# Reformed alcoholics? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 16, 2015, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reformed-alcoholics/712803 "2015-02-16T10:18:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reformed-alcoholics/712803/21 "2015-02-16T22:42:57Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > I’m alcoholic, and dry since 1986. My sobriety is easy to maintain now, and the thought or smell of booze is disgusting. I’m pretty sure I’d spiral downward if I tried drinking responsibly (in fact this quickly happened a few months before I finally did stop). > > Part of what makes social drinking fun is that everybody is doing it together. It’s sometimes pretty obnoxious if for some reason you can’t do it but everybody else does. Perhaps pregnant women are a population with lots of experience on this who aren’t alcoholic or struggling with sobriety, who might comment – but then possibly the parties pregnant women go to are statistically milder than most. > > I don’t have a hard time staying sober at a party where there’s drinking. In my first few years of sobriety, I’d have nightmares about them, like realizing I’d been drinking all night long and forgotten I can’t do that. Not these days, though. As a formerly pregnant woman - I’d agree with whomever posted upthread… If the event was “happy hour” - it sucked. Visibly pregnant women have another problem in that even if you are sticking to water or soda, you are in a BAR and can expect the evil eye. At an event at which drinks were served, but secondary, no big. Although sometimes a glass of wine looked really good. ---
**Author:** ![Finnie\_the\_Pooh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@Finnie\_the\_Pooh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finnie_the_Pooh)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reformed-alcoholics/712803/22 "2015-02-17T01:54:41Z")
#1: No. #2: No. This is what I have experienced, others have their own opinions. Some of my friends went back to drinking; some of them died as a consequence. Tough! Nobody can keep you from drinking, it’s up to the individual. I have been lucky for 34 years now. ---
**Author:** ![MrsTime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@MrsTime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrsTime)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reformed-alcoholics/712803/23 "2015-02-17T06:09:01Z")
> [@](#): > > The minute the word ‘recovered’ is used indicates that they do not know very much about addiction. That is why I used the word recovering. ---
**Author:** ![Syne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Syne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syne)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reformed-alcoholics/712803/24 "2015-02-17T07:23:33Z")
My mom is an alcoholic, so is her husband, brother, and her dad (was). I am 34 and have had my own struggles with alcohol, but I consider the worst of them behind me. Over the last year I have cut my drinking down by about 80% and during that time I came to grips with how damaging alcohol has been to my body and mind. My cravings for alcohol are somewhat self-limiting by the consequences of binge drinking, which let’s just say are much worse than they were a decade ago, and I believe this is normal as we age. I have proved to myself that I can self-audit and change my behavior based on how I am feeling overall. I also am not an emotional drinker. I drink simply to feel good, and if the costs are outweighing the benefits, I drink less. ---
**Author:** ![Syne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Syne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syne)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reformed-alcoholics/712803/25 "2015-02-17T07:35:41Z")
I would also like to add that while I believe that predisposition to addiction has a genetic component, I also find compelling new research (the [rat park](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park)experiments) that show addiction to be largely the result of external influences or lack thereof. For example, I believe if you offered a million dollars for a self-identified alcoholic to abstain for five years, the vast majority would do it. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reformed-alcoholics/712803/26 "2015-02-17T18:26:05Z")
> [@Syne](#): > > I would also like to add that while I believe that predisposition to addiction has a genetic component, I also find compelling new research (the [rat park](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park)experiments) that show addiction to be largely the result of external influences or lack thereof. For example, I believe if you offered a million dollars for a self-identified alcoholic to abstain for five years, the vast majority would do it. First, congrats on cutting back on your drinking. Second, not drinking for money, for a limited time, 5 weeks or 5 years, while profitable, does not mean a person has gained control of an addiction IMO and a lot of people who study addiction. If you find someone who will make that offer, go for it, I would have. he he he 😃 Even if you are not an addict, say you are. Free money from fools is fair game IMO. 🆒 I never had that offer but I did turn down some surprising things to just slow down my drinking. Looking back from a position of long term sobriety, it is one of the things that shows how much of an alcoholic I am. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![MrLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f8ce5/32.png) [@MrLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrLee)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reformed-alcoholics/712803/27 "2015-02-17T18:42:48Z")
My uncle is an ex-alcoholic/reformed-alcoholic/alcoholic-who-doesn’t-drink anymore, and these days he smokes a fuck-tonne of weed as a substitute. It’s not very good for his mental health, but better than the booze was. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reformed-alcoholics/712803/28 "2015-02-18T00:20:03Z")
1. Not really. Some. 2. Yeah, when I can. Work stuff I can avoid. Family stuff I can’t, especially now that my wife is conveniently “too sick” to go–and it’s HER FAMILY! :mad: I know I’d go into a tailspin if I tried moderation. Just this afternoon a co-worker was talking about how he’ll have to cut down when he retires. I caught myself thinking, but not saying, that he’d just have to shift to the $10 1.75L vodka, like I did. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reformed-alcoholics/712803.md?page=1)