cross-posted from: https://linux.community/post/2749844
I don’t know if I’m a low key alcoholic or so cheap because in my past I was homeless and dependent on the charity of (sometimes) strangers and feel I only “deserve” alcohol when it’s on sale.
I know binge drinking is stupid, I know if I drink more than a pint of beer without food my stomach feels bad and I feel dizzy, but each time I find beer on sale I buy at least a 6 pack (6 pints). I then promise myself to drink it within several days, not all within 3 days, but something snaps in me each time I open the fridge and see all that beer. I sometimes drink 2 pints a day till I have no more beer.
The only thing stopping me from buying beer every day is the price: if beer is not on sale, I don’t buy it.
Beer is the only alcoholic drink I buy, I cannot tolerate anything else.
There are much healthier alternatives there, like tea, milk or juicy fruits, but my brain still associates beer with a good time, which is very ironic, because now, after drinking almost a pint, I have a headache. It doesn’t even taste as good as I thought it would.
Another thing that stops me from drinking more is reading about other alcoholics, their regrets and health issues, but my brain still “wants” the beer.
To be even more ironic, I usually run 2 miles and do some stretching and yoga before going to work, but yesterday and today I was so tired I skipped this routine and started drinking.
Am I a high functioning alcoholic?
How do I stop being so fixated on alcohol on sale?
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I do get the thing of being stuck on the association of something with pleasure or such, despite knowing from repeated experience that it doesn’t actually work out that way. All I can say is keep reminding yourself of this.
The other suggestion I have is to try to find some other special beverage with which you can cultivate a special association.
It may be tricky to find the right sweet spot. It can’t be something too expensive, since it sounds like that will stop you buying it, but it can’t be so trivial that you just drink it all the time and it then fails to function as a substitute special treat. Possibly the effort of making it could imbue it with specialness. Kombucha is possibly a thing like that you could make.
If you can’t stop yourself, then you are an addict. Some people find AA helpful. Maybe there are counselors/therapists. I’ve never had this particular problem fortunately, but I’ve seen it kill people. You should get help. If you’re not sure, consult with a doctor - professionals know things that we do not, and their opinion is going to be both way more objective than you or anyone you know, and way more trustworthy than random people on the internet.
Also please remeber that “addict” doesn’t mean “weak” or “lesser man” or whatever. We all have our own struggles, facing them is the most brave thing one can do.
Don’t put all of it in the fridge at once.
Move to Norway.
I drink beer almost every day. Rarely less than 3 beers, but sometimes over 6. I can’t buy a case of beer because I’ll wake up with a headache and 3/4 of it is gone.
I hate it but haven’t been able to get myself to stop.
2 beers a night for 3 nights isn’t that bad.
Alcohol is poison, none of us should drink any of it, but take a look at what it is doing.
Are you healthy? Are you showing up to your work and personal commitments? Are you driving drunk?Absolutely get help if you’re in trouble, but don’t fret too much is my suggestion I guess.
Generally speaking a beer is 2 units, in the UK we recommend no more than 14 units in a week. If you want to stop talk to your doctor if you can or seek help. Stopping or reducing is much easier with help.
Thank you. I’m working with a psychiatrist and a therapist.
I’m gonna try semaglutide, it has some purported effects on addiction, but my PCP won’t let me in it until I get my drinking down first.
Fwiw my healthcare professionals haven’t diagnosed me with alcohol use disorder yet. I have ADHD and I think it makes me seek dopamine, however I can get it.
It doesn’t particularly sound like it’s the alcohol you’re craving if you’re only buying it on sale, but there’s definitely some sort of unhealthy mindset going on there with the compulsive purchasing and consumption. When I was an alcoholic I was drinking 3-4 pints on my nights in because I wouldn’t be able to sleep otherwise, not only buying it if it was on sale.
Completely speculating, it sounds like beer on sale became a significant reward mechanism during your homelessness, and you need to find a new reward to shift that focus over to. Some kind of sweet treat, some kind of game or hobby, something you can reach for instead of the sale beer. You need to convince yourself you are worth more than just sale beer, you’re worth the nice things you’d like to have in your life.Im sorry. At my worst I drink a whole handle of vodka in a day. Sometimes I find my receipt and i bought another handle at teh end of the night ready for anotehr handle the next day. :( Its true I always have alcohol in me when i get in trouble. Im so mild mannered but I need the alcohol to feel alive. Its terrible because being alive sometimes ended in teh drunk tank. Karma got to me where even if I stayed home someone makes a call to my front door and drags me out without a word. I feel hopeless because I dont knwo why i cant be left alone and i drink more to prove them wrong. its horrible. im clean now and thinking about it. its going to make me sick. i get bruises where my organs are. my health is the only thing stopping me.
To be honest a lot of people can’t quit alcohol. I am not saying every alcoholic can’t. I don’t know the science, but I think it can be quite like opiates in which there is a point where maintenance might be required to either sustain/er…step-down from your addiction. I don’t know much about it. I just know that I had a friend who drank a handle a day, was bi-polar and unmedicated, and attempted to go sober solo and ended up in the hospital because they ended up having a seizure/puking all over the place. A lot folks who work in kitchens are addicts, and when I worked in them folks were fairly often functional alcoholics and we had a couple folks seizing out too from time to time. Shit is scary, but I do know there’s help - so you can like…look for it. Just be careful, this might sound funny but someone I helped personally made a rule to be friendly but not befriend folks at recovery. Another person I knew who went to recovery ended up sort of fueling themselves up with another person’s addiction (as if they were each others hypemen) and ended up addicted to opioids before dropping the program. If you want help, there are ways to find it out here. Just gotta take those little baby steps necessary to fuel whatever habit you’re trying to form. Good luck!
They drag you out because drinking with you makes their drinking seem more acceptable, to themselves.
A couple beers a day isn’t a big deal buddy. Don’t stress too much about that.
I actually know someone who feels this way and I think it’s really to each their own. I think you can be an alcoholic and still meter your drinking in a way that you can be functional. I also think that there are people who have absolutely zero control over their drinking habits and it’s actually quite destructive for them to think like this. It really seems to come down to the individual, although I think most addiction revolves around impulse control issues (er, among other things). Which means you could be playing with fire keeping a lax mindset. Most people who have felt the depths of addiction who want to be in recovery (versus active addiction) tend to keep things as sober as possible because of it. I personally agree, that it only takes a little of a “good thing” to turn into a bad thing. I really do know people who can functionally indulge from time to time and not have much issue although in the past they were absolutely monsters.
I’ve also known a person who drank themselves to death (literally), an addict from a young age. Another who ran their *life into the ground and ended up homeless and smashed by a semi. So I always keep these things in mind.
On the one hand, the quantity probably isn’t significantly dangerous. On the other, OPs mindset seems to be. If they cannot control their drinking then that’s a problem, regardless of how much they actually end up drinking
Please don’t promote alcoholism. A couple beers a day is alcoholism.
Depends on whose definition it is.
Some define alcoholism as a dependence on the substance alone, others define it as a continued use of the substance despite it causing problems for the individual, other definitions require that the user display signs of physical dependency/withdrawal syndrome when no longer using the substance.
Anecdotally, in my experience usually people only begin referring to someone as an alcoholic when they become physically dependent and experience withdrawals when stopping use.
Dude shut up. I’m not promoting alcoholism.
