How is being drunk a sin ?

I have to go with my home boy Jim Koch. I love Sam Adams beer.

Virgil the Roman said:

Guinness is terribly over-rated: Killian's is much better.

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Generally I agree, but I still like it. Roommate had never had one, so I opted to buy some for him.

Hi there!

I would love to be able to drink in a normal fashion again. Before I let it get the best of me, I drank Jameson's Irish over ice or good, red wine.

William_0 said:

I love me some Scotch.

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I went with a miller and a double scotch. Over subs, cake and icecream and three hours time and I stopped there and am home legal and nice and relaxed. Life is good.

sylverpiano said:

Hi there!

I would love to be able to drink in a normal fashion again. Before I let it get the best of me, I drank Jameson's Irish over ice or good, red wine.

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Did you read that link posted earlier by any chance?

Hi there, JoabAnias!

Yes, I did. I am an alcoholic. Eleven out of those 20 criteria fit me. With the help of the Lord, my sponsor, friends and family I had managed twenty two months of sobriety before my Mother's day lapse. Now, I have four weeks. I do not have the ability to drink responsibly.

sylverpiano said:

Hi there, JoabAnias!

Yes, I did. I am an alcoholic. Eleven out of those 20 criteria fit me. With the help of the Lord, my sponsor, friends and family I had managed twenty two months of sobriety before my Mother's day lapse. Now, I have four weeks. I do not have the ability to drink responsibly.

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Hang in there and fight the good fight, every day. I grew up around a lot of alcoholics. I just talked to an old friend, he is in a halfway house. He lost his job, wife and kids.

I lost my brother a few years back. He did drugs and alcohol. He went to bed one night after doing drugs and drinking. He never woke up.

Don't let anyone pressure you. You know what you know.

God bless you for your 4 weeks.

sylverpiano said:

Hi there!

I would love to be able to drink in a normal fashion again. Before I let it get the best of me, I drank Jameson's Irish over ice or good, red wine.

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I cant really drink at all anymore. [sicker than a dog on very little]
One glass of wine perhaps if i am lucky.
But you are not missing anything.... at all. Gone are the lost days, the headaches, the missing hours, the loss of self control...

You are doing a wonderful job - so dont wish you could go back. Keep going forward and remember when we go beyond the point of ease, it is just pure poison.

eastcoast_bsc said:

Hang in there and fight the good fight, every day. I grew up around a lot of alcoholics. I just talked to an old friend, he is in a halfway house. He lost his job, wife and kids.

I lost my brother a few years back. He did drugs and alcohol. He went to bed one night after doing drugs and drinking. He never woke up.

Don't let anyone pressure you. You know what you know.

God bless you for your 4 weeks.

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I am sooooooooooooooooooo sorry EC.
I really am.

sylverpiano said:

Hi there, JoabAnias!

Yes, I did. I am an alcoholic. Eleven out of those 20 criteria fit me. With the help of the Lord, my sponsor, friends and family I had managed twenty two months of sobriety before my Mother's day lapse. Now, I have four weeks. I do not have the ability to drink responsibly.

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You are doing wonderfully.
We are behind you...and love you.
Thank goodness for your loved ones watching over you.
Bless you.

Thank you all.

Eastcoast, I am so sorry for your loss

sylverpiano said:

Thank you all.

Eastcoast, I am so sorry for your loss

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Thank you, I just wanted to convey the point that alcohol can be a poisonous and most deadly for some.

sylverpiano said:

Hi there, JoabAnias!

Yes, I did. I am an alcoholic. Eleven out of those 20 criteria fit me. With the help of the Lord, my sponsor, friends and family I had managed twenty two months of sobriety before my Mother's day lapse. Now, I have four weeks. I do not have the ability to drink responsibly.

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Yea, I took that article with a grain of salt. The numbers were way high for me. They might work for someone who has never drank before but they seem like a slippery slope to me. The amount of drinking that article suggested was unrealistic for about anyone I think. If I drank 14 drinks per week or up to 4 drinks per day I would form a habit that would more than likely get the best of me in a week.

I drank so much when I was underage, I was burned out on drinking before I could buy alchohol legally. Literally gallons and gallons of whiskey, and vodka in 1982 alone. Its taken me 20 years to get where I can have one or two without loosing control and track of my limit and even still, to this day, I have to be very careful. I never start drinking without a set limit and the max is 2-3 and thats it. And then I can take it or leave it.

If I know I can't stay under the limit to drive within an hour or so I don't even start. I can't drink every weekend either, thats just too frequently. Mostly just summer gatherings. 20 years ago it wasn't so, I'd get three down and that was the end of the bottom. From there it just didn't exist any more and more often than not, it got the best of me. I had to just quit for good and it wasn't easy but I did and after a year or two, of staying perseverant and honest about my weakness I got comfortable with abstinence.

I haven't forgotten that and only have any at all now for other reason than to get high. I had 20 years completely sober before trying a single beer on a hot day again. I'm definitely not cured, I've just learned me a bit better, so am able to see the red flags of loss of control a lot easier now.

Thats also how I know I couldn't possibly have a single smoke or cigar without wanting another and another until the chemical cravings in the brain outweighed the will power and I broke down and bought some and would waste all the struggle I've gone through to quit.

Even these computer screens have been shown to cause increases in dopamine. Healing an addiction is a slow process. It literally takes healing the neuro pathways and receptors in the brain. The brain is an amazing organ. It adapts. Axons atrophy and grow according to their use. The ones that crave substances need to fall dormant by lack of use or starvation if you will and it takes time. Lots of time. Being honest with yourself as you are, is key.

I only scored a 7.

Down south, I'd be recohnized as a high-functioning alcoholic.

Where I live, I'm pretty much right in there with what society expects. Lots of Germans and Poles 'round these parts. Lots of Catholics too

Eastcoast, I'll remember you and your family in my prayers. I recall you posting around the time your brother died. Tragic.

Mike, are you talking about this article?

JoabAnias said:

Social Drinkers, Problem Drinkers and High-Functioning Alcoholics | Psychology Today

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If so, my score would be 2.

Rebekka said:

Mike, are you talking about this article?

If so, my score would be 2.

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You've got a lot of catching up to do, sweetheart.

1. inability to control alcohol intake after starting to drink No
2. obsessing about alcohol (ie, next time the person can drink, how they are going to get alcohol, who they're going to go out drinking with) No
3. behaving in ways, while drunk, that are uncharacteristic of their sober personality Yes. How would you know you were drunk otherwise?
4. repeating unwanted drinking patterns No.
5. surrounding themselves socially with heavy drinkers Yes...though perhaps because the people I like just happen to also appreciate the finer things..
6. getting drunk before actually arriving at parties/bars (pre-partying) No.
7. increasing sense of denial that their heavy drinking is a problem because they are able to succeed professionally and personally Maybe. If it doesn't have any negative consequences, then it's not negative, right?
8. setting drinking limits (ie, only having 3 drinks, only drinking 3 days per week) and not being able to adhere to them No.
9. driving drunk and, by sheer luck, not getting arrested or involved in an accident Drunk by law (.08)? Probably. Innebriated to the point of being a worse-than-average driver? No.
10. always having to finish an alcoholic beverage or even another person's unfinished beverage Yes, my own anyway. I don;t ever remember drinking part of a beverage, alcoholic or otherwise, and not finishing it.
11. using alcohol as a reward No.
12. drinking daily Yes.
13. living a double life by separating drinking life from professional or home life
14. binge drinking (more than 5 drinks in one sitting) Generally no
15. having chronic blackouts (memory lapse due to excessive drinking) and not remembering what they did for a portion of their drinking episode No.
16. feeling guilt and shame about their drunken behaviors No.
17. taking breaks from drinking and then increasing alcohol consumption when they resume drinking after a period of time No.
18. people have expressed concern about their negative drunken behaviors
19. engaging in risky sexual behavior when intoxicated No.
20. not being able to imagine their life without alcohol in it Yes to an extent. I like to go to concerts and nice dinners and such, and alcohol is certainly a part of the experience.

oh i don't need to take a quiz. i am a functioning alkie.

From that list, I said yes to #3 and 11, and I have a wedding this week so I guess 14 will apply then, too.