Journal - SWIM - Alcoholic?

[el burgo]

SWIM has been through a rough patch the past two years and now drinks almost everyday. SWIM cant pass the alcohol store without going in - if just for a look - but it never is for a look - SWIM does the same routine buys the cidre, a bag of ice and leaves. SWIM has come up with lies about SWIMS drinking in the past but now he is blatantly honest. SWIM used to think it okay to drink because SWIM excersises alot, SWIM used to think it okay to drink because SWIM does ok in school etc... SWIM is a rotten drunk SWIM is losing friends SWIM can not have the one and becomes a total maniac once pissed probably down to interactions woth SWIMS prescription meds. This is not SWIM. Now SWIM thinks it maybe not okay to drink because.....maybe SWIM is turning into an alcoholic. SWIM is drinking now, some of SWMIMS family are alcoholics. SWIM sometimes thinks it will be ok, Irishmen are immune to alcohol etc etc etc

Please give me some pointers?
Thanks

el burgo added 1 Minutes and 34 Seconds later...

SWIM is in the river nile

[missparkles]

Denial...a happy place to be. No one can give swiy pointers, he knows what he's doing is killing him. He has that awareness.
Should Sparkles tell him it's gonna be OK? Would he believe her?
She suspects not.
Sparkles has spoken to swiy in PMs, she knows the painful place he's at right now.
Speak to swiys doctor, tell them just how desperate he feels, how he can't stop drinking. Sparkles has already told swiy he mustn't just quit drinking at this point. W/D from alcohol can be fatal if it's not monitored, reduced gradually and meds (possibly) put in place to help. Sparkles was put on Librium (chlordiazepoxide) some years ago to ease alcohol W/D. Swiy also needs to be careful with all the meds he's taking, alcohol will affect this.
Swiy has to sort out the personal issues that are bothering him. If swiy doesn't deal with them the reason for the addiction is still there. Getting rid of the alcohol just gets rid of the symptom.
Sparkles knows what swiy has been going through, but please, he really needs to tell the doctor.
Take care love.
Sparkles.

[Master_Khan]

Fred's son was diagnosed as an alcoholic when he was 17. Fred told son deal with it, acknowledge it, own it. Get new DOC (drug of choice). Marijuana was the obvious candidate. Fred's son agrees never drink again, but still get high just not with toxic noxious alcohol. Ten years later everyone still living happily ever after. End of story.

[AceOvArts]

Can SWIY stop drinking for as long as he/she wants ? If not then alarm bells should be ringing.

[el burgo]

No SWIM finds that difficult - if SWIM has a few coins and passes a alcohol store well.....you know the outcome

[missparkles]

It would be easy to say "leave the money at home" but addiction isn't that easy. When Sparkles was using she would think about it 24/7, the only thing that stopped her thinking about it was doing it.
Then she felt guilty cos she'd used...yet again. And so it went.
Addiction can become an obsessive compulsion sometimes, we feel like we can't do anything about it...we're almost driven to use.
Little story.
Sparkles remembers being in rehab a long time ago, it treated alcoholics and drug addicts. A social evening was planned and a senior resident (alcoholic) who was considered trustworthy was sent to get food, he just didn't come back. A search party was sent to look for him, everyone was thinking he'd taken the money, bought a bottle, and was in a park somewhere totally rat-arsed.
The poor fucka was found, up a tree, staring into the window of a local booze store, totally transfixed by the sight of all of that alcohol.
It took nearly two hours to talk the poor bastard outta that fuckin' tree.
That's addiction.
Take care love.
Sparkles.

PS. He left the rehab shortly after that and was drinking again. Sparkles hopes he (Ivan) made it in the end. Coincidentally, when Sparkles worked at the Excelsior hotel she worked with Ivan's sister. She only found out when they were chatting over coffee. When Sparkles was in rehab the last time, the bloke she was in treatment with the very first time (there were just two of em) was in rehab with her. He's still in recovery Small world huh?

Another trip down insanity lane...brought to you courtesy of Sparkles.

[AceOvArts]

Yea, that is an unfortunate story that comes when a person is close to the edge (end). I think in this case that as SWIY KNOWs this is becoming a problem he has made the first and possibly the most important step in his recovery. Many addicts wont face up to the problem and will lie to themselves and others about their usage.
SWIM thinks there is help out there for SWIel burgo in a few different forms, of course we all know about AA, SWIM went once with his wife and to be honest the link to religion put SWIMs wife off and SWIM too (so he didnt push her) but they do have a very strong and effective route to combating alcoholism and have a record of many success stories, of course they most certainly have a huge list of failures too.
Going to SWIYs GP might help, there are treatments available for alcoholism so it is possible to get clean that way.
Or SWIY can make a lot of headway doing the hard work alone...with support from here online.
SWIM finds that possibly the most effective way to cut down is to get a hobby or interest completely devoid of any links to whatever substance is the problem, it would get a person away from, say alcohol, hopefully at the time of day the person is most vulnerable...its just an idea but when SWIM focuses on something like this it takes his mind off of the problem...very easy to say though and not easy to do especially if one is alone. This is why AA works well, because a person has help at hand if he/she starts that dreaded thought process.
el burgo, keep writing here, spend time here reading success stories, it can be time spent away from booze, which is a start I think.
However, SWIM is no rehab expert, these are just thoughts.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Very good, supportive advice.
	useful and supportive.

[PerryStalsis]

A person needs to ask oneself one question: Can a person predict what will happen after that first drink? If the only thing that can be predicted is loss of control, then one has a problem. SWIM just read a story from someone who knows s/he is an alcoholic but wants someone else to step in and take over, take the issue out of their hands. That person needs to know that one has to be honest, take the first step, and seek out a treatment program. These problems never stop on their own. A person has to surrender to the truth in order to start recovery.