No offense to any1 who has this disease which my father died from but correct me if I am wrong. Isn’t alcoholism a disease & I thought once an alcoholic always an alcoholic even AFTER you’re sober aren’t you still an alcoholic? What’s the difference?
Recovering alcohols are still alcoholics, but no longer abusing alcohol.
yes. you are ALWAYS an alcoholic. even when sober. bc you have a disease. meaning, you have that chemistry to where when you drink… you don’t know when to stop… you don’t have the ability to stop.
you have to always keep that frame of mind even when sober.
edit: there’s no such thing as a “recovered alcoholic” there is a such thing as a “recovering alcholic”… one that is in recovery. one that is practicing recovery. but, you can never say that you are fully recovered bc the disease always remains.
An alcoholic is still drinking…one that has recovered isn’t.
You are right-it is a disease and once an alcoholic always an alcoholic-BUT you can be in RECOVERY. I would use cancer as a rough comparison. You have cancer-they treat you- you’re in remission-BUT you will always carry the gene for cancer. Make sense.
I will say I’m sorry about your father-my dad died from alcoholism at 42. I have been blessed for 28 yrs. God Bless Reggie
Please feel to email if you have more questions.
the first to answers are right. for me im a practicing alcoholic. i used to drink alot and consider myself an alcoholic but im practicing to recover and to slow down maybe even stop completly
In my experience, Alcoholism is a twofold condition. First there is the physical part, which has been described as an “allergy” or an abnormal reaction to alcohol which manifests itself as a craving for more alcohol. Therefore, because the first drink generates a craving for the next and the next a stronger craving for the next, an alcoholic cannot safely drink. There is no known cure for this condition, but it will not manifest if we don’t take a drink, one day at a time.
If this was the only problem we had, it would be a simple case of choosing not to drink, and some heavy drinkers manage to just STOP and live a happy life. Unfortunately, there is another type of heavy drinker who has an obsession that they will be able to drink normally, in spite of evidence to the contrary. Therefore, the problem is mental, These people are alcoholics for whom a psychic change will be necessary to effect a recovery. This change was brought about in me when I went through a program of action, broken down into 12 steps.
My life is now indescribably wonderful, in comparison to the bitter morass of self pity, self loathing and delusion which used to descend on me every day, and which could only be made bearable by taking a few drinks. Drinks which would kick off the “allergy” and guarantee another blackout and more guilt shame and remorse for the next day.
I’ve been sober over 3 years now – my sponsor has 12 years and his sponsor has 35 years continuous, happy sobriety. There is a solution to alcoholism, but not a cure.
Once pickled, a gherkin will never be a cucumber again – it must come to terms with being a gherkin and exist accordingly!
One is drinking and the other isn’t, in the most literal sense. However, I am one of the people who does not buy the “it’s just a lil’ ol’ disease and nothing is my fault” AA tale. From my experience, most of those AA people are lying about being sober, although not all. Sometimes they are exchanging tips about how to hide bottles, etc., instead of how to stay sober.
A person who truly wants to be different will try to change who they are even after they stop drinking. They all have the same personality flaw, and that is the inability to care about someone more than they care about themselves, or see life through a point of view other than theirs. I know this isn’t PC, but I know this is true. If possible, get as far away from the alcoholic as you can and never look back.