Young Adult Struggling

volleyballchick90 · Newbie

Young Adult Struggling

tlcstuff2005 · Veteran Member

I'm a lot older, but new to the AA truth. I'm not good at the correct answer, but I'm learning. Keep an eye on the your thought process. Best I've got at this moment and keep hanging with us for support. Keep coming back cuz it works if u work it. smile

davep12and12 · MIP Old Timer

I can't say if you have alcoholism or not, but you certainly wouldn't be the first young adult with alcoholism. I had the symptoms you describe (and more) by the time I was 22, and it just got worse and worse until a few years later when I was able to stop drinking and stay sober. What I CAN tell you is that if you DO have alcoholism, there just isn't going to be any way to reliably control and enjoy your drinking like other people who don't have alcoholism. Alcoholism just doesn't work that way.

Here are a couple of AA pamphlets that you might find helpful:

http://www.aa.org/assets/en_US/p-3_isaaforyou.pdf

and

http://www.aa.org/assets/en_US/p-4_youngpeopleandaa.pdf

You may want to check out some AA meetings. Many places have meetings specifically intended for young people, but of course you would be welcome at any meeting.

If you have any questions about AA or alcoholism, feel free to ask them here.

d_willing · Veteran Member

Welcome volleyballchick! One of the books in AA's literature is called The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, and in it, the first step (We admitted we were powerless over alcohol that our lives had become unmanageable.) has a passage which always spoke to me.

" Alcoholics who still had their health, their families, their jobs, and even two cars in the garage, began to recognize their alcoholism. As this trend grew, they were joined by young people who were scarcely more than potential alcoholics. They were spared that last ten or fifteen years of literal hell the rest of us had gone through."

As others have said, you are the only one who can decide if your alcoholic or not, but if you decide that you may be, there is a solution, and you don't have to live with that obsession of alcohol on a daily basis. I am not as young as you, but in my early 30s and I know that when I went to my first AA meeting, I could certainly identify with alcoholics much older than I was.

This is a great place to ask questions about alcoholism and how others work the AA program to live a happy life today.

-- Edited by d_willing on Tuesday 30th of September 2014 09:26:36 AM

myownhell · Veteran Member

Hey, I started with A.A. when I was 19 - now I'm 21. I can understand you really well. Alcoholism is disease which can affect everyone. I have difficult times to see others around me to drink - but they are normal. And I had to admit to myself that I am not normal. Now I am not sorry for the life I have in the moment. I am student, I have my family back and they love me, I have friends in and out A.A. The most important is that I have self-respect again, because in active alcoholism I've lost it, because of the moral degradation. If you think you have problem drinking you easily can see are you or are you not alcoholic. Try control drinking for a while. Or try to stop for a year. If you can't, you are probably alcoholic and there is a place for you which is incredible and Program, which will give you freedom and happiness.

AdamMoz · Senior Member

I was 22 when I realized I was an alcoholic and I tried to pretend I wasn't for 7 more years. I could have spared myself hundreds (thousands?) of nights of total misery had I gotten help sooner. I will echo what others have said: check out the literature, go to a few meetings, and take care of yourself while you figure out your next steps. These folks are really on to something very good. Be well. -A

justadrunk · MIP Old Timer

Welcome dear one.

Sounds just like me at 22. I didn't make it here until 32! I hid it well for a long time, went back and forth being able to quit on my own for a while - like we all do at first... and finally - I found myself without choices anymore. I was powerless... and at a place I could not really comprehend as being me. I still felt young, beautiful, intelligent, healthy... I still had a new car in the garage and a beautiful family... it just didn't seem like it could really be true.

Looking back... I felt that way all the way back to my earlier drinking too. Deep down I knew. I feel like you do too. You have your whole life ahead of you - my friend in AA was 23 when she joined and now - at 35, she has been able to accomplish many many things and live a happy life without the need for alcohol. It's hard to imagine never drinking again when you're young - so just imagine not drinking for one day - the day you're living. Eventually the thoughts will go away and you'll have such a better life. You'll be a lot more fun, interesting, mysterious, people will actually look up to you though they may not be able to say it out loud all the time. No matter what thye think of you anyway (we have a saying "what other people think of you is none of your business".) I hang tight to that one - and I also know I can make it through one day without drinking no matter what.

Keep sharing here and keep us posted on your progress. Ask questions - make contacts and allies. Find the beautiful person that is you - waiting to be free of obsessions and the confusion of alcoholic drinking.

BoozeWar · Veteran Member

I was 22 years old and living on my own starting to realize my drinking was a problem 7 years ago. By 23 I was in a hospital with a life threatening illness for 4 months. I didn't work that year and eventually my drinking had gotten so bad that I became an alcoholic. In the AA program I found my way back to the life I once lived, but I seriously want to acknowledge you that if your worried about your drinking, Stop! Seek help and maybe attend some meetings. A lot of people don't want to stop while there is yet time because they haven't been badly hurt enough yet, and believe me you don't want to go there. If your worried about it and obsessing about it, seek a bit of help. Alcoholism can be deadly and you want to preserve your life while its in tact. I wouldn't touch the stuff again for anything and I never want to go through these things again. It was uncool. I almost died.

Best of luck, BoozeWar.

Db1105 · Senior Member

I got sober in AA one month short of my 18th birthday. Luckily, there were some people even younger that me in the fellowship at the time. That was back in 1977. The bottom line was that I could not stop drinking on my own. With the 12 steps and the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous, learned how to live life without alcohol. I also went to way to many funerals early on to see that young alcoholics don't survive to become old alcoholics. Even worse is watching those suffer for years with this disease. Not drinking hasn't kept me from doing anything in life other than not drink alcohol. I suggest that you check out AA dot org to find more about alcoholism and AA. You can also find meeting locations for your area or even someone to talk to..

RubyTues · MIP Old Timer

Love your post, Tasha. I too knew from a very early age, deep down. First walked through the doors of AA shortly after my 33rd birthday.

justadrunk · MIP Old Timer

justadrunk · MIP Old Timer

Ummm....wait a sec... calculating. ..yup... me too. Not 32...33 lol woops

StPeteDean · MIP Old Timer

I hit my first AA meeting at 16 years old as I began drinking at 8. But it was a long 11 more years till I came back in at 27, and 2 more years of attending meetings pretty regularly till I got sober at 29 years old.

Mr_David · MIP Old Timer

Like you, I never considered myself an alcoholic. I was more of a heavy hitter if anything. These days, I don't question my alcoholism as much. I resigned to fate a long time ago. Even when I'm attending an AA meeting or chatting online, I am fully cognizant of my surroundings and more importantly what I'm trying to avoid. If I can do that, all is well. Welcome.

-- Edited by Mr_David on Saturday 4th of October 2014 05:22:38 PM