Whether you view alcoholism as a disease, an addiction, or both, there’s no doubting that alcholism needs treatment. We also know that the person who is struggling with alcohol wants to be helped before he or she can be helped.
The toughest part, most say, is by accepting the diagnosis – accepting that you have a problem with alcohol, that you are an alcoholic. Then, you need to decide what type of treatment you think you need. There’s no one-size-fits-all treatment for alcoholism. For some people, cold turkey works and remains successful, for others, it wouldn’t get them anywhere.
If you or …read more

For anyone who has ever struggled with addiction, this bit of news may be of interest. The doctor who oversees research at the National Institute on Alcoholism says, “alcoholism has reached a point similar to one depression reached 30 years ago — when the development of Prozac and other antidepressants took mental health care out of the asylum and put it in homes and doctors’ offices.” In other words, there might be drugs available now that can help.

One drug, Topamax, reportedly “reduced the number of days on which alcoholics drank heavily” more than with just therapy alone. …read more

At least in the “humble” (as much as it can be) opinion of my sponsor and myself, that is…
Why? First Things First – if it is a fact that you are sitting in meetings, dining out with “us,” hanging out with “us,” working with “us,” and admitting to “our faces” that you have admitted to your innermost self that you are an alcoholic, there is only one fact that rises in importance above all others!
You’ll have to remember this though – we all acknowledge a few other facts don’t we? How about this – alcoholism is a fatal, …read more

I love it – “what makes problems is one.”

That Our Lives Had Become Unmanageable
Powerless? Unmanageable?
“We believe, and so suggested a few years ago, that the action of alcohol on these chronic alcoholics is a manifestation of an allergy; that the phenomenon of craving is limited to this class and never occurs in the average temperate drinker.”
Craving didn’t do it for me as far as definitions go. The good Dr. Silkworth put the “screws” to me in the next sentence;
“These allergic types can never safely use alcohol in any form at all; and once having formed the habit and found they cannot break it, once having lost their self-confidence, …read more

This is worth repeating…
The Hideous Four Horsemen:
Terror, Bewilderment, Frustration, Despair

Hideous? – Hateful; shocking. Syn. — Frightful; ghastly; grim; grisly; horrid; dreadful; terrible.
Terror – Extreme or Intense Fear
Bewilderment – Confused, Puzzled, Befuddled, Disorientated
Frustration – The feeling of annoyance when one’s actions are criticized or hindered
Despair – Loss of hope; utter hopelessness; complete despondency.

This strikes my “funny bone,” sorry…

I have no idea at all whether or not Lindsay Lohan has the disease alcoholism. From her actions she appears to, but that is her decision to make, not mine.
The consequences of her drinking and drugging are another story! Catch this -
“Lindsay Lohan is about to see dead people. The 21-year-old actress will soon be working at a morgue as part of her punishment for misdemeanor drunken driving, her attorney, Blair Berk, told a judge Thursday… Her two four-hour days at the morgue are part of a court-ordered program to show drivers the real-life consequences …read more

Know it well… today’s Daily Reflection;
“He cannot picture life without alcohol. Some day he will be unable to imagine life either with alcohol or without it. Then he will know loneliness such as few do. He will be at the jumping-off place. He will wish for the end.”
Towards the end of my drinking I knew about a different version of “One Day At A Time” and it wasn’t pretty.
I’d come to in the morning (no, I didn’t “wake up” any longer) and my thoughts were “Oh sh**, I’m going to have to live through another one of these? Please God, …read more

Happy New Year all…
From The New York Times Health section, Benedict Carey shares his thoughts;
[Categorized under - Psychology - New Year's Resolutions - Regret - Mental Health]
The New Year’s Cocktail: Regret With a Dash of Bitters

“The ideal New Year’s Eve party would come with a psychological voucher, redeemable the next day for a post-mortem session with friends. A chance to relish the night’s humiliations, take bets on who went home with whom, and nominate the guest most in need of therapy, present company included.”
Love it… a psychological voucher, lmao. Could any of us relate a “psychological voucher” to a “nudge …read more

Well, as simple as it can be between an alcoholic and his possibly drug addicted son.
Yes, Namenlosen, though it hasn’t occurred in the way you and I seemed to plan it (lol), there has been communication between my oldest son and I for the first time in many years. Over ten.
This, is not easy… and at the same time it isn’t really that hard. Fears. The boogeymen. The worst fear? How I perceive what is said, translate it, then respond to it. At its root? That damage that insists on telling me that I’m wrong again!
There is also this strange …read more