Heavy Drinker wrote:
> On Fri, 9 Sep 2005 17:21:14 +1000, "Robert McGregor"
> <robert_mcgregor@knickers.yahoo.com.au> wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> (Sorry for the snip if you're just finding this thread.. just google
> the topic and you can read the rest...)
>
> As for the issue of "you surely can't be working every day" mentioned
> above, I will assure you that for self-employed folks it's quite
> possible to work every day - and to NEED to work every day. Personally
> I commonly work about 70 hours a week. So far my work has been
> impacted only slightly by my drinking, but there's no doubt I could
> be more productive with an outlook unhampered by alcohol or its
> withdrawal, and the trend is such that eventually it's gonna kill my
> productivity.
>
> Thanks for the info - I was pretty surprised by having AWS at all. I
> was a heavy drinker in college till I graduated, had a family, and was
> more focused on raising my son and being productive than partying. I
> quit without incident 18 years ago.
>
> This latest crisis started with my mid-life crisis. My tolerance and
> love for being drunk started escalating pretty quickly. I want to
> stop, and am using the Rational Recovery philosophy. Not that I
> disrespect AA - I've known tons of alcoholics who have had very good
> outcomes, and are decent people.
>
> The basic fact is I want to quit, but for the first time had major
> problems when I just stopped. Being a net savvy dude I googled AWS and
> read some friggin horrible things, and called Hazelden (which I
> separate from AA, since Bill W. had no intention of building a
> lucrative medical empire) which told me I would die unless I paid them
> a lot of money.
>
> The crux of my question is whether the actual mechanism of AWS is
> understood, and could therefore be alleviated by either herbal or
> prescription drugs. The reference I'm using atm is
> http://www.aafp.org/afp/20040315/1443.html which outlines things
> pretty clinically, but gives little guidance on treatment.
>
> I've now realized that this is a group for Alcoholics Anonymous, but I
> was hoping that there might be some medical folks browsing here who
> could offer tips.
>
> How odd that alcohol can have such a profound impact on mental and
> emotional state. It's so easy to see how folks become dependant - but
> it's pretty inefficient, since you trade a few hours of sociability
> and relaxation for a following day of diminished capacity and fear.
>
> (Whatever your reaction to my questions above, an interesting
> mind-game is contained in Larry Niven's writings, where he posits a
> future invention called "The Wire", which taps directly into the
> pleasure center of the brain. After a couple of generations,
> "wireheads" weed themselves out of the gene pool, content to starve to
> death in ecstasy. There are then no more addicts of any kind.)
>
> Thanks for any constructive info - and my thoughts and prayers are
> with all of you as you work out your lives without alcohol.
>
> HD
This group is largely AA based, in the thinking AA
is the only way. Most people who are not familiar
with AA/alcoholism have a hard time with that. I
have a hard time with that. I started questioning
AA, i did not like the answers i got. I started
thinking i don't need AA. I can do it without AA.
No fucking way. I had a 21 day quit was going
strong and i was not satisfied with my answers to
my questions to AA so i thought fuck it I won't
go. My desire to not drink subsided, i started
drinking again. People were telling me not to
question AA, just do it, work it, i started
thinking what the hell i can't think. Then the
anti-AA people used that. Made sense. Still does
but i sure in hell can't quit without AA. I
realize that now.