having a problem, though, the best thing would be to stop drinking so you won’t have that particular problem any more.
You need to learn how to have a good time without needing that drink. It is possible to “have a good time” and “meet a nice girl” without the alcohol in your hand.
What, exactly, is so wrong with craving alcohol at times? Sometimes I crave nachos or carrot sticks. Is the difference that alcohol is unhealthy? I never understood this line of reasoning that if you ever “crave” (ooh, spooky word!) a drink every now and again that something is wrong. So drinks are supposed to be this delicious wonderful thing that makes you feel good, but you’re never supposed to want it? A constant craving or inability to function or enjoy oneself without alcohol, yes, is a problem, but ever craving at all? Yes, people like and crave things that are good. Big deal.
Oh, and another one of “AA is a prohibitionist cult that takes advantage of people.”
Indeed they are. I got to watch a friend bleed to death last year, liver failure. Was not a nice way to go, to say the least.
See, the only thing more common than booze is individual definitions of what “alcoholic” or “problem” is.
Definitely listen to all of them, but keep in mind there’s a zillion of them, and most of them don’t fit you.
You have to drink everyday? That’s not me!
You have to sneak a drink in the morning? Not me!
Have to beat your spouse, kids and pets? Not me!
Have to get fired? Not me!
Get a DUI? Not me!
Piss yourself? Not me!
Throw up? Not me!
Black out? Not me!
Blah, blah. Don’t pat yourself on the back and write yourself a free pass because you don’t fit someone else’s criteria.
Why are those the only two choices? I can think of at least one other.
– Go out with some friends, have a good time, and hopefully meet a nice girl, without ever ingesting alcohol.
Why is that choice denied to you?
The difference is the neurobiological interaction that alcohol has with certain proteins in the brain (such as GABA, glutamate, and most importantly dopamine and serotonin). More and more research seems to show that with people who demonstrate “alcoholic” tendency, these neurotransmitters have become sensitized (altered) by combination with alcohol to the point where pleasure (or simply an ordinary sense of ease) increasingly requires alcohol (or something similar)–hence craving.
Carrots don’t do this.
Welcome to the Dope Scotty Mo, where benefit of the doubt is as common as bird teeth.
Well, it’s funny that you mention carrots, specifically, because maybe they do:
Also here:
Of course not, just like not everyone who has taken a shot of tequila after a bad breakup is an alcoholic. The point was that alcoholics are defined by how much power alcohol has over their life.
That, and nachos and carrot sticks probably never helped anyone get laid.
@ guizot & Ascenray: And there’s been a lot of hoopla about fatty foods actually being addictive.
Interesting. And there’s the advantage that they don’t slur your speech or get you fired.
Apparently, alcoholism is an incurable disease that can be diagnosed with the barest minimum of personal information without the need to see the patient, and said diagnosis can be made by anybody.
Only a low-down dirty drunk would say something like that.
Maybe it’s like Justice Stewart and obscenity: “I know it when I see it.”
_People have great variations. Some people who have had drinking problems are able to handle it after awhile. But the majority can not. That is why you have to emphasize ones who can not. The vast majority can not and if you hoping you might be a lucky one ,you are playing with fire.
I don’t think any of us here knows whether Scotty is an alcoholic. But I think there are some issues he could help clarify, such as why he seems to think that the only alternative to drinking alcohol is to “sit at home and do nothing.”
What is the official definition of “drinking problem”, and where are the cites that show what percentage of the population can handle said “drinking problem”?
You talk about drinking on the weekends. What happens during the week? Do you find other ways to “relax”? IE: Do you ever use other substances? It would not suprise me that you also smoke pot. To me, you have a problem when you look to any substance to alter your feelings or thought processes. Life is a long road and if you need the boost now (at 25) to get you through the night, what will you need in the future? And meeting girls - well, most girls may enjoy your antics at the bar, but they will not want you around in the morning.
Huh? :dubious:
People that use alcohol to get laid have serious confidence issues… Very serious! Using a drug to help you get laid is just sad in every sense of the word.
Yes,
There are many people who are able to go out and only have a few drinks without getting plastered. If you drink just to get plastered then you have a serious problem.
There are plenty of things to do besides drinking. I’m not going to list all the things there are to do besides drinking because the list will be endless.