Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselling Thread

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johnny77
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09 Dec 2012, 8:54 pm

Image Keep it up.



richardbenson
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10 Dec 2012, 11:33 am

Thanks.



sketches
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16 Dec 2012, 1:23 pm

Hi, what can I do if I know I'm an alcoholic but don't have any time to go to AA meetings for in-person counselling??? And am too scared to admit it to my own therapist and best friend (I have mentioned it to them many months ago, but the alcoholism continues in secret)???

Help?? (Sobbing on the inside) ;_; :pale:


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Venusflower67
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23 Dec 2012, 1:31 pm

Hiya Sketches

If you are able to download Paltalk there is a great online 12 step program group called AA OZtralia-Unity. Even though the admin is an Aussie, the group is open to all who have a desire to stop drinking, all over the world. You don't have to participate, but you will be able to listen online, through the Paltalk Program. There are also a few other online meetings from other places too, though most members cross over and do most of what's available. If you want more information, just pm me or email me: [email protected] . Anybody else who is interested is free to pm me also :) Everything is kept strictly confidential in these online rooms as they operate as closed groups.

God bless

Maz :)



johnny77
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25 Dec 2012, 1:23 am

sketches wrote:
Hi, what can I do if I know I'm an alcoholic but don't have any time to go to AA meetings for in-person counselling??? And am too scared to admit it to my own therapist and best friend (I have mentioned it to them many months ago, but the alcoholism continues in secret)???

Help?? (Sobbing on the inside) ;_; :pale:


Cutting back is a good first step.



RageHQ
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10 Jan 2013, 8:58 am

I've been really struggling with my drinking lately. I'm not into all that AA and crap, and believe it's all about will. But if that is so, I wonder where my willpower went. Is it the winter blues? I was doing really well in the summer of 2012. I was working out almost 5 times a week, I was eating healthy. I stopped smoking, drinking and smoking pot. And then towards October, it's been creeping back in on me. I started drinking wine, and my habits returned. LOL, all the weight I took off is coming back on. Started smoking again, but I stopped pot completely. A month clean... at least there is that... buuut, Last night I packed away a 12 pack of Budweiser, and was still only partially drunk. I woke up with barely any hangover, other than slight nausea and lethargy, yet in a great mood. I don't think that's a good thing at all! It's small things that trigger it. Just the past week, I adamantly was able to stay sober and then one day it physically took over my body that I CRAVED a drink.. I tried to fight it, but before I knew it, my feet did the walking for me, while in my head I was upset and knew I was making a mistake... but it grabbed me so hard all over I couldn't resist. I neeed a drink neeed one.... and here I am again. It's like my demons keep forcing me back into it, yet I'm supposed to be the one in control. I've been drunk 3 nights in a row now... it's terrible. So much for New Years resolutions, usually when you make them, they are so easily broken. Gonna fight it some more... the war isn't over yet. Yes, alcoholism runs in my birth family. They even made me drink just to shut me up. Was born with it in my system... and it still flows... gotta fight! :evil:


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AldousH
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21 Jan 2013, 5:12 pm

Opeth wrote:
I don't see why not, you're surrounded by it & it obviously effects you soooo. I hope you get SSI, sounds like a damn awful situation, the sooner you get out of there the better. I recently moved out (from home) & things have been so much better.

Yesterday was my Sister's Wedding, it was extremely hard with everyone drinking around me but I got through it for her and myself. First time I've been around others who were drinking, today was my 36th day.


Wow! Congrats! I don't remember being off the sauce for more than three weeks since I was 16.

I've been hitting the needle lately to stave of all the depressive feelings I get. Today I felt the worse, all the opiates in the world won't turn the sky to blue, it seems. (Kind of sh***y of me to use metaphors on these forums but I'm a bit of a drama queen today)



puddingmouse
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21 Jan 2013, 5:38 pm

AldousH wrote:
Opeth wrote:
I don't see why not, you're surrounded by it & it obviously effects you soooo. I hope you get SSI, sounds like a damn awful situation, the sooner you get out of there the better. I recently moved out (from home) & things have been so much better.

Yesterday was my Sister's Wedding, it was extremely hard with everyone drinking around me but I got through it for her and myself. First time I've been around others who were drinking, today was my 36th day.


Wow! Congrats! I don't remember being off the sauce for more than three weeks since I was 16.

I've been hitting the needle lately to stave of all the depressive feelings I get. Today I felt the worse, all the opiates in the world won't turn the sky to blue, it seems. (Kind of sh***y of me to use metaphors on these forums but I'm a bit of a drama queen today)


You're shooting now? How long has that been for?

It's been ages since I read this thread, the last time I checked you were taking painkillers, like I used to. I think it's a good thing I didn't know where to get heroin.



puddingmouse
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21 Jan 2013, 5:40 pm

legomyego wrote:
been sober from opiates for...a few months now except for a few beers and some weed...and some kratom...
but lately...well..not really lately...when ever i'm not high- i'm researching getting high...or reading others experience getting high...it's my favorite research topic..a guilty pleasure i can't tell most people about.
kind of sucks when your favorite interest is tied to getting high.....makes all other interests a little dull because your interest can be tied to an actual high. =/
maybe i've just never been sober long enough to experience true sobriety....
i once had a pot head friend say when he quits weed for long enough he gets high on life...
but i have never felt that...at least not since i was a young kid...
How long do you need to be sober for your body to have some sort of "high on life" aspects? or is this an NT thing? =/


I never feel high on life. Opiate addiction has a tendency to screw the pleasure receptors up in your brain.



Pabalebo
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27 Jan 2013, 2:51 pm

I'm not an alcoholic. I never drink by myself and I only drink with other people once or twice a week. However, I haven't quite gotten the hang of the whole "moderation" thing yet... every interaction I have involving alcohol seems to end up with me being absolutely shitfaced and making a complete ass out of myself... usually leading to me doing something either illegal or borderline illegal and always something that has a negative effect on my life overall...


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Phaeton
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09 Feb 2013, 2:01 pm

I do not drink. I have been using morphine as an antidepressant for 7 years now. Every other person I know that uses morphine has ended up with a habit they could not control.

As with any drug I take, they number one concern is to remain in control. This severly limits the amount any drug.

Alcohol, opiates, marijuana, coffee, these cannot be taken in high doses due to my pathological fear of losing control. This is good in its own way. But I use in moderation every single day.
Smoked for 42 years, coffee for 30, and the opiates for 7. Do not use alcohol ever.

Coffee gives the most problem, the dose will slowly climb to over a gram of caffeine per day and confusion, palpitations, and insommnia become daily problems. Lucky caffeine is short term addictive and a 5 day break gets the tolerance back down.

Not an advocate of any particular lifestyle, but to me this moderate drug use has made life tolerable. Previously to this use there were suicide attempts. Last one was 2006 so I seem to be doing better than I used to.

I quit everything for a month every year to reset my mind. So far so good.


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richardbenson
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01 Mar 2013, 9:35 pm

I would have to say that I almost fell off of the wagon yesterday concerning my drinking. I was feeling like snuggling up to a cold beer all day! It didnt want to leave and some might call this alcohol voice, but thankfully it left. I have been alcohol free since september 12, 2012 So I really didnt want to screw up such a personal best record. I've never gone this long before without getting drunk so I dont know how long that is but I stopped counting after 100 days, :jester:



johnny77
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06 Mar 2013, 1:03 am

Ive had a few drinks with dinner only with guest so I'm still on track to be limited alcohol consumption, that bottle of port is calling think I can resist. I must resist the acid that's cleaning for me would eat me alive if i screw up on my work.Image So tempting though. Send me a good smack thru the computer please.



leejosepho
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06 Mar 2013, 1:40 pm

Pabalebo wrote:
I'm not an alcoholic. I never drink by myself and I only drink with other people once or twice a week.

How often we drink (or not) or where we drink (or not) are not always primary indicators of alcoholism. However, the one symptom all alcoholics have in common is this:

Quote:
I haven't quite gotten the hang of the whole "moderation" thing yet... every interaction I have involving alcohol seems to end up with me being absolutely shitfaced...

First the alcoholic takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink...and that part about the drink taking a drink is alcoholism. Alcoholism is not a moral or philosophical issue, it is physical abnormality. If you wish, have a look here:

http://www.nonameyet.org/alcoholic/
http://www.peakrecovery.com/peak_recovery_005.htm


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richardbenson
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13 Mar 2013, 12:22 pm

In my own personal life I think the reason I drank was because I had no coping skills.
once I learned how to properly deal with my issues I no longer needed alcohol to cover up what was bothering me. I do not believe addiction is a brain disease, In my expieriance people who are in pain want to take the easiest way out to solve there problems (this is the natural way for most people) and getting drunk or taking a drug is extremely easy. then, after awile it becomes this ugly monster from the depths out of the lake that you can no longer control. That is what addiction is to me, Give people the right tools to overcome whatever it is in thier life and suddenly no more addiction. needless to say my coping skills are off the hook now, I can deal with the following:

God not being real (In the sence of popular belief in him)
My breakfast burning
Having no friends
Living with my disfunctional mother (who by the way is single again for all you elligable older gentelmen :wink: )
Accepting the fact that one day, I will pass away. :jester:
My father not ever being a good dad to me
Never driving. (Now I just dont care, and cars require too much money to upkeep anyways)
Etc. Etc. Etc.



leejosepho
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19 Mar 2013, 3:35 pm

richardbenson wrote:
In my own personal life I think the reason I drank was because I had no coping skills...
I do not believe addiction is a brain disease,

That is fact, and we agree. As you have continued:
Quote:
In my expieriance people who are in pain want ... to solve there problems (this is the natural way for most people) and getting drunk or taking a drug is extremely easy...

Not when you also know the drink will demand more of itself because of an abnormal body chemistry and kill you, but that is a different matter. We all need to feel okay somehow, and drinking certainly can seem to be an easy way to at least keep trying to get there...but then the day came when I found I still had a will to live but no will to keep trying anything known to me. So, it was at that pathetic point that I went looking for someone to show me the way to transformation.


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