What are your thoughts about "self-medicating" with alcohol?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
41

As someone who’s been a recovering alcoholic for over 30 years, I have to say that there are a lot of misconceptions about alcohol floating around these days. Virtually every “real” alcoholic I know has had three primary experiences with alcohol: 1) There’s a special “wow” feeling when alcohol kicks in that can’t be reproduced any other way, (2) they drink even at times they don’t intend to, even when they know rationally it can be destructive to self or career, and (3) once they start drinking, they can’t stop.

I realize I’m probably very old-fashioned in my feelings here, but I often get the impression that a lot of people are being diagnosed these days as alcoholics who truly aren’t, who use alcohol for perhaps the wrong reasons but once provided with alternative methods of treatment, can stop drinking without difficulty.

I’m not talking about social drinkers, even heavy social drinkers, either; I’ve known social drinkers who drank a 12-pack of beer a day, for example, but were just not alcoholics by any definition other than quantity-based, which is not an responsible way of diagnosing it.

Frankly, there aren’t a lot of folks in this thread about whom I would give even an instant’s worry over their drinking habits. There used to be an adage: “If you question whether you’re an alcoholic, you probably are.” But that’s just not useful any more because there are so many people out there trying to diagnose alcoholism based on a lack of understanding of what it genuinely involves.

Self-medicating is something many alcoholics have done over the years – but many of them continue to drink even when they’re provided proper medical treatment. But enjoying a drink or three to relax, or unwind, or help a headache? No big deal. Enjoy it, and don’t worry about it! As for me, I never could do that; once I started, I only stopped when the booze ran out. But I’m not going to start diagnosing minor social drinking as alcoholism; just because I can’t drink safely doesn’t mean that most of the world goes along merrily doing just fine doing what I can’t do.

42

I generally adapt that to: “If you worry about your alcohol consumption, you probably don’t have anything to worry about. When you stop worrying about it, you do.”

43

I don’t know if this has been mentioned before, but from a professional (read: physician) standpoint, “self-medicating with alcohol” means “using alcohol to moderate the symptoms of significant mental illness, such as bipolar, schizophrenia, etc.”

On occasion, it may be used to imply treating severe acute pain with alcohol, too.

The phrase has been rather warped in modern application, IMHO. While drinking for effect (to sleep, to feel less angry, etc) can be a sign of abuse, it is certainly not pathomnemonic for a diagnosis of alcoholism.

At least that’s my take on it, and I am a doc, a recovering alcoholic, and also knowledgeable about Tolkien (tho that last probably isn’t relevant in this thread…)

44

My parents are both alcoholics, as is one of my brothers. I think that my parents just really, really, really like alcohol and bars and bar people; in my brother’s case I believe it started as self-dosing for mental illlness.

I have a long-time friend who has been a raging alcoholic since he was 15 or 16. The guy puts away astounding amounts of liquor and never, ever gets sick. He has never had a hangover, barfed from drinking, etc. He gets a fantastic high and never has to pay the price in terms of sickness, so for him it’s a win-win situation. He is a high-functioning person who doesn’t miss work b/c of his drinking.

In my teens and 20s I did a lot of binge-drinking, but as I got older started to get horrific hangovers (the “gotta stay in bed for two days” type) and decided that the buzz wasn’t worth the price. Hangovers were probably a gift, as it seems that my family has a proclivity for substance abuse.

45

I do need to add a P.S.: I had a bad toothache last week that aspirin wouldn’t touch. I had two shots of whiskey: miracle cure! I then drank about four gallons of water to try and offset the inevitable hangover (it kinda worked).

46

I’ve never had a hangover. knock on wood

47

Jennshark, I stopped drinking for the same reason; when two beers started giving me a hangover, I made the relatively-easy decision to not have two beers anymore. Alcohol isn’t really good for anyone’s system, but someone of us are less tolerant of it than others, I guess.

Maybe the deciding factor on whether you’re an alcoholic or not is the same as whether you just like things tidy, or if you are actually tending towards OCD - I think the general idea is if you HAVE to do it, not just WANT to do it, you have a problem.

48

I have to disagree with “Alcohol isn’t really good for anyone’s system.” In moderation alcohol IS good for many people.

49

Alcohol might have some functions that it performs for people, but it is a toxin. It’s not something that anybody needs to survive, and too much of it will kill anyone (and too much isn’t all that much, really).

50

I am sad to read that anyone has 3 to 5 drinks of wine or beers every day. It is damaging to the liver. This is not meant to be judgmental. But alcohol is a toxin, as featherlou says.

51

Yeah? Well, I dare ya t’come over here’n shay that to my FAYSHE!* <hic>*

52

This reminds me of a discussion we had in my anxiety self-help group one night. One guy who I believe is self-medicating in exactly the way Qadgop was talking about mentioned his alcohol consumption; he didn’t think it was a problem, since he was just drinking to ease his social anxiety and it was really working for him. He casually mentioned that an evening out for him was 20 or more drinks. I’d like to think as a group we handled that well, but it’s hard to have someone tell you something like that and not give your honest opinion - you have a drinking problem. 20+ drinks to calm your nerves, and you’re going out fairly regularly, is not what doctors are talking about when they say have a glass of red wine every day for the anti-oxidants.

53

I don’t think that’s true at all. If you’re thinking about those studies involving moderate consumption of red wine, it’s not the alcohol that supposedly confers benefits, but the antioxidants.

54

Red wine is a pleasant and easily obtained source of those anti-oxidants, and it is also a social and civilized way to get them. The fellowship aspect of a glass of wine is important - the meal as celebration, even if that celebration is only “We got through another day.”

There is danger in taking too much wine, of course. At one time, and maybe still in some circles, a man commonly got through “his bottle” at dinner, and often more. Our immediate ancestors could buy whisky or gin by the pitcherful from barrels in the tavern down the street - anti-drinking tracts would feature a weeping daughter who, when sent by her drunkard father for that pitcher, would beg “Please father, do not drink!” Working men were often guaranteed an allowance of beer with their midday dinner, sometimes several quarts each. Some excuse was made for drinking alcohol because water was unsafe, and it was often unsafe.

I think we are a more sober society than that. We have come to a point where drunkeness is not lightly viewed, where only the young and inexperienced drinker gets blotto, a kind of rite of passage. Most of us go through it, and a lot of us learn to like that initial jolt of well-being from a drink or two. I could never maintain the well-being over an evening and learned the hard way that 1 drink is about all my system can deal with. I hate talking to Huey on the big white phone.

Each wine drinker, each drinker, has to make the call for himself. What is too much? What should I do if I’m drinking too much? Am I dependent on these drinks? Frightening questions, easily put off for another day.

One of my kinfolk began serious drinking at age 13. He kept a mickey of vodka in his locker at school. He has always been a decent, hardworking guy, kind and honest. But he drinks morning, noon, and night, regarding beer as his daytime drink and hard liquor as his evening drink. I don’t think he has gone a day in 40 years without going to bed drunk. Upright, talking, sensible, but drunk. His liver is shot, but so far it hasn’t killed him. He figures it’s pointless to stop, and maybe he’s right.

55

I will respectfully continue to disagree. No, it’s not essential, like vitamin C. Yes, too much of it is lethal. So is too much vitamin A, too much salt, too much water.

It has been widely reported that a glass of wine (especially red wine) per day is healthy for many, if not most people. I have seen nothing to indicate that alcohol in that amount is harmful, other than for recovering alcoholics, people with allergies, drug interactions, etc.

56

Hi Featherlou: yeah, kinda sucks, as I love a few icy-cold beers on a summer’s eve. Once in a great while it’s worth the price of a crappy headache day afterward.

57

There is ongoing research about the benefits of moderate alcohol consumption in many arenas - moderate alcohol consumption is correlated (I know, correlation != causation) with lower incidence of dementia, for one. My Dr. encouraged my drink/day standard for cardiovascular benefits, since heart disease is the big problem in my family. She did say I should lean more to red wine for the reasons you gave, and of course drinking a glass of wine a day is to be used as just a prong of my plan to avoid or stall off heart disease.

58

Is this research conducted with the consumption of pure ethanol? If not, there will always be some question as to whether it’s the alcohol which is conferring the observed benefits, or some other ingredient.

59

Or whether moderate drinkers are simply moderate in other sectors of their life which could impact these things. Sure, I understand that. But most of my reading suggests that type of alcohol is immaterial.

60

We’ve kicked this around before. Let me rummage around a bit. Ahhhh! here!