I'm very curious to know what you all think about this. Because I have been in somewhat of a denial about my alcoholism (I was able to quit drinking without any side effects, without a court order, or without much difficulty) so why would I say that I'm an alcoholic. Well I think you all know the disease when you see it, and I knew but just never hit a rock bottom with it (physically that is) Well now I'm coming up on 9 years...sober. Which some of you would say "congrats, cool, I can't wait to get there, yadda yadda yadda" Which I agree, it is cool, if I would have been drinking in the last nine years, I would have been close to a bottom, if not there.
HOWEVER in my experience with "recovering" alcoholics I have seen them quit for a long period of time say 5-10 YEARS, only to start back up again.... Even the one's who go to meetings regularly. Sooooo hence my 9 years is coming up, and up to this point I have never been to an AA meeting and am doing very well without alcohol or even AA to be quit frank, but in the last few months I have noticed that I have had one or two instances where I had a strong desire (fantasy) to be drunk. It's kinda weird I know. It doesn't happen very often, but these thoughts have surfaced from my subconcious and I'm not sure where they are coming from. Therefore I am now posting on this forum, and feel that I may need AA to STAY SOBER and (for me) not to just get sober.
So the point of this post is, well it's more of a question. Is there a typical pattern with alcoholics hitting a 8-10 year mark and they feel like "I'm healed, I have proven that I can obstain and now I can drink again.....just socially this time....
hey Moon! Well first I would like to say congrats!! Second... I can only speak from what I have heard since I only have a few months sober. From what I gather is that people drink again because they have lost touch of why they quit in the first place. From what you have said it might be tough for you to remember why you quit in the first place because there wasn't a specific traumatic event for you and you did not have to suffer through the withdrawal. However, keep in mind that there was a reason that you quit. If there was no reason you would still be drinking. Try to reflect on what you were going through back when you did quit.. and hold on to it. Try to get to a meeting and see what it is about... it won't hurt to check it out!
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"Advice is what you ask for when you already know the answer but wish you didn't"
I guess the phrase that comes to mind is.."Different strokes for different folks"
And "Whatever works for you" :)
I have met others in AA that have stayed sober...for different periods of time...even ..long term...and decided to start going to AA..because of negative thoughts and periodic compulsions...
I have seen some that went the religious route and are still sober today..and quite content..also..
I have also met many that have been sober long term in AA...and for various reasons...picked up a drink again...
Some made it back..some of them didnt..
So....I think that whatever the level or stage of alcoholism.....we all have personal choices...with whatever routes that we take...
Those choices have consequenses....some good...some disasterous...
Whatever the case may be....
We do what we hafta do for us...take what we need..and leave the rest...
And help others when we can...
Have a good day...:)
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"LOVE" devoid of self-gratification, is in essence, the will, to the greatest good...of another.
I can only share my expirence with this ....before i ever came to AA I stop drinkin on my own ..i made it about 2 years dry. Then i dont no what happen why i pick up a drink ...i thought that i could drink normaly..started out slow 2 beers first night Went 2 days than 4 beers ...next thing i new i drank about 10 times what i used to drink and i could not get 24 hours ...and i tired every day to stop could not ....that insanity went on for years before i came to AA ...now i have been sober since my first AA meeting...and i dont ever want to go back to that kind of life again...
We just buried sombody today that had to have one more drink...There is a storie in the Big Book Page 32 second paragraph about a man that was bone dry for 25 years and wen he did pick up it killed him 4 years later ...Good luck to you....ps happy Mothers day tomorow
Well thank-you for the warm wishes with mother's day tomorrow.
Honestly I believe the disease does progress while it is in it's "remissive" state (dry state) and when or if someone with the disease does take a drink after a prolonged dry period, rather than going back to a "social drinker" they drink much more than in their previous drinking days, due to the progression of the disease. Kinda like that phrase from the DISEASE SPEAKS it's in jail getting stronger, waiting for you to let it out so it can do it's damage.
I stayed dry for ten years. No program. I was not armed with adequate information about alcoholism, and I also never adressed a spiritual deficiancy... so I eventually drank again. For ten more years... and almost died. The second time around was so much worse than the first.
I know many folks that have gone back out after long periods. Many that have after short times, and many that just seem to forever drift in and out. Also, there are those that have been sober long term... twenty, thirty years.
Every one has different levels of sickness. If your feeling squirly... go to meetings and work the program. An ounce of prevention is better than... an ounce of booze.
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My warranty on tomorrow has run out. My guarantee on the past is void. Nothing is going my way... and I like it like that.
A very big congratulations on almost nine years of sobriety. That is an amazing achievement.
I don't know if there is a pattern for people picking up a drink again after a certain period of time. I know of one guy who picked up again after eighteen years, but he says that he stopped working the program and became complacent.
Going along to a couple of AA meetings surely couldn't do any harm, could they? I know that you would be made so very welcome and there is a lot of experience, strength and hope to be gained from listening to other people. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The quality of life that I now enjoy far surpasses anything that I could have dreamed of before I went to AA.
Please let us know what you decide, won't you?
Take care,
Carol
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. ~Dr. Seuss
I think that the timeframe thing is personal, I know that I went two years without drinking before I ever stepped into a meeting, and frankly, I don't beleive that I would have accepted the program if I hadn't waited that long. I'm a tad stubborn. I know, big surprise there!
I know someone who started coming to meetings after they had hit their double digits, and he stuck around, so obviously there was something there that made his life better than it was before he stopped in.
