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Post by Patrick on Apr 4, 2009 14:33:39 GMT
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Post by housesparrow on Apr 4, 2009 15:26:36 GMT
I feel in need of a large gin after reading that...
But alcoholism can be cured; I know a woman who managed it when she was told that she would die if she didn't. Her partner, another alcoholic, gave up too to support her. The really sad thing is tht the woman took to drinking when she gave up heroin. I suppose she thought the "odd drop" wouldn't harm her - after all, lots of people drink, don't they?
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Post by percyplum on Apr 4, 2009 17:15:30 GMT
Alcoholism can be cured, yes, but only if the alcoholic wants to be cured.
Often it's the result of depression but the alcohol actually fuels that so it's a vicious circle.
Believe me, this is a subject about which I am something of an expert...
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Post by bonbonlarue on Apr 4, 2009 21:37:00 GMT
Sympathies as ever PP. Although not sure as to whether the former Monsewer laRue is an actual alcoholic...it's definitely ruined his life.
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Post by Flatypus on Apr 5, 2009 0:14:35 GMT
Think why people want to put themselves out of this world. In another direction, it's been the aim of most religions, get into a monastery free yourself from this hurtful world, and in more modern times, get a job thqt pays well so you can afford to buy your way into oblivion because constructive love to build a life together is so unlikely and so restrictive.
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Post by jean on Apr 5, 2009 8:13:27 GMT
But alcoholism can be cured... But only if you never drink again, surely? Isn't that why alcoholics who manage to give up alcohol always describe themselves as 'recovering'? |
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Post by bonbonlarue on Apr 5, 2009 8:49:54 GMT
That's simply another way of saying it's not my fault...alcoholism is a disease. Alcohol is a choice.
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Post by percyplum on Apr 5, 2009 10:37:22 GMT
It's a fallacy that just one drink leads to more.
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Post by bonbonlarue on Apr 5, 2009 11:00:49 GMT
One thing though..that article has made me think. I have enough digestive problems...diverticulitis just like the author, though thankfully, not requiring surgery. Time to reassess my drinking. I have no desire to die yet.
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Post by motorist on Apr 5, 2009 11:03:02 GMT
One thing though..that article has made me think. I have enough digestive problems...diverticulitis just like the author, though thankfully, not requiring surgery. Time to reassess my drinking. I have no desire to die yet. Quite right, dying is not allowed  |
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Post by bonbonlarue on Apr 5, 2009 11:07:03 GMT
not when I have on of them buffdays coming up!!!
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Post by Patrick on Apr 5, 2009 13:16:33 GMT
It's a fallacy that just one drink leads to more. I don't know. I can't have whisky in the house - cos I can't 'just have the one'!  |
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Post by housesparrow on Apr 5, 2009 13:27:19 GMT
But alcoholism can be cured... But only if you never drink again, surely? Isn't that why alcoholics who manage to give up alcohol always describe themselves as 'recovering'? Jean, you are right. The woman I spoke about stopped drinking; I doubt if she described herself as "cured." I think what I meant when I said that is that the liver can sometimes recover if the patient gives up abusing it! But a terrifying thing about liver disease is that it can kill someone years after they give up alcohol. It seems to have happened to one of the patients in the article, and I saw a programme about alcoholics on a liver treatment ward which including a dying man who had not (he claimed) had a drink for many years. |
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Post by Flatypus on Apr 5, 2009 14:48:50 GMT
I don't see how anything will be 'cured' or controlled if you spend you life reminding yourself "I am an alcoholic, one drink is one too many, I won't be able to stop". It's one step away from self-hypnosis to ensure that one drink will never be enough. A lot of people have always drunk a lot. Some were workmen knocking back pints of beer, others were at the other end of the social scale putting good wines and brandy back. How many of them ended up in hospital? How many at least ended up in hospital with serious diseases at an age significantly younger than 'troubles' might be expected to start setting in?
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Post by percyplum on Apr 5, 2009 16:11:25 GMT
It's a fallacy that just one drink leads to more. I don't know. I can't have whisky in the house - cos I can't 'just have the one'! What I meant was it's a fallacy that a "recovering" alcoholic will only need one drink to start seriously drinking again. It's a lot more involved than that. |
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Post by motorist on Apr 5, 2009 16:12:57 GMT
They need a pickled onion too  |
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Post by Flatypus on Apr 5, 2009 16:20:13 GMT
I don't know. I can't have whisky in the house - cos I can't 'just have the one'! What I meant was it's a fallacy that a "recovering" alcoholic will only need one drink to start seriously drinking again. It's a lot more involved than that. I've never heard anybody with anything good to say about Alcoholics Anonymous - and I certainly don't. I suppose it depends a bit on whether the AA concerned are middle class or off the street. I know directly or at one remove a few of the first who left it because of its constant downbeat 'erosion' and I know the filthy mess that they (presumably more the second kind ordered to attend) leave the facilities they use of a Thursday night - including crapping on the floor in the shower cum disabled toilet on occasions. |
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Post by percyplum on Apr 5, 2009 17:02:53 GMT
I've never heard that about AA.
The only downside for some people apparently is that it has a religious bias.
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Post by Flatypus on Apr 5, 2009 17:25:29 GMT
I'd always assumed the AA basically decent people as well but 'our' lot seem to be the scourings of the streets pretty adept at getting into cupboards that don't lock too well too.
It does have a religious bias. There are some people who find that a positive thing, trusting in a Higher Power to guide you because you can't guide yourself. I'm 'ambiguous' about that, for me it reads too much the other way: first convince yourself that you can't control yourself, then hope the Higher Power can do it for you. There is some validity to that approach for some people but I prefer the kind that says there is certainly a Higher Power but it's within you not out there.
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Post by percyplum on Apr 5, 2009 18:38:35 GMT
Well I certainly believe in God, as a higher power, but the fact is God isn't there to stop people drinking. He gave us the power to make our own choices. If someone chooses to drink, they have to find it within themselves to chose to stop.
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