Comments on: When a Drinking Problem Turns into Full Blown Alcoholism http://www.spiritualriver.com/when-a-drinking-problem-turns-into-alcoholism/ Non-traditional recovery from addiction Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:09:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Jerryhttp://www.spiritualriver.com/when-a-drinking-problem-turns-into-alcoholism/comment-page-1/#comment-121838 Jerry Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:21:05 +0000 http://www.spiritualriver.com/?p=2577#comment-121838 I've been in AA ten years (Eight years sober) and am very active there. This is one of the best articles I've ever seen on the disease of alcoholism. "Drinking problems" can and do turn into full blown alcoholism. Anyone who has a family history of alcoholism should be aware that this fact makes them at least five times more likely to have a problem.- God bless, Jerry K DOS 11/18/2003 I’ve been in AA ten years (Eight years sober) and am very active there. This is one of the best articles I’ve ever seen on the disease of alcoholism. “Drinking problems” can and do turn into full blown alcoholism. Anyone who has a family history of alcoholism should be aware that this fact makes them at least five times more likely to have a problem.-

God bless,
Jerry K
DOS 11/18/2003

]]> By: Patrickhttp://www.spiritualriver.com/when-a-drinking-problem-turns-into-alcoholism/comment-page-1/#comment-45268 Patrick Sun, 25 Oct 2009 02:13:52 +0000 http://www.spiritualriver.com/?p=2577#comment-45268 @ Babaganoosh - Right on the money with your thoughts on this....I used to dismiss the difference between "addicted" and "physically dependent," but now I see situations in others in recovery where this difference is easily identified. And so it might be with you too.....closer along the spectrum toward chemically dependent, rather than "full blown drug addict." But of course, it all comes down to personal honesty in the end. I say, find what works for you, and do it. @ Babaganoosh – Right on the money with your thoughts on this….I used to dismiss the difference between “addicted” and “physically dependent,” but now I see situations in others in recovery where this difference is easily identified.

And so it might be with you too…..closer along the spectrum toward chemically dependent, rather than “full blown drug addict.” But of course, it all comes down to personal honesty in the end. I say, find what works for you, and do it.

]]> By: babaganooshhttp://www.spiritualriver.com/when-a-drinking-problem-turns-into-alcoholism/comment-page-1/#comment-45266 babaganoosh Sun, 25 Oct 2009 01:58:57 +0000 http://www.spiritualriver.com/?p=2577#comment-45266 I really like the points you make about alcoholism/problem drinking, but what about other types of addiction. I relapsed on my substance of choice (crack) about 2 years ago, after 6 years of being clean. the first time I got clean was basically pretty easy once I actually decided to do something about it. This last time was basically the same, I was back out there for about a year but once I really decided to stop, I as able to do it without any really severe work on my part. When I think back about my using days, it's really hard to think of myself as a "true" addict as opposed to someone who got caught up with an addicting drug. Kind of like the discussion that you and I had one time about if we took someone who showed no signs of any addiction (like our respective parents) and force fed them crack, would they be addicts or someone who became hooked on a truly addicting drug? Kind of an unanswerable question but really relevant to how I see myself. probably one of the big reasons why I never fully bought into the 12 steps is because of this I really like the points you make about alcoholism/problem drinking, but what about other types of addiction. I relapsed on my substance of choice (crack) about 2 years ago, after 6 years of being clean. the first time I got clean was basically pretty easy once I actually decided to do something about it. This last time was basically the same, I was back out there for about a year but once I really decided to stop, I as able to do it without any really severe work on my part.

When I think back about my using days, it’s really hard to think of myself as a “true” addict as opposed to someone who got caught up with an addicting drug. Kind of like the discussion that you and I had one time about if we took someone who showed no signs of any addiction (like our respective parents) and force fed them crack, would they be addicts or someone who became hooked on a truly addicting drug? Kind of an unanswerable question but really relevant to how I see myself. probably one of the big reasons why I never fully bought into the 12 steps is because of this

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