How Does One Know if One is an Alcoholic?
Ian
By certain behavioral traits?
Position is, I have been drinking Scotch since 1970, I was then in my
early thirties and was in the happy position of being financially able to go
out on the town five or six nights a week, drinking in pubs and
nightclubs. I was not married!
Well, these last 25 years or so, no longer being able to go out on my own
due to failed eyesight, I've been in the habit of settling down in the
evening and drinking a few glasses of J and B while listening to XM
radio.
I've been monitoring my intake recently and calculated that one 1.75
liter bottle of J and B lasts me three evenings, usually. I buy it in in
a case of six at roughly three to four weeks.
I no longer drink it neat as I once did: I dump tap water in each glass
on leaving the kitchen so it is fairly well diluted. I'd imagine there
is 2 or 3 parts water to 4 parts of Scotch in there.
I almost always fall into a deep slumber in my big old rocker
recliner, wake up or half wake up, and totter off to bed.
Rather worryingly, over the last couple of years, I have in the morning
sometimes only a vague and dim memory of the period after waking in the chair.
My comms software on this PC creates a log file when I log on, and very
often this shows me, next morning, that i've logged on, d/loaded the few
n/groups I subscribe to, and then logged off. Last night, for example,
I logged off at 19:13 - I do vaguely recall reading the few new messages
that had come in, and even mentally forming a retort to one.
But I have no memory of actually getting undressed and getting into bed.
I should mention that I now live alone, a widower since 2004, so no one
in here to witness what I am up to of an evening.
I've tried running a tape recorder beside my chair as I get sleepy, but
it only has music on it from the ceiling speakers, never any sound from
me.
So, what d'you think? Am I a hopeless addict? Ready for going into a
health farm or something?
I don't exhibit any of the signs that, I've heard, mark out the true
alcoholic: hiding the bottles, forgetting to shave or put on a clean
shirt, taking a drink first thing in the morning, that sort of thing.
My drinking is limited to the evenings: the earliest I have ever
begun was just after four pm one day, I forget the reason now, something
nasty I seem to recall.
Also, I've lived in north Texas for over ten years (I am from Scotland
originally) and incredibly have not adjusted to being in a different
time zone.
Reason is probably that I do not see the sun any more, and it is
probably the visual information as to light, position of sun, etc, that
tells the brain and body clock to adjust by, in my case, six hours.
So, when it is seven thirty pm here, it is half past one in the morning
for me..... so naturally I am getting sleepy.
If you have been, thank you for listening.
--
Ian.
Rule #63
> I mean, is it measured by your daily consumption of the stuff?
> By certain behavioral traits?
Hi, Ian
Alcoholism is not a scientific word, and as far as I know there is no
scientific definition of alcoholism that cannot be refuted.
However, if you are reasonably objective, that your drinking is
causing you concern should be sufficient evidence for you to cut back
to the point drinking no longer concerns you.
I suggest you check out Moderation Management, who seem to have some
expertise in that field. http://www.moderation.org/whatisMM.shtml
HTH
--
Bob
What would Edison do?
Ian
Stand clear! I may have to do some word definition reconstruction
here.....
I had always thought the word alcoholism was a medical label for a
condition, same as autism and other medical condition isms.
Concern ..... yes, I have over the last 12 months or so begun to wonder
if my nightly consumption was getting into the harmful range.
An authoritative f/up in
alt.support.heartburn
to my inquiry about a medicine I was on for reflux, i.e. too much acid in the
stomach, informs me that I am drinking far more than the recommended
weekly amount and lists the possible bad results such as cancer of the colon.
So I'm now seriously contemplating stopping drinking: I don't think I
could just drink the tiny recommended amount and no more. As you
probably know, once one has had one double Scotch, the second follows
almost automatically, and from then on, the drink takes over.
At least, this has been my experience.
So it'd have to be a complete cessation, a full stop one might say.
Well, I stopped smoking last April after breathing in poisonous smoke for
48 years; I'd been on up to sixty a day and was on about fifty a day
when I stopped, so giving up drinking should be a walkover!
--
Ian.
Ft Worth, TX
Rule #63
Ian, surely you agree that the world is cluttered with so much
extreme verbosity that moderation is a rarity?
Surely too, if you want to be just one of the crowd you can go join a
crowd? - although any crowd here is only conspicuous by its absence ;-)
If you have never diligently practised moderation, how on earth could
you know you would not likely succeed, thankfully and joyfully?
--
Bob
There, but for the Grace of God, go I. Luke 18:11
Somebody Else
Ian
> Ian wrote:
> > fis...@seine.net wrote:
> >
...
> > been on up to sixty a day and was on about fifty a day when I
> > stopped, so giving up drinking should be a walkover! -- Ian. Ft
> > Worth, TX
> >
>
> Ian, surely you agree that the world is cluttered with so much
> extreme verbosity that moderation is a rarity?
Not to mention extreme obesity .... it takes up so much room.
>
> Surely too, if you want to be just one of the crowd you can go join a
> crowd? - although any crowd here is only conspicuous by its absence ;-)
>
It does seem awfully quiet in here, but then so many once-active
n/groups seem to have wasted away in recent years.
> If you have never diligently practised moderation, how on earth could
> you know you would not likely succeed, thankfully and joyfully?
>
I didn't get where I am by being thankful and joyful, I'll 'ave you
know. Callous ingratitude and miserable miserliness were just two
factors that led to success.
Rule #63
>>> been on up to sixty a day and was on about fifty a day when I
>>> stopped, so giving up drinking should be a walkover! --
>>> Ian. Ft Worth, TX
>>>
>> Ian, surely you agree that the world is cluttered with so much
>> extreme verbosity that moderation is a rarity?
>
> Not to mention extreme obesity .... it takes up so much room.
Oh, I thought there was plenty of room in Texas,
>> Surely too, if you want to be just one of the crowd you can go
>> join a crowd? - although any crowd here is only conspicuous by
>> its absence ;-)
>>
> It does seem awfully quiet in here, but then so many once-active
> n/groups seem to have wasted away in recent years.
Seems the social networking sites are all the go these days,
>
>> If you have never diligently practised moderation, how on earth
>> could you know you would not likely succeed, thankfully and
>> joyfully?
>>
> I didn't get where I am by being thankful and joyful, I'll 'ave
> you know. Callous ingratitude and miserable miserliness were just
> two factors that led to success.
Problem drinking is success for you? Active alcoholism was the
hallmark of failure for me!
> -- Ian. Ft Worth, TX
>
--
Bob
To forgive is to give up all hope for a better past. ... Lily Tomlin
Ian
Oh no, the drinking is not the biggest thing, the dominant part, of my
life. I'm not even sure it is a problem, except if it was the cause of
the diarrhea I suffered when taking the stomach medicine.
I'll have a word with my doctor on wednesday, get his opinion on
whether I drink too much.
My other, non-alcoholic interests/activities are more limited
nowadays, but I still have enough
to occupy my time pleasantly enough.
As to success, well, I am comfortably off, in a new house with no mortgage,
no debt of any kind; hearing some interviews with less fortunate people
both in Britain and here, I count myself very fortunate.
So, I take it you are now a non-drinker? If so, well done you!
Rule #63
Seems to me that is the central point of the topic here. You've
managed to cut down enough elsewhere and "still have enough to occupy
my time pleasantly enough." Could it be that your having cut down in
other areas has given alcohol, by default, higher priority in
your life?
> As to success, well, I am comfortably off, in a new house with no
> mortgage, no debt of any kind; hearing some interviews with less
> fortunate people both in Britain and here, I count myself very
> fortunate.
Although I accumulated and do enjoy more material success than I had
at the time I stopped drinking, emotional success is of more
importance to me these days. - Maybe with global economic crisis
looming now, that is a bonus. :-)
> So, I take it you are now a non-drinker? If so, well done you!
I've been a non drinker long enough for the novelty to wear off, but
thank you, Ian. I trust you find what time proves a providential
answer for you as happened for me.
> -- Ian. Ft Worth, TX
>
Ian
> Ian wrote:
> >>> Not to mention extreme obesity .... it takes up so much room.
> >> Oh, I thought there was plenty of room in Texas,
> >>
It's filling up fast! Fort Worth was the fastest growing American city
in2007.
> > interests/activities are more limited nowadays, but I still have
> > enough to occupy my time pleasantly enough.
>
> Seems to me that is the central point of the topic here. You've
> managed to cut down enough elsewhere and "still have enough to occupy
> my time pleasantly enough." Could it be that your having cut down in
> other areas has given alcohol, by default, higher priority in
> your life?
>
Could well be: I am now virtually housebound due to lessened mobility -
since my wife died almost five years ago
I have to pay people to drive me to, e.g. medical appointments, so
I am now much more centered in the house and
yes, as a result the evening drinks have now become a regular daily habit.
However, I'm still not convinced this makes me an alcoholic as I
understand the term. I'll get a dispassionate medical opinion on it
tomorrow when I see my GP.
> > mortgage, no debt of any kind; hearing some interviews with less
> > fortunate people both in Britain and here, I count myself very
> > fortunate.
>
> Although I accumulated and do enjoy more material success than I had
> at the time I stopped drinking, emotional success is of more
> importance to me these days. - Maybe with global economic crisis
> looming now, that is a bonus. :-)
>
Yep, we'll all have to pull in our belts and re-learn frugal living like
it was when I was a kid, in postwar britain, when nearly almost no one
was doing well financially.
Economic crisis, downturn, recession, call it what you like, I began
seeing it two months ago as a worldwide Depression that in some ways may be
worse than the 1930s one. I hope I'm wrong, but.....
> > So, I take it you are now a non-drinker? If so, well done you!
>
> I've been a non drinker long enough for the novelty to wear off, but
> thank you, Ian. I trust you find what time proves a providential
> answer for you as happened for me.
>
And as with my smoking addiction, you probably dare not take 'only one'
- I know if I were to smoke just one cigarette, I've be a helpless slave
again and saddled with that awful chronic cough I had until last year.
Rule #63
> fis...@seine.net wrote:
>
>> Ian wrote:
>>>>> Not to mention extreme obesity .... it takes up so much
>>>>> room.
>>>> Oh, I thought there was plenty of room in Texas,
>>>>
> It's filling up fast! Fort Worth was the fastest growing American
> city in2007.
>
>>> interests/activities are more limited nowadays, but I still
>>> have enough to occupy my time pleasantly enough.
>> Seems to me that is the central point of the topic here. You've
>> managed to cut down enough elsewhere and "still have enough to
>> occupy my time pleasantly enough." Could it be that your having
>> cut down in other areas has given alcohol, by default, higher
>> priority in your life?
>>
> Could well be: I am now virtually housebound due to lessened
> mobility - since my wife died almost five years ago I have to pay
> people to drive me to, e.g. medical appointments, so I am now
> much more centered in the house and yes, as a result the evening
> drinks have now become a regular daily habit. However, I'm still
> not convinced this makes me an alcoholic as I understand the
> term. I'll get a dispassionate medical opinion on it tomorrow
> when I see my GP.
Ian, if I was convinced you are an alcoholic, rather than post the
link to MM, I would have posted these two *last resort* links :-
http://tinyurl.com/Within-us
http://tinyurl.com/Help-is-here
Maybe someone lurking will want them as a keeper even if you get an
"all clear" tomorrow.
Good luck with that.
>
>>> mortgage, no debt of any kind; hearing some interviews with
>>> less fortunate people both in Britain and here, I count myself
>>> very fortunate.
>> Although I accumulated and do enjoy more material success than I
>> had at the time I stopped drinking, emotional success is of more
>> importance to me these days. - Maybe with global economic
>> crisis looming now, that is a bonus. :-)
>>
> Yep, we'll all have to pull in our belts and re-learn frugal
> living like it was when I was a kid, in postwar britain, when
> nearly almost no one was doing well financially. Economic crisis,
> downturn, recession, call it what you like, I began seeing it two
> months ago as a worldwide Depression that in some ways may be
> worse than the 1930s one. I hope I'm wrong, but.....
>
>>> So, I take it you are now a non-drinker? If so, well done
>>> you!
>> I've been a non drinker long enough for the novelty to wear off,
>> but thank you, Ian. I trust you find what time proves a
>> providential answer for you as happened for me.
>>
> And as with my smoking addiction, you probably dare not take 'only
> one' - I know if I were to smoke just one cigarette, I've be a
> helpless slave again and saddled with that awful chronic cough I
> had until last year. -- Ian. Ft Worth, TX
>
--
Bob
Calling alcoholism 'a disease' is
the politically correct substitute for 'a self induced insanity.'