As in they really can’t control it if they have it? It’s not a matter of self control or discipline, they are just wired to go ape chit if they consume it?

No judgement, just trying to understand.

Yep. My biggest problem seems to be Friday night, tradie alcohol syndrome, I can drink beers all week without going overboard but if I have one on Friday I'm gonna have 20, no inbetween.


Edit: if your talking about behavior, I honestly think everyone becomes an azz while drinking, it's only a matter of how much of an azz, and how much alcohol consumed. But noone gets out of a drunk unscathed, and if you say you do then your probably the worst kind of drunk.

A person's true behavior comes out when they are drunk. That's why everytime op drinks he wakes up with a sore ass

I don’t act wild when drinking, I’ve of course has some wild things happen, it’s the nature of blacking out but most of my bad drinking occurred more when I was no longer socially drinking.

I had a period of about 6 years of getting blacked out every night, at 230-240 lbs and a substantial tolerance, it’s a lot of alcohol.

If I have a single drink I will drink until I pass out, the withdrawals then get so bad that I’m at a legitimate risk for seizures so that leads to continued drinking.

If I can start weaning before it becomes a bender I’ve been able to successfully get back into sobriety without having a hospital or near hospital visit.

I’m otherwise a very successful person, I have a professional job, home, own a business and rental properties, have several impressive athletic accomplishments, I’m very disciplined outside of alcohol, in fact it’s the only way I’ve been able to stay afloat even while dealing with alcoholism, so it’s very bizarre until you start looking into the chemistry of addiction as to why I’m completely unable to control it.

For me what I can control is managing loneliness and complacency which is usually what leads to drinking. If I can control that then I don’t need to deal with the physical and chemical addicting consequences of the first drink.

This is something that developed over time, I was definitely a problem drinker early on but the brain chemistry and physical addiction issues didn’t come until later in life. I’m predisposed but it’s something I definitely self inflicted on myself due to selfish lifestyle choices. So no tears for me, it’s my own doing, but for me to make it another decade part of my acceptance is that I’ve put my body and brain in a position where I simply can’t drink.

I went to rehab once and the surprising thing (admittedly I went to a world class institution) was that for the most part the people there are highly successful and accomplished which had to take some level of discipline, outside of their alcoholism. They’ve certainly experienced some negative effects but I was there with MDs, successful lawyers, business executives etc.

Glad you made it out. Great post.

I can't stop smiling after 3 doubles on an empty stomach drunk within an hour. Dedsrs. I just stick to huwhite huwine now.

Ever drink with an Indian [ native American ]? They literally go on the war path. It's genetic, they can't handle it, makes them nuts.

My friend Mark was an Indian [ Mohican ], when he would drink he simply went wild. He would sing, dance, and fight [ in that order ]. Otherwise, he was a normal guy.

Just makes me relaxed and eventually sleepy, not wild at all.

Yeah I just get real chilled out, even when I’m a bottle of vodka deep. Whereas, I’ve met people who go psycho after a few drinks.

It’s genetic and obviously depends on your size as well.

Natives come to mind

I've never understood the "lets get wasted" mentality. I've definitely had nights that started fun then we overdid it and end up in that room by mistake, but the idea of setting out to destroy yourself and get wrecked is pretty ridiculous.

This. Couldn't agree more

huge if true.

Each person has different tolerance level of alcohol.

with long life and being in different experiences and phases.

Personal loss is the worst one.

Many people may be able to handle it better and ok while some cannot and probably never will.At least that is the right attitude and starting point exactly.

An hour? I feel booze the minute it's in me. I get sober within an hour if I stop drinking no matter how drunk. Must be the Scot in me.

Most women can't

Yes, because you areweak

I barely drink and if I do, I just get in a very, very good mood, always smile, etc. Never "lose" control totally neither.

Might be an IQ thing, but I need aleeboy to inspect this just in case

It’s hard for me to just have 2 or 3. And always end up with a hangover. So rarely drink.

My mom can only have a couple sips of wine before she can't walk straight. Which I think is insane.

Glad you got better brah. I went to rehab not for booze, but for opiates and I was the only one there who was addicted to a drug other than alcohol. I never realized how hard it is for recovering alcoholics. For someone like me watching requiem for a dream or trainspotting is rough and makes me nervous, but with booze its everywhere! Restaurants, movies, advertisements everywhere. Recovering alcoholics have it rough.

I mean I was kind of like that from 18-28, but I was generally a happy drunk. But there would come a time in the evening where my memory would just stop, and I would go from low inhibition to no inhibition. It got me in trouble from time to time - thrown out of bars, minor altercations, but that was generally due to misunderstandings not aggression. I'd also end up with little pieces of paper with phone numbers on them but have no clue what the woman who gave it to me looked like (pre-smartphone). I'd also get phone calls from chicks asking what I was up to, and I would have no clue who was calling me. I'd try to play it off like I remembered but usually it would end with the chick pissed because she wasn't memorable.

I'd drink like that a couple times a week, but that was a long time ago. These days more than a 6 pack is a big night.

Many people are naturally *******s or wish they were and the drinks bring it out. And many are just chill, depends on personality. I have such a high tolerance that it makes no sense for me to drink a lot to begin with because it won’t do much. So a couple beers mainly at the end of the week or an occasional glass or two of bourbon is good for me. I like the taste, I may get a light buzz and smiley but that’s it.

I don’t get mean of anything. No. People say I’m fun to be around and all of that. I just joke around at an alarming rate and don’t shut up(more than I do sober)

That’s if I’m drinking out with friends or parties.

I like to binge drink alone and play videogames/watch movies because it slows things down for me. That’s a problem so I don’t keep alcohol in my place. But when I go out etc, I never over do it

I meant like if I drink the doubles all within an hour. The longer I leave it the more sober I am nomsayin

I've never tried drinking but I've decided that I will never touch alcohol or drugs because I have an addictive personality and can get hooked easily on anything that feels good. It's too risky for me

Thanks brah, and avoiding it is easier For me I think than for most people, I know a lot of serious alcoholics in recovery that get an urge when they drive by a gas station and see a beer price sign, luckily that’s never been a trigger.

One slight annoyance is the dating scene, I don’t have a problem going out on a date that involves the other person drinking but usually they will ask why I’m drinking Diet Coke and I’m totally honest without getting into too much detail about it.

They usually don’t say they have a problem hanging out with an alcoholic but there’s usually this huge to-do where they start apologizing for drinking in front of me (they didn’t even know why apologize??) and I let them know that seriously it’s not an issue and I’m very much self aware of my form of alcoholism and being in social settings with alcohol isn’t a trigger. Usually the awkwardness goes away but it’s still an annoyance.

It is not uncommon though to get a followup the next day with something along the lines of “Rey you seem like a really nice guy and I had a great time, but I don’t know if I’m comfortable with the alcohol thing” which is totally cool and I get it. It is slightly humorous though that when I was in active addiction girls would tell me they heard I was a wild alcoholic from other girls and that they had been warned about me (one issue I did have in active addiction was being promiscuous, so a lot of relationships where the girl thought we were moving to dating they would find out I had 4-5 other regular hookups) and that wasn’t a game changer! They say “I heard to be careful with you and you can’t be trusted, but I’m willing to give it a shot”. Funny how the world is.

One of the big issues I’d have is losing track of time/dates and double booking or having girls come over when I had another girl over. It’s one thing to know you aren’t exclusive and another to have another girl knocking on the door and getting it shoved in your face which upset a lot of girls. I was also sloppy and girls would “forget” hairdryers, makeup bags, etc. not something as simple as a hair tie that you can claim must have been from months ago. The girls would get pissed but always come back and actually work harder trying to lock me down!?

The difference being with opioids, meth, heroine, benzos, etc., is that first dates don’t usually involve going on a 72 hour meth bender doing coloring books, but grabbing a drink is incredibly common, so it comes up.

I’m going to start calling you Pessimistic Paul