alcohol.... just like having fun or have a problem

TNTwedell
TNTwedell Posts: 277 Member
in Motivation and Support
a girlfriend of mine messaged me this weekend that she thinks she has a problem with alcohol.... that she might be an alcoholic.
My response to her was, "I dont think you do.. but if YOU think you do, then we will do something about it"

here's the thing... i didnt think she had a problem. We go out together all the time & I never see her drunk. We have wine or martinis, talk, have fun and then go home. I know she drinks wine every evening because we BOTH do... all of our friends do.
we all go home from work, have a couple glasses, enjoy the evening and go to bed... I kinda thought this was normal.

But now its gotten me thinking --- are we all alcoholics and we dont even know it?
I CAN go home and not pour a glass of wine - but I dont want to... so, because I dont want to, does that make this a problem?

Replies

  • head_in_rainbows
    head_in_rainbows Posts: 290 Member
    a girlfriend of mine messaged me this weekend that she thinks she has a problem with alcohol.... that she might be an alcoholic.
    My response to her was, "I dont think you do.. but if YOU think you do, then we will do something about it"

    here's the thing... i didnt think she had a problem. We go out together all the time & I never see her drunk. We have wine or martinis, talk, have fun and then go home. I know she drinks wine every evening because we BOTH do... all of our friends do.
    we all go home from work, have a couple glasses, enjoy the evening and go to bed... I kinda thought this was normal.

    But now its gotten me thinking --- are we all alcoholics and we dont even know it?
    I CAN go home and not pour a glass of wine - but I dont want to... so, because I dont want to, does that make this a problem?

    I had a similar situation around january/february. I would drink around 2-3 bottles of wine a week by myself. I was not getting drunk or skipping work due to hang over but ... it was simply a lot and it scared me plus all the calories shoot my weight to the limits. Around that time a friend called me and told me that he is an alcoholic. We met and talked and I sugested that he meet with a therapist and fortunately he decided to do it and now he is clean. I guess what I'm trying to say is that ... me back in January and from what you wrote I guess you now were not alcoholics but it is very close to that line when you don't say "I can go home and not pour a glass of wine but I don't want to" to "I can't go home and not pour a glass of wine". Judging by what you said, I guess you don't have a problem yet but your body is getting very accustomed to daily doses of alcohol and it can end very bad. Anyway, I decided to stop drinking for 3 months and stick to it. Afterwards it was normal again, 1-2 glasses a week unless holidays and partys :) Good luck!
  • cliffismyinspiration
    cliffismyinspiration Posts: 12
    I thought the same thing that I was just like any other girl in college going out to parties and drinking to get drunk all the time but then I started associating it as an outlet a solve all for my problems but I wanted to keep myself in check so I figured drinking beer or wine wouldn't be as bad but I was drinking it every other night to get a buzz or get a little drunk so I could forget about my troubles with work, relationships, or school but for me I noticed that whenever had something stressful happen to me I would turn back to liquor. Now I have been 3 weeks sober and have never felt better. It sounds like you aren't nearly as far gone as I am but I would suggest to you that if you have a weight loss goal treat wine, beer, and liquor like an ice cream cone and only have it once in a while and never ever drink alone because that is the first step towards an alcohol problem. Hope I said something useful lol.
  • TNTwedell
    TNTwedell Posts: 277 Member
    thanks for the comments - you both make a LOT of sense --- and I especially like the idea of treating wine as my "ice cream", it kind of puts it into a different perspective, so i dont go home and NOT have wine. But more, wine is a treat.
    I dont think I have a problem, but I also dont want to ever feel like I do....
    Im going to have to rally my friends around the concept too ;)
    HAHAHAH.
  • ncthomas09
    ncthomas09 Posts: 322 Member
    Just make sure you always have your willpower in control of it. My boyfriend used to drink one or two beers a night and over time it turned into 4-5 and so on. Then one night he tells me his is going to a friends house after work (he gets off at 11pm) to work on his truck. I wake up at 4am home alone...again at 5...again at 7 (at this point I started texting/calling)...by 1030am he finally comes home. No he wasn't at the house working on his truck he went to the bar with said friend (bars close at 5am here) and got so wasted he had to be helped to his truck and didn't know where he was when I called at 7am...

    Since then he has cut waaaaaay back and actually stocks non alcoholic beer in the house now instead. He is taking baby steps to it. But basically his willpower wasn't able to control his want or "need" for booze. So I would say as long as you can keep it controlled I would say you are fine. With him he felt the need to lie to me about it because the booze was too enticing.

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