Alcoholism

[Vix]

How many of you come home from you well respected job gagging for a beer?? And by that I mean, that is the first thing you do before dropping your bags, briefcase or keys.. Run to your fridge grab yr can and breath a sigh of relief after your first gluuug
And if so, how many of you think that is called alcoholism?

[Amelia G]

I'm not a big drinker, although I do like the taste of beer and it is my preferred tipple if drinking to excess.

I guess that could be incipient alcoholism, but it sounds like it might be a case of stress and needanewjobitus.

[mystoo]

i've def. had those days before when the first think i do after a bullshit day is reach for a drink. A drink, not 30 drinks so no, i wouldn't consider that alcoholism.

[Morning Glory]

it's not like I always have to drink a beer, but I can't really drink without getting drunk, and once I start I don't stop until I can't drink anymore. Well, that's not true, that's how I used to be, and I could just drink one beer now if I wanted to without a problem, or no beer. In fact, that is what I'm doing. It's been about a year since I've had a drink and I don't plan on having another one.

[Ajax Knucklebones]

I think alcoholics want a beer first thing, no matter what kind of day they had. They had a good day, a bad day...Doesn't matter.

[Mr Karl]

alcoholism is when you make sure your drunk all the time, not just after you leave your respectable job

[DonkeyMoses]

There is a difference between being an alcoholic and being a drunk. I've known plenty of functional alcoholics who get through the day at work just fine, but have to have a few beers in the evening or they'll get the shakes. My wife and I have to dry out now and then just to make sure that's not happening to us. We don't drink a lot, but we drink frequently. Only two or three beers in a night, but sometimes every night for a stretch. But when we don't, it's ok. We don't crave it.

[jonny.illuminati]

There is a difference between being an alcoholic and being a drunk. I've known plenty of functional alcoholics who get through the day at work just fine, but have to have a few beers in the evening or they'll get the shakes. My wife and I have to dry out now and then just to make sure that's not happening to us. We don't drink a lot, but we drink frequently. Only two or three beers in a night, but sometimes every night for a stretch. But when we don't, it's ok. We don't crave it.

the wife and i are basically the same...

for a 1 year stretch she was drinking pretty heavy... 2 bottles of wine a night for "dinner"... that was a bit of a problem, but was directly related to my last trip to iraq... she was fine until 2 months into my trip she found out from a reporter friend of ours who was in iraq at the same time that i wasn't actually sitting on a desk in some operations center and the truth was i was going out on combat missions every night... (i kinda lied)... (thank you Lara Logan) ...that's when it got bad. once i made it home, the crazy stopped and things reverted back to the normal drink a few or don't it doesn't really matter

[Amelia G]

the wife and i are basically the same...

for a 1 year stretch she was drinking pretty heavy... 2 bottles of wine a night for "dinner"... that was a bit of a problem, but was directly related to my last trip to iraq... she was fine until 2 months into my trip she found out from a reporter friend of ours who was in iraq at the same time that i wasn't actually sitting on a desk in some operations center and the truth was i was going out on combat missions every night... (i kinda lied)... (thank you Lara Logan) ...that's when it got bad. once i made it home, the crazy stopped and things reverted back to the normal drink a few or don't it doesn't really matter

That must be a contender for the blue ribbon for world's biggest white lie

[Rockwulf]

My drinking is either stressful or social.

When I come home from work 9 times out of ten I'll stop at my bar. Either I'll really want a couple to unwind by myself. Or I'll stay all night because my friends are there and we have a blast.

[a_small_death]

I used to work for a call center and after a day in cs hell I would go through about 2-3 40's a night of steel or evil eye. This was the kind of job you couldn't come and not need a beer. Finally after the job closed and died I had to try slow down but it wasn't an easy thing. I fine now with a beer now and then but still like the old 211. I think if it wasn't for beer I would have shot people at that job to be honest.

[DonkeyMoses]

I used to work for a call center and after a day in cs hell I would go through about 2-3 40's a night of steel or evil eye. This was the kind of job you couldn't come and not need a beer. Finally after the job closed and died I had to try slow down but it wasn't an easy thing. I fine now with a beer now and then but still like the old 211. I think if it wasn't for beer I would have shot people at that job to be honest.

Yea, that. My work isn't stressful right now, but sometimes we come home from theater tech work after a stage strike at around 1 or 2 in the morning. Even though we're sometimes exausted and with an 8:00 call the next morning, we're so amped up from the work (it really is like team sports) we need a beer and a bowl just to wind down enough to go to sleep. That's really the only time I would say I need a beer rather than simply would like one.

[Rockwulf]

God I miss theater work. I loved being both on and backstage. It's like a drug.

[Ubiquitress]

God I miss theater work. I loved being both on and backstage. It's like a drug.

I feel the same way ,until its flamenco, and then it hurts just a little and that beer sounds awfully good at the end of the day. Beer has food value but food has no beer value.

[Vix]

I had beer this afternoon when i got home from work... and am now on some wine.

i blame my manager

[soma_stardust]

i'm too poor to drink.
so i smoke.
o_O

~soma~

[Vix]

Depending on what you smoke.... But certainly ciggys are most deffo more expansive that a small bottle of cheap wine :p

[Toe Cutter]

I open a beverage upon arriving at my home from work. I don't fiend like an addict about it like you described, but I like to take the edge off.

I self-medicate, but I don't call that alcoholism. Blacking-out then waking up face down with a wet-butt and a empty liter of vodka in your hand. Rock-bottom. I call that alcoholism.

[Morning Glory]

that's true, you can get walmart wine for like 2 or 3 bucks.

[Toe Cutter]

Yeah, Trader Joes has some really cheap wine too. You could drink two bottles of that shit for the price of one pack of American Spirit Cigs.

[Jax]

I do. But its not alcoholism. I dont "crave" it, its just nice to have after a long day. Im not dependent on it, like if I go a day or a year without it I wont get the shakes or fiend for it.

Alcoholism in my personal opinion is when it starts to affect your life, family, job, etc negatively.

[Ajax Knucklebones]

Well, there's plenty of "functioning" alcoholics and then there's plenty of alcoholics who THINK they function well. Big difference though.

I don't think having a couple of drinks after work makes you an alcoholic, but if you do it every night after work, constantly, sooner or later, if you have alcoholic tendencies, you will probably become addicted. Not meaning that you'll lose everything that's dear to you, but meaning, you'll be addicted to having those couple of drinks each night. You'll need to have them every night. I would call that a "light functioning alcoholic", because it doesn't go any farther.

If your like Jax, where you truthfully know you can just stop altogether at anytime, then you aren't an alcoholic at all. The problem is like most addictions, those addicted always say they can stop at anytime, but don't, because truthfully they can't.

I have alot of alcoholics in my family and my measurement to make sure I'm not an alcoholic is that if I ever feel like I HAVE to have that drink, that's when I'll stop. Sometimes just to past the test, after a long bullshit day at work where I really feel like I could use a drink, I don't. Just to see how bad that "need" really is. So far so good.

[Jax]

Eh I give in to my desires, and if its beer after work, Im not about to deny myself that. I work hard, but the difference is (and I know this from fact) I can drink a few beers every day for almost a year and now I casually drink on a weekend (after 2 months of not having my after work beer at all). I cant wait until I move into my new apt, cause I miss unwinding in front of the xbox with some beer or whiskey and smoking inside and not in 30 degrees.

[Ajax Knucklebones]

Eh I give in to my desires, and if its beer after work, Im not about to deny myself that. I work hard, but the difference is (and I know this from fact) I can drink a few beers every day for almost a year and now I casually drink on a weekend (after 2 months of not having my after work beer at all). I cant wait until I move into my new apt, cause I miss unwinding in front of the xbox with some beer or whiskey and smoking inside and not in 30 degrees.

Yeah, but it sounds that there is a certain method to your madness. A kind of moderation. Jax, you know you aren't going hog wild on the drinking. You know it because I can tell you've thought about it and you know you're not.

Everybody knows their limit. Some people choose to stop when they get there. Others choose to say , "Fuck it." and keep going. I think that's when the "isms" start creeping in.

Vonnegut always said, "Everything in moderation". Meaning EVERYTHING...Meaning as long as you don't go excessive in any vice, everything's on the table to do. I think this is a good slogan for my life.

Understanding yourself and not going excessive is key. Yes, we all go excessive in certain things at certain times, but when that excessiveness becomes a habit...Usually what's next ends in a "ism".