How do you become an alcoholic 

132 weeks sober today from 34 years heavy drinking. Fight of my life. Subscribed.

I too am a normal alcoholic as my father and grandfather and great grandfather before me. A quote attributed to Brendan Behan, Irish poet and novelist, “One drink is too many for me and a thousand not enough.” I think that sentiment applies to all alcoholics. One day at a time.

I found this on the internet: Pre-Alcoholic: Little evidence of problem drinking, general experimentation & alcohol tolerance develops as the person begins drinking more regularly as a coping mechanism for anxiety, stress, or other emotions. Early stage Alcoholic: Alcohol misuse starts. Drinking becomes more regular, and individuals begin using social gatherings as an excuse to drink. They may also start consuming alcohol to cope with the negative consequences caused by drinking such as hangovers. Middle stage Alcoholic: Drinking frequently and consistently, maybe even starting off their day with a drink. They may struggle with worsening relationships with friends and family or experience changes to their behavior that impacts them negatively. They often experience health impacts associated with heavy drinking such as hangovers or feeling sick more often than when not drinking. Late stage Alcoholic: This final phase leads to a complete loss of control over alcohol consumption-where the person feels they must drink. At this point, the individual’s body begins to require the presence of alcohol to feel normal, known as dependence. When the individual does not consume alcohol regularly, they may experience withdrawal symptoms and intense cravings.

Thanks for the post. I stopped drinking right around 32 also. Could never stop on my own despite my best efforts. AA saved me

I was a one night a week Alcoholic binge drinker I could drink normally most of the time but when I went out on a Saturday night I’d get hopelessly drunk, so it was all or nothing for me I had to quit , there are different forms of alcoholism different layers to it and they can all kill you or mess up your life in so many ways !

I was having difficulty breathing during the day. Finding that a few beers fixed that told me it was withdrawal symptoms. Been sober for years now, if I drink I go into immediate Withdrawal which is hell. I see it as a blessing that keeps me sober.

Well spoken sir. I'm 40 now, and for all those who feel like there is no light at the end of the tunnel, well there is. The first step in recovery is accepting and taking accountability for your actions and decisions. Hang in there and God bless!

I have been drinking heavily for 35 years and put drinking before everything even if it meant being on the street. I can easily drink 20 beers a day and realized I have a problem decades ago. I literally had nothing to lose other than possibly my life. Tried Vivitrol, Naltrexone, Treatment but I was dedicated and didn't sincerely have the drive or ambition to stop. Change only comes when you believe you owe it to yourself.

I quit alcohol at 33 years old after starting at 17. I was diagnosed for alcoholism by a psychologist in my twenties. Today, i'm six months away from 70 and at my last doctor's visit I heard my doctor say about my kidney functions; Beautiful. I had an EKG run on my heart and I heard another doctor say about my heart's function: beautiful. That was a few years back. All blood categories totally normal, save for glucose and mild neuropathy. (I got sick off an antipsychotic drug years back - developed diabetes). Hearing and seeing these medical results simply states it is definitely worth quitting alcohol all together. I can count a large number of drinking alcoholic friends that never saw 60. And some only a year or two beyond fifty. I started phasing it out in my twenties. If you can quit alcohol just think about your medical evaluations at 70 and where you want those evaluations and numbers to be. You definitely don't want them in the drink.

I was an alcoholic from age 6, when my Mum got me to act as a taster for her home-made wine, before taking it round to the local Wine Circle. If I said it was good, she always won with it. I finally kicked it 5 years ago, aged 58.

I was in a group therapy for alcohol and others were there for drugs and one guy described it as Once you cross that bridge You can’t go back “ I thought that was pretty good but basically means , one can never drink or drug again cause sooner or later it’s gonna go to hell !! Glad I’m sober tonight, Saturday night on top of it 😊

My story is very similar to yours. I've destroyed close relationships through it. The only thing I have left is my family. I'm trying my best to keep the drink at bay but it's so easy to slip when I get stressed. I'm trying to tell myself not to feel guilty when I fail and just keep trying to get better. I know I feel a thousand percent better when I'm abstinent but it only takes something to set me off again. Personally I feel it's going to be a constant battle that I have to manage rather than beat myself up with when I fail. Good luck to you. My thoughts are with you brother.

Addiction is addiction... It can be hard to fix. You can know you're addicted but you still have to take care of the problem...😮

I grew up in a Ah home so I’m an adult child of a ah. I started Al anon in 1998 and I’ve learned so much ❤️God bless

Congratulations on your sobriety! And thank you for reaching out to other sufferers. There for but the Grace of God go I!

This man talks so much sense. Brilliant and as he says… ‘sobering!’

The two best things I ever did for my life was quit drinking after 23 years and get divorced, two extremely toxic things that was ruining my life

I'm number 500 . Glad to be here . I struggle most days. Can only put a few good days together at this point but in trying and I want so hard. Thanks for being here

I knew I was an alcoholic when I chose to buy alcohol one day with the last money I had instead of buying my kids food

Bravo…one of the best insights I’ve heard about alcoholism. I was married to a high functioning, high bottom alcoholic for 20 years; divorced for 15. A grateful AlAnon for almost 25 years with close ties to AA. I’ve always heard you are the only one who can decide if you’re an alcoholic; you’ve taken out the guesswork. Congrats on your sobriety.

Thanks. I have struggled for 40 years and your piece is no-nonsense and much appreciated.

80-90 percent of people that drink any amount of you tell them they can’t ever drink again guarantee there will be some kind of anxiety involved in the mere thought of it shows you how powerful that drug really is

Keep it up mate, anytime I ever think about having a drink I just remember the horrorshow my life was when I drank, it stops any temptation instantly.

My best friend is an alcoholic. She Went into liver failure at 35 (5 years ago). Hospital gathered us to discuss end of life care as they had tried everything they could. We had her medivac'd to The Lahey Clinic in Burlington, MA USA and they had ONE last trick they could try to save her and by a miracle of God, it worked. She was in hospital for 6 months. Had to re-learn to walk, eat etc. Today, she is still alcohol free. Her liver has repaired itself. She has a lot of memory problems. I would advise everyone to quick and quick today. Seek help and do whatever you have to, to stop. Good luck to all.

For most people they just happen to not be able to stop drinking once they start. If you find you can't stop when you want or you don't know what's going to happen once you start drinking, you are probably alcoholic.

How very vulnerable. Amazing. I wish you health and total healing and happiness.

These and other honest videos I have watched are a big help in staying off the booze. Many thanks for your wise words.

For me I drink/drank not for stress but for internal stress/adhendonia and feeling flat. Alcohol changes that. It helps regulate that. Unfortunately it's not always in the gutter story that you see in AA. I go to AA and it helps but the emotional pain can be difficult if not treated i.e. mental health needs to be address but often us in recovery are treated like we are all the same; some of us have ASD and sensory overload is common and alcohol becomes a crutch. I'm sober now and in recovery. Shame we have lack of rehab facilities that address the reason why we drink

Honest and sincere guy. Good luck on your journey to recovery. Best wishes.

Im an alcoholic and an addict. I have battled this for 34 years. I had 7 years of sobriety at one point but flushed it all down the toilet when i got a case of the fuck its and moved down to the caribbean in the us virgin islands. After a 4 year bender i am happy to say that i now have 45 days clean and sober. I dont know what you do, but i am in AA i have gotten into therapy, i watch videos about recovery and have even started my own youtube channel where i tell my story and talk about diferent topics of sobriety. My life has never been better. And its all because i dont pick up the bottle. But for the grace of god go I.

For a tremendous number of people, including me, we were born with the "More is better" gene. The compulsive behavior was present long before we drank. It didn't matter if it was food or drink, swimming, little league baseball, riding my StingRay, playing marbles, etc, etc. "More" was always better. In the case of drinking alcohol, my body physically processes alcohol differently from a "normal" drinker. Hence, the immediate addiction to something that gave me psychological, and physical pleasure. So, when we talk about "crossing the line", it is instantaneous for a great number of people. I didn't recognize this until after I finally got sober, and was able to identify my DNA, as clearly as that of an addict. Addicted to what, you ask?... Everything! My goose was cooked at 16. I just didn't know it... Now for the good news...long term sobriety is not only possible, but probable, IF we are willing to "live differently". Simple as that. In three days, May 8th, 2024 I will celebrate 30 years of continuous sobriety. Other than showing up at meetings on a regular basis, I take no credit for this. It is about the "Group", who have guided me along in the greatest adventure of my life! ✌️♥️ Mark

Quick test for alcoholism: Stop drinking. If you start getting agitated, shaky, and tachycardic within the first 12-24 hrs, you're an alcoholic. Continuing to ignore that will only make quitting that much harder. There may come a point where you're going thru withdrawls within 4-8 hrs.

The moment I knew I was an alcoholic was when I stopped drinking for flavor and enjoyment. After my separation with my wife, I found that I stopped drinking the nice tasty craft beers I always enjoyed for their flavor, instead I started drinking more quantity of terrible cheap beer. I stopped drinking the nice single malt scotches and high end bourbons and almost unconsciously swapped to bottom shelf and justified drinking more because it was cheaper. Alcohol is a worse drug than people realize it is. It’s insidious because it’s everywhere, it’s legal, and almost expected for everyone to partake. I’m far from kicking this addiction, but one day I’ll get there. If i could rewind time, I would’ve never tried it, despite all the good times I’ve had with it.

Well done on making the videos and your fortitude in stopping , it’s good you had the emotional intelligence to stop 🛑 it’s not easy at any age I’m 53 I quit at 48 , the earlier the better says I !

❤ Such a great honest share ❤ I need to sort my toxic relationship out with alcohol out & really deal with past trama, instead of helping it makes anxiety worse. Good luck everyone ❤❤❤

Born Alcoholic now I'm a recovered Alcoholic as long as i do a few things... it's not easy at times but sobriety is habit forming

Thank you for the Video, stay strong and god bless

Congrats on your sobriety! You’re a strong bloke!

Well said. Come to think of it, anyone who drinks alcohol is an alcoholic🤔 You may not think of it that way but for the fact that you loose something that makes you an alcoholic. You may not be like the guy who lost everything but in a way you loose something, money health etc.

Amazing share x

My Brothers are telling me I am an "Alcoholic" because I am dependent on "Alcohol" Every Day. I have a severe swallowing problem, with which I need a drink to get food down my throat. But, my Mother, who I was "Looking After" until the "Social Worker" took her out of my hands, and put her into "Nursing Care" until she "Passed Away" 5 weeks ago. I tried Mum, I tried to look after you, but now all I feel is guilt. For what I have could have done better. She was just a "Bag of Bones" before she "Passed Away" R.I.P. Mum. At least your suffering is now over.

Thank you

You’re alcoholic when you are ready to put the poison down … sit with The pain and realize it will pass / it will pass - pain , joy , happiness , boredom - all will pass - and thru the passing without “ sleeping “ feeling the pain is the life / cause all passes - even Alcoholism - with death it will pass even happiness without drinking will pass - IT will pass and the it will flip and then what - breathe and see and let each breathe take you closer and closer then on the Point and that one cannot describe

Bless you ❤

Too true ❤

To qualify for being an alcoholic you don’t need to be done for drink drinking bedwetting divorced loss of jobs being hospitalised etc etc there’s only 2 things that qualify you control(or lack of it) and having lost the choice in Wether your going to drink again. The things we do when drinking is nothing to do with why we are alcoholic that’s the consequences of our drinking. A lot of nonalcoholics ie heavy drinkers do these things

I have a hard time understanding alcoholism because of the way my body responds to alcohol. I certainly will drink to excess but the next day I feel so lousy the next day that I “never” want to drink again. So then it’s at least several days before I even think about having a drink. Alcohol also does not make me feel better. I have to be in a good mood to enjoy drinking and, if I’ve had a rough day, I’d prefer to be left alone to take a nap.

I thought it was a cool thing being an alcoholic, for 30 years I had the illusion I could manage it but didn t.

You don’t have to lose it all to BE an alcoholic.

Sober for 44 years and 17 days. Don’t start on trash in the first place and this whooooole darn subject becomes absolutely moot. There is no excuse….

I also started at 16...

I like alcohol very much but when I see that it is harmful I don't drink

Drinking alcohol a lot.

I became an alcoholic way back in 96 when I started my job, peer pressure!! Only 18!! Now its a problem they want me out!!! Teased and mocked for not handling my addiction like an adult!! Well my wife bet them to it! And if it wasn't for alcohol I probably wouldn't have had a wife and kids!! Don't see many friends who drink anymore either now so it gave me a life and quickly took it away !!! Gonna be hard to rebuild this one as so many bridges have been burned!!

How? By drinking alcohol.

How do you cook a egg...

Excellent that you could see you had developed a problem.

I think about how much money I've spent from 2001 to 2023 on booze, small fortune pissed away.

What do you mean by a normal alcoholic?

I don’t have the discipline to be an alcoholic. I tried, but was too lazy to go to the beer store on a daily basis. I’d look out the window and see that it was raining or snowing and say : fuck that - I’m staying home.

Shaking 😮

It’s a demon . I’m going through it now . Feel like God has gave up on me .

Move to Scotland 👍

Drinking

JEREMIAH 17:9

I used to drink a lot of vodka. I stopped and started smoking weed. Now I do not have any hangovers and work out every morning. Life is much better.

HB

Have unbalanced awakening amangled neck 3rd eye blind, crooked crown, basically instant ptsd, the burning alive,

🥱

Stop labelling yourself as an alcoholic. And stop drinking. Drink only water. It’s as simple as that dude

its not hard

I get shitfaced sometimes three times per week and play video games, and Im 35, no family, no social life, and Im just fine with the way things are.

If I can be as honest, this really doesn't take any skills or talent

A terrible video mate

You don’t realize you’re an alcoholic until you stop consuming alcohol. That’s when it hits. I did it. Trust me.

I started drinking heavy and getting addicted at 32 working as a chef. We used to get free drinks. I didnt drink at all for 3 years previous. My father drank, grandfathers too and once it grips you it can be so hard to shake. Im now 43 and struggle a bit but what keeps me away from it is running, jiu jitsu and weights. There were even times where id spend the rent money on alcohol instead of the rent but luckily i wasnt kicked out.