To Alcoholics......?

Question

I am doing a class project on alcoholism. Not having anyone close to me suffer from it, I have trouble understanding sometimes. What I want to know, is if there is anyone out there who has suffered from alcoholism, sought help through AA or another form, and has been able to get back to a medium, such as a social drinker, or having a drink casually as most do without having any problems. OR do you need to not touch alcohol at all?

Also, the second part of our project, is determining if many are "Excused" from being seen as alcoholics simply because they are in college. So if anyone has thoughts as to the theory "You're not an alcoholic until you graduate" please let me know. We'd like to see if the amount an alcoholic consumes is comparable to that of your average college student.

THIS IS SERIOUS SO I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF THERE WERE NO JOKES OR BOGUS POSTS ON THIS MATTER

Thanks

Answer 1

Hi!
I started my first year of college at what many people would consider a "good" university in August.
I wasn't a drinker until I got to college. My mother and her husband drink rarely, but my father, whom I was not raised by, is an alcoholic and his father was an alcoholic.
I started drinking as an activity to do with my new living mates. I started to realize that I was always the one asking "what happend last night?" I tried to change my ways so that I wouldn't get ****** up as much, even though on occasions that was my goal. I tried hanging out with ppl that drank differently, only "pre-gaming," only drinking when I got to parties, eating a full meal before drinking, and changing my preference in drink, but I always ended up ****** up as hell- like pissing my pants, vomiting, blacking out, waking up with bruises and such.
I got into trouble with the university often ( I know the whole system like the ABC's)
I can't begin to tell you the troubles that I got into- but really, no matter what troubles I got into NOTHING could stop me from drinking.

I am not even done with my first year of college-just because you're in college doesn't mean you can't be alcoholic.

I am grateful for over a month of serenity and sobriety. They go hand in hand for me.

Answer 2

My dad is a recovering alcoholic and he hasn't even touched a drop in 18 years. He tried to wait 90 days and did but had a drink the next day and tried to wait and lost my mom us kids, then he lost his fiance, then he lost another fiance and two kids before he realized that he has to just stop completely. He goes to AA every week still and sponsors a lot of other people.

Now as to the college kids, well the thing is that most people in college drink like crazy b/c well they can, they have no responsibilities and no real bills. But after they graduate most people stop b/c they have to go to work everyday and they start families and or whatever. Plus I know 24 isn't old, but at some point your body can't take it anymore. When your in college you can stay up drinking all night wake up go to your classes and stay up late drinking again everyday. as you get to 23-24 your body just won't let you anymore. And by 25-26 you just won't be able to do that anymore. So they say you don't need AA until you graduate b/c really you probably don't. Its just the lifestyle. But if it continues after then yeah. Time to try to slow down or quit if you can't. Good luck with your assignment.

Answer 3

I'm 45 and a recovering alcoholic. I've been drinking for 44 years. That's right-44 years!. I had a father who couldn't stand to hear little ones cry at night, so he put vodka and orange juice in my bottle. It's just been in the last ten years that it really got out of control. I committed suicide once and attempted it again (I'm a self-mutilator-big time) and have been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for the last five years. Drinking alcohol was a way for me to self-medicate myself against alot of mental issues I've been dealing with since early childhood. I was never one to "rush to the mental health" people, but I probably should have long ago. Alcohol was always present in my house while I was growing up, so that became, logically, my drug of choice. At my worst, I was drinking 7-8 double shots of rum and coke, a six pack of beer, and just about a gallon of wine-every night. I have no idea how much college students drink, but I know that several alcohol related deaths have occurred on campuses that shouldn't have. It's one thing to drink to try and erase extremely painful memories;it's another thing to be a dumbass just to make pledge to a fraternity house. In any case, I've been "dry" for over ninety days now-the longest in ten years-, but that can change in a heart-beat. I must avoid what are called "triggers"; anything that can trigger an old emotion, a certain smell, place,person etc. I've become a prisoner in my own home it seems like. I'm really determined this time to kick it. As far as being "excused" simply because they're in college- I ask you; does society really need such people who say such dumbass things?

Answer 4

I was an alcoholic at a very young age. Drank all day and all night sometimes. The one thing that got me to quit was getting pregnant. I quit cold turkey and the withdrawal symptoms were awful-very moody, shaky, no appetite, insomnia. I didn't drink for the entire 9 months I was pregnant-except what I had drank before I found out I was pregnant. This was over 5 years ago. After I had my son, the hard addiction left me. I was able to drink at a responsible rate and to this day I still am. I'm not exactly sure why, but I can still drink and not get anywhere near what I was before. I hope this somewhat helps.

Answer 5

I'm not an alcoholic, but I'm a nurse who has worked with and befriended many.
No true alcoholic can drink again without going back to the old behavior. Those who try, relapse and have to start all over.
Alcoholism has no age requirements. I've treated 12-13 year olds who were alcoholics.
I can't give you any info on how much college students drink. Sorry.

Answer 6

I'm a recovering alcoholic and member of AA. I haven't had a drink in 8 1/2 years, but prior to my recovery it was pretty common for me to drink the equivalent of 1/2 quart of liquor every night; sometimes a lot more. I am a 110 pound woman so that is a lot of booze to drink every day! For myself, I believe it is necessary for me to avoid alcohol completely. The simple fact is that I do not have a choice over whether or not to drink moderately. I can't. It's as simple as that. I wasted over 25 years of my life trying to, and that's enough for me.

As far as being "excused" during college, yes, that is a common thing, and if you ask me, it's sad. We get new, young recruits in AA all the time, kids who are obviously alcoholic, who've nearly destroyed themselves, who have been kicked out of school and can't seem to draw a sober breath, and they insist they "can't" be alcoholics because they are "too young". It's absurd, because alcoholism can take hold at any age; I personally was drinking alcoholically at age 13 and was full-blown by the time I was in college.

Answer 7

First of all it is reprehensible if your teacher pointed you towards AA. AA is a cult & generally leads to worse behaviors than members went in with.

see this site
http://www.orange-papers.org/

Scientology is a cult that also deals with addiction. The difference being that I actually know people who have "gotten better" with scientology. In my mind if you stop drinking for 4 months, but they are the most miserable of your life, it was not a huge success.

Drinking and lot's of other things happen in college that are not a daily part of most adults lives. People "experiment" in college with many things in college mainly due to huge amount of misinformation pushed on children up to age 18. People tell kids that drugs and alcohol will ruin their lives and point to the most extreme situations they have ever heard of as part of the norm.

The greater the amount of BS shoved down a kids throat the more likely the are to "see for themselves" whether drugs and alcohol are actually evil.

In my experience kids who drank with their parents (Italians, people from Wisconsin, etc) were taught how to be responsible with booze. Not surprisingly latter in life when they drank they were fine.

Likewise people whose parents lied or grossly exaggerated the dangers of having a beer, had major problems when they moved out of their parents houses. Because especially if these kids went to college where they sit in classes with "normal" kids there age, they are likely to pick up on the idea that the most successful people in main stream society are social drinkers. However they may rely more on the idea that drinking is moral or religious issue. So that if they do drink, they will likely be depressed doing it (which is dangerous because alcohol is a depressant).

Many of the names of the persons who signed the declaration independence owned either small breweries or distillations.

Moderation.

If you must sin do so with gin. Seriously that stuff closest to hangover free as man has come up with to date, & beer will make you chubby.

Answer 8

I am a 23yr old alcoholic. I would definitly drink at least 10 neat whiskeys a night. I am covering for feelings of hurt, frustration, pain, and depression by drinking my life away. Even right now I have a drink by my side.. I think alcoholics are of all ages and where i am from, Ireland - its almost acceptable for ppl of all ages to be dependant on it. Anyways, I hope that some day Ican come back to a social status- but that is a mountain for me to climb some day..

Answer 9

AS A HEAVY DRINKER / ALCOHOLIC I THINK THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO GET TO A HAPPY MEDIUM BUT FEW DO. IT'S JUST TOO EASY TO HAVE THAT NEXT DRINK AND THEN ANOTHER. I HOPE THAT I CAN GET TO THAT POINT BUT I DON'T KNOW, I'M COMFORTABLE BEING A SOCIAL ALCOHOLIC. I HOPE THAT HELPS SOME. ANY MORE Q'S HIT DASIA399ON YAHOO.