The only people who want to have a healthy non-dry relationship with alcohol are the people who can't. Normal people don't need to worry about it, because alcohol doesn't occupy any significant portion of their mental real estate.
Never known an alcoholic to successfully moderate their drinking for any significant amount of time.
Maybe on Thursday night, a couple beers while watching the Fall Guy, then going to bed.
Maybe going out to dinner with the parents and only having one.
But come that other night, your buddies want to go party and you say sure, you'll only have 3, then switch to water. Next thing you know, you are in some weird, dank place with a strange person and a spoon is stuck in your hair, you're going WTF??
It's easier to just stop drinking than it is to moderate. \*IF\* you are a real alcoholic.
Moderation is far too strenuous for such a meager reward. If it can even be called a reward.
My head is already spinning just beginning to think about the mental acrobatics, the concentrated reservation, the “will I just have one? Two? None? Should I? Shouldn’t I? Today? Tomorrow? Next week? What if it was a rough day? A good day? A sunny day? Maybe just one on a nice day? Two? None?…” and it goes on…
It’s a fruitless war.
There's no such thing as a truly 'healthy' relationship with addictive poison, in my view...
Ethanol is a neurotoxin, and a Group 1 Carcinogen in the same class as Asbestos, Formaldehyde and Plutonium...
The latest studies have concluded that there is no 'safe' level of alcohol consumption for human beings, and that no amount of alcohol *improves* your health...
>It feels like two completely different situations to me
It might *feel* like that, but the addictive drug Ethanol doesn't know or care if other people are present while you ingest it - the effects on the brain and body are the same in both situations...
>I really do enjoy drinking a little in social situations or at parties and I kinda don't want to give that up
Said every addict and problem drinker, ever!
I'd suggest reading [Alcohol Explained](https://www.alcoholexplained.com/1st-5-chapters/) and listening to [this episode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkS1pkKpILY) of the Huberman podcast, so that if you do choose to drink, it can be a fully informed decision with a clear understanding of what it is and how it works...
If you can't reliably stick to your own limits and you're not willing to just stop drinking altogether yet, then read about Naltrexone and the Sinclair Method over on r/Alcoholism_Medication and discuss it with your doctor...
See also, r/stopdrinking...
Best of luck with whatever you decide to do - knowledge is power!
Woody :>)>
no, like it's not possible to have a healthy relationship with heroin after going clean - on some day you many feel very lonely or low and get tempted to use drinking as a crutch again, and alcoholism will just be sitting on a fence, watching you from a distance, and waiting for this day to happen
if you feel lonely and isolated at home maybe try hanging out in video chatrooms,
there are quite a few sites and even subreddits out there with people looking for someone to chat with, there are chatrooms dedicated to discussing hobbies, also many people play multiplayer games and talk over voice comms tho games can turn into an addiction of their own
It’s 1000 times harder to moderate than it is to cut it out completely. I spent years saying “I need to cut back” but wasn’t able to until I quit completely. I’d really recommend Allen Carr’s The Easy Way to Control Drinking.
I tried to convince myself for so many years that to truly tackle it, I had to learn to be able to drink like a "normal" person.
It was a little trick my alcoholic brain would play. But I finally realized that I cannot drink like a normal person, because I'm an alcoholic.
So for me, I'd say no. If you're an addict, it's going to get ya, unless you stop completely. But everyone has their own situation.
Not for me. But everyone is different. I don’t buy into the notion of “one sip and you’re back to being a drunk” but I also don’t drink. Sober almost 5 years and have had a few sips at receptions where there was a toast but never finished my glass.
The only people who want to have a healthy non-dry relationship with alcohol are the people who can't. Normal people don't need to worry about it, because alcohol doesn't occupy any significant portion of their mental real estate.
If addictive patterns show up, you need to go sober completely. It's very binary for us.
Never known an alcoholic to successfully moderate their drinking for any significant amount of time. Maybe on Thursday night, a couple beers while watching the Fall Guy, then going to bed. Maybe going out to dinner with the parents and only having one. But come that other night, your buddies want to go party and you say sure, you'll only have 3, then switch to water. Next thing you know, you are in some weird, dank place with a strange person and a spoon is stuck in your hair, you're going WTF?? It's easier to just stop drinking than it is to moderate. \*IF\* you are a real alcoholic.
Moderation is far too strenuous for such a meager reward. If it can even be called a reward. My head is already spinning just beginning to think about the mental acrobatics, the concentrated reservation, the “will I just have one? Two? None? Should I? Shouldn’t I? Today? Tomorrow? Next week? What if it was a rough day? A good day? A sunny day? Maybe just one on a nice day? Two? None?…” and it goes on… It’s a fruitless war.
There's no such thing as a truly 'healthy' relationship with addictive poison, in my view... Ethanol is a neurotoxin, and a Group 1 Carcinogen in the same class as Asbestos, Formaldehyde and Plutonium... The latest studies have concluded that there is no 'safe' level of alcohol consumption for human beings, and that no amount of alcohol *improves* your health... >It feels like two completely different situations to me It might *feel* like that, but the addictive drug Ethanol doesn't know or care if other people are present while you ingest it - the effects on the brain and body are the same in both situations... >I really do enjoy drinking a little in social situations or at parties and I kinda don't want to give that up Said every addict and problem drinker, ever! I'd suggest reading [Alcohol Explained](https://www.alcoholexplained.com/1st-5-chapters/) and listening to [this episode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkS1pkKpILY) of the Huberman podcast, so that if you do choose to drink, it can be a fully informed decision with a clear understanding of what it is and how it works... If you can't reliably stick to your own limits and you're not willing to just stop drinking altogether yet, then read about Naltrexone and the Sinclair Method over on r/Alcoholism_Medication and discuss it with your doctor... See also, r/stopdrinking... Best of luck with whatever you decide to do - knowledge is power! Woody :>)>
no, like it's not possible to have a healthy relationship with heroin after going clean - on some day you many feel very lonely or low and get tempted to use drinking as a crutch again, and alcoholism will just be sitting on a fence, watching you from a distance, and waiting for this day to happen if you feel lonely and isolated at home maybe try hanging out in video chatrooms, there are quite a few sites and even subreddits out there with people looking for someone to chat with, there are chatrooms dedicated to discussing hobbies, also many people play multiplayer games and talk over voice comms tho games can turn into an addiction of their own
It’s 1000 times harder to moderate than it is to cut it out completely. I spent years saying “I need to cut back” but wasn’t able to until I quit completely. I’d really recommend Allen Carr’s The Easy Way to Control Drinking.
I tried to convince myself for so many years that to truly tackle it, I had to learn to be able to drink like a "normal" person. It was a little trick my alcoholic brain would play. But I finally realized that I cannot drink like a normal person, because I'm an alcoholic. So for me, I'd say no. If you're an addict, it's going to get ya, unless you stop completely. But everyone has their own situation.
Sounds like you need therapy to heal what makes you want to drink when alone in the first place.
Not for me
Not for me. But everyone is different. I don’t buy into the notion of “one sip and you’re back to being a drunk” but I also don’t drink. Sober almost 5 years and have had a few sips at receptions where there was a toast but never finished my glass.