Do I drink too much? (How much do you drink a day?)

abcd · Member

Do I drink too much? (How much do you drink a day?)

Doll · MIP Old Timer

Sorry, but I can't help you with this one, since the question is irrevelant, IMHO & only you can decide how 'bad' your drinking is.....However, should you ever have the desire to stop drinking, I'm more than happy to share my experience, strength and hope....Best of luck.

-- Edited by Doll at 18:23, 2007-01-31

RyanS · Senior Member

Here's an 'official ' answer.

Speaking for myself, I rationalized the amount I drank for as long as I wanted to drink more than I wanted to stop. Think your going to slow down?

Can you?

Questions you'll have to answer for yourself.

Hope this helps

Binge drinking
Defined as drinking five or more drinks on the same occasion (i.e., within a few hours) on at least 1 day in the past 30 days.Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2002, September 3). Results from the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Volume II. Technical Appendices and Selected Data Tables Series H-18 (Office of Applied Studies, NHSDA Series H-18 ed.) (BKD462, SMA 02-3759)Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

-- Edited by RyanS at 18:22, 2007-01-31

timverton · MIP Old Timer

http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?forumID=42735&p=3&topicID=9340328&topicPage=13

Try this link for a few older posts you may find interesting...Tim

wagon · Senior Member

Its not about how much i drank, Its what happened when i diid, unmangabilty in my life, and the problems it cause me and my family. Today i can say I like me!! And i could not say that before i got sober. Wagon

Phil · MIP Old Timer

Hi Dude....:)

How bad your habit is.....?

Well..hmmmm....a habit...is a habit...

Thats really all I ever wanted ...was that continual buzz....

But eventually the buzz....always turned into a "buzz..ard"

TLH · MIP Old Timer

I have a LOT of family members that know that they have potential drinking issues and that our family has this very real history and they all have dealt with their problems in various ways. My sister never drinks at home- only at parties or restaurants, never more than two drinks (usually beer) on a school night. My guess is that eventually she'll be going to some meetings, but she's very good at being terrified of having a drinking problem and for now that works for her.

I dont think it matters how much you drink- you know if you have a problem. If you're asking the question you need to just stop and consider that- you're asking if you have a drinking problem. I saw a sign once at a ceramics shop. It said "If you have to ask how much you probably cant afford it." Kinda the same deal with alcoholism, yeah?

I used to drink two or three and stop. But I always wanted more. Didn't matter whether I actually drank more- the need was there. The drinking isn't really the problem- it's the needing to drink that's the problem. If I drink three beers and then spend the rest of the night not drinking but thinking about wanting a drink, it's kind of a moot point whether I drink or not, right?

The only way I can not want another drink is to not drink the first one. But that's me- and a TON of people like me. It's the way we're wired- binge drinkers. I think I've gone through that one before here, but for the sake of clarity I'll reiterate. It's the neuroreceptors in our brains- they really do well with alcohol for the first couple drinks, and then we spend the rest of the night (or week- or year) trying to get that feeling back.

So anyhow- I've gone without drinking for great lengths of time- that part is easy. But drinking one or two or three beers and not very obsessively wanting more- aside from the times my body was totally saturated from previous nights heavy drinking- is pretty much impossible for me.

For me, one is too many. The rest are pretty much redundant.

TLH · MIP Old Timer

Oh yeah- and then there were the times when I said to hell with everything and drank 15 or 18 pints over the course of an evening. The nights when I drank tequila and whiskey and beer and passed out sitting up while the party went on around me.

But those are just symptoms of a deeper issue- reckless endangerment- self destructive tendancies. Despite those, the other thing was there. It was there before and it's there after- the thing where I drink two beers and want to drink two more- and after the two more I want two more- ad infinitum.

pp17331 · Member

Hi newbie, I'm a newbie too. We all ask the same question. Is this a problem or am I making a big deal out of nothing. The thing with me is I don't really enjoy drinking anymore. Sure the buzz is good sometimes, then I get a little too buzzed, feel like crap the next day, get disgusted b/c if I wasn't hung over I could go to them gym, get my hair cut, clean my house, or just cook a friggin meal for myself. But I can't cause I feel like crap and my day is a waste, why not crack a beer, I haven't done anything today anyway. Round and Round. Sound familiar. I'm sick of it. As angry as it makes me I'm coming to some sort of realization that I'm powerless or ok, seriously lacking the skills to stop cold turkey for the greater good of me. By the way I stopped a month ago because I'm pregnant. I wanted to stop but I wouldn't have. For whatever reason I'm not drinking today. God knows if I thought it was up to me, that I had to do this on my own I would fail. Good luck.

Quetzal · MIP Old Timer

Hi ... and welcome to MIP.

For me, it wasn't always about how much I drank, but about my behaviour and how I felt about me. Once I had started to drink, I couldn't stop.

Now that I don't drink, I can actually say that I like myself.

Take care,

Carol

Zster · Veteran Member

Welcome to MIP!

It is absolutely not about quantity. I know alcoholics who blacked out on relatively small amounts of alcohol, or who only drank occasionally (but a lot when they did). I have also known some non-alcoholics who could really pack it away, but otherwise could leave it without a care afterward.

In my experience, non-alcoholics do not ponder whether or not they drink too much - drinking simply is not high on their mind, period. When I started asking, arguing, or rationalizing my drinking - that was not non-alcoholic behavior.

I hung onto the drink for years beyond suspecting it was a problem. I could not imagine ever having fun or joy again without it. Thank goodness that last part was wrong. Now I can not imagine any situation where alcohol would be wanted or needed.

Go figure.

For the record, I started off drinking 2 or maybe 3 glasses of wine in the evenings, or maybe a cocktail or two. It might not sound like much, but, trust me, I am a bonafide alki!

Best of luck in your searching.

Laura · Senior Member

abcd,
Welcome. Like the others here, I don't have an answer to your question, just my own story. I think I'm what I'd call a functioning alcoholic. There, I said it. I'm an alcoholic. Egad! That feels strange writing it. Perhaps it won't feel half so strange saying it out loud one day with a room full of people. Anyway, I like to drink for a buzz (but it became increasingly more than a buzz) daily. I like what Toby had to say:
"saw a sign once at a ceramics shop. It said "If you have to ask how much you probably cant afford it." Kinda the same deal with alcoholism, yeah?"
It rings true for me.
So, the reason why I'm sharing this with you? Some have already pointed out that quantity of drink doesn't matter so much as what it does to you or how you feel about it. For me, it also really didn't matter about what I was capable of doing. I've written "A" papers for school when somewhere between buzzed and drunk (I'm not proud of this, it's just a fact); I work three jobs and (as I've mentioned) I've recently gone back to school . . . Am I an alcoholic if I drink nearly every day, do these things, and sleep fine? Well, I've recently decided yes because I find it difficult to stop and can't imagine ever not wanting to drink. These past couple of years I did miss a total of three days of work due to making myself sick from drinking. Those few days are like sores in my memory--I never really want that again.
It'll be a day at a time for me, and quite often an hour at a time.
-Laura

-- Edited by Laura at 01:54, 2007-02-02

-- Edited by Laura at 01:56, 2007-02-02

-- Edited by Laura at 01:59, 2007-02-02