Addiction

[AVFCDAN]

1 hour ago, robby b said:

At the end of the day it's a difficult situation because the majority of people who drink alcohol and are able to keep it in moderation should not be denied the right to consume alcohol, I respect that. Perhaps it's up to people like me to engage with rehab and counselling services more. I only just have recently aftet all these years of abuse.

That's the exact reason for all drugs to be decriminalised (legalised).

[robby b]

On the plus side personally is that I think my weekly average in the last ten years or so has been around 23 units, not as extreme as some people. I have the impression a few VTers may have more than that. Adrian Chiles admitted he drank a huge 80-100 units some weeks until recently! Until he made that brave BBC documentary.

Where I'm more harmful to myself is the daily amount... in the last 20 years, with the exception of 2012 and 2018, on average about twice a month I've been having about 9 or 10 units in one session (e.g. a whole bottle of wine) and that's more than twice the recommended daily limit of 4 units. Occasionally I've gone a bit mad and even had between 11 and 15 units in a sesh, now and then involving some spirit or other, wholly or partly. :s Like one day last week when I had a very stressful situation suddenly... it was soon followed by a really regrettable Famous Grouse and red wine combination. :s (Not a strange cocktail but one and then the other!)

I think it might be good in the UK to raise the legal age from 18 to 19, so somewhere between the UK system and the US one as a compromise. That way youngsters can still have plenty of fun including some alcohol but it would perhaps stop quite a lot of 18-year-olds from going too mad in their first term or two at uni, to keep the brakes on a little longer. 

I wonder if there perhaps could be more education around the issue in secondary schools too, I don't know, but having said all that I have read that the current young generation are drinking significantly less alcohol than my generation, well done to them, respect !

Edited August 8, 2023 by robby b

[robby b]

6 hours ago, AVFCDAN said:

That's the exact reason for all drugs to be decriminalised (legalised).

Hmm that's interesting and I wonder if  you may well be right. I guess I've been neutral about that, listentening to both sides, but perhaps I've started to sway to your side of the debate a bit. It's a very difficult issue though. :s

Edited August 8, 2023 by robby b

[KentVillan]

I think legalisation of addictive substances / hobbies (gambling) is probably the only way forward, and will happen eventually. It makes it easier to seek help for addictions and turn it into a medical instead of criminal problem, and it massively reduces deaths from contamination, unusually pure doses, etc.

The issue is that because addiction is lucrative, when we legalise addictive things, a lot of marketing and lobbying dollars get pumped in, creating toxic cultures and slack regulations.

Being a non-drinker is hard in the UK because we've all convinced ourselves that alcohol is an essential part of socialising, dating, celebrating, winding down in the evening, beach holidays, ski holidays, city breaks, hiking trips, barbecues ... and that's not by accident. A lot of the things we associate with alcohol are the result of decades of clever marketing.

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2023/01/five-times-hollywood-films-have-influenced-beer-sales/

Quote

Five times Hollywood films have influenced beer sales

09 JANUARY 2023By Shauna Brown

 

Can TV and film influence what we’re drinking? There is compelling evidence to suggest that’s the case. After all, everyone and their uncle hated Merlot after Sideways hit theatres, and cult classic Lost in Translation put Suntory whisky back on the map. It’s no wonder companies are investing in product placement more than ever before.

In fact, one researcher has claimed that most alcohol depiction in films today is likely to be product placement. In a study of over 2,000 films from a twenty-year period, the most frequently seen brands were Budweiser, Miller and Heineken. Apparently, beer companies have been especially busy pushing their product on the big screen.

Look how quickly the gambling industry managed to make putting on an "acca" every weekend an essential part of youth football culture.

Things are changing. I think being a non-drinker now is easier than it was in the 90s for instance.

But one of the things you have to learn to get through an addiction is that you're going to have to be different and swim against the tide from time to time, even when all the voices around you are telling you it'll be fun / it'll be fine / don't worry we'll go easy, not a big one.

[MNVillan]

9 hours ago, robby b said:

On the plus side personally is that I think my weekly average in the last ten years or so has been around 23 units, not as extreme as some people. I have the impression a few VTers may have more than that. Adrian Chiles admitted he drank a huge 80-100 units some weeks until recently! Until he made that brave BBC documentary.

Where I'm more harmful to myself is the daily amount... in the last 20 years, with the exception of 2012 and 2018, on average about twice a month I've been having about 9 or 10 units in one session (e.g. a whole bottle of wine) and that's more than twice the recommended daily limit of 4 units. Occasionally I've gone a bit mad and even had between 11 and 15 units in a sesh, now and then involving some spirit or other, wholly or partly. :s Like one day last week when I had a very stressful situation suddenly... it was soon followed by a really regrettable Famous Grouse and red wine combination. :s (Not a strange cocktail but one and then the other!)

I think it might be good in the UK to raise the legal age from 18 to 19, so somewhere between the UK system and the US one as a compromise. That way youngsters can still have plenty of fun including some alcohol but it would perhaps stop quite a lot of 18-year-olds from going too mad in their first term or two at uni, to keep the brakes on a little longer. 

I wonder if there perhaps could be more education around the issue in secondary schools too, I don't know, but having said all that I have read that the current young generation are drinking significantly less alcohol than my generation, well done to them, respect !

I was going through 60-80 units per week, if that makes you feel any better.

I went through treatment in late May - early June and have now been sober 74 days. It’s not easy, but my life has changed in only 2.5 months. Feel free to DM me if you want to chat.

[robby b]

57 minutes ago, MNVillan said:

I was going through 60-80 units per week, if that makes you feel any better.

I went through treatment in late May - early June and have now been sober 74 days. It’s not easy, but my life has changed in only 2.5 months. Feel free to DM me if you want to chat.

Thanks MN  : )

Wow. 60-80. But at least you were drinking less than Adrian Chiles! And Slash and Duff McCagan from Guns n' Roses! And all three are still alive. Chiles got away with it somehow, his doctor told him luckily he just had a fatty liver but that he'd have soon developped liver disease/sclerosis if he'd kept on with 80-100 some weeks. 

Well now and then I have had as much as 35 or 40 in a week in the last ten years. And that amount was quite common for me throughout my 20s. I remember counting 42 one week. (42, the meaning of life!) But rather than the recommended weekly limit it's much more with the daily one that I go off the rails... in other words binges. And there have been hundreds and hundreds of them throughout my adult life. That must have been/must be really bad for my health.  I'm a classic binge drinker, like far too many Brits are. My binges are usually 9 or 10 units (a bottle of red wine, my favourite drink). But occasionally when I've felt particularly anxious and stressed I have used up my weekly units 'allowance' (14) in just one night. This happened last Tuesday.  A big binge, like a youngster on a Friday night in the 1990s. Except that I'm not young anymore, I'm 49 ffs! :s

Anyway, nearly three months now, well done, I'm glad for you  The last time I went two months on the wagon was the start of last year.

"Badgers??? ......  ... ... We don't need no stinkin' badgers !!!"    

Edited August 9, 2023 by robby b

[mjmooney]

On 08/08/2023 at 15:06, robby b said:

I think my weekly average in the last ten years or so has been around 23 units 

I probably do that. Doesn't seem excessive. 

[robby b]

29 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

I probably do that. Doesn't seem excessive. 

Thank you MJ  Yeah it's not extreme, 23 a week. But that's my average (estimated). Now and then I'll spend a week 'off the sauce', great, but also now and then I'll end up with 35-40 units, which is excessive.

Anyway I think it's the daily limit that's my main problem, still a binge some weeks. Whereas I can remember your post in my Dry January thread saying how you spread drinks out evenly, which is healthier and sensible. I try hard to be sensible but now and then my will power goes missing. 

But I'm more determined than ever to win my battle with booze! And at least I've been better in middle age than when I was young.

Edited August 9, 2023 by robby b

[mjmooney]

28 minutes ago, robby b said:

Thank you MJ  Yeah it's not extreme, 23 a week. But that's my average (estimated). Now and then I'll spend a week 'off the sauce', great, but also now and then I'll end up with 35-40 units, which is excessive.

Anyway I think it's the daily limit that's my main problem, still a binge some weeks. Whereas I can remember your post in my Dry January thread saying how you spread drinks out evenly, which is healthier and sensible. I try hard to be sensible but now and then my will power goes missing. 

Yes, that's true. I almost never exceed that 23 or so units, and it's always spaced out. Any given evening it'll be a bottle of beer OR a couple of glasses of wine OR a large scotch (or other spirit). I NEVER mix them, or exceed that amount. Pretty much never binge, it would just make me ill. 

[MNVillan]

On 08/08/2023 at 18:47, robby b said:

Thanks MN  : )

Wow. 60-80. But at least you were drinking less than Adrian Chiles! And Slash and Duff McCagan from Guns n' Roses! And all three are still alive. Chiles got away with it somehow, his doctor told him luckily he just had a fatty liver but that he'd have soon developped liver disease/sclerosis if he'd kept on with 80-100 some weeks. 

Well now and then I have had as much as 35 or 40 in a week in the last ten years. And that amount was quite common for me throughout my 20s. I remember counting 42 one week. (42, the meaning of life!) But rather than the recommended weekly limit it's much more with the daily one that I go off the rails... in other words binges. And there have been hundreds and hundreds of them throughout my adult life. That must have been/must be really bad for my health.  I'm a classic binge drinker, like far too many Brits are. My binges are usually 9 or 10 units (a bottle of red wine, my favourite drink). But occasionally when I've felt particularly anxious and stressed I have used up my weekly units 'allowance' (14) in just one night. This happened last Tuesday.  A big binge, like a youngster on a Friday night in the 1990s. Except that I'm not young anymore, I'm 49 ffs! :s

Anyway, nearly three months now, well done, I'm glad for you  The last time I went two months on the wagon was the start of last year.

"Badgers??? ......  ... ... We don't need no stinkin' badgers !!!"    

An average night for me was 6-8 beers. A heavy night was 10. A day off was 12-14.

It was more than just the amount though. I was hiding my drinking, waking up in the morning trying to think about how long until I could “acceptably” drink, etc. 

I don’t have a crazy rock bottom story like some do (I never ended up in jail, got a DUI, etc).  My life got pretty grim though, I was consumed by alcohol. I do not recommend it.

[Follyfoot]

14 hours ago, mjmooney said:

I probably do that. Doesn't seem excessive. 

Agree with this 

[chrisp65]

It’s not necessarily quantity, it can be ‘need’.

If you have one drink when you get home from work, but you bloody need that one drink and you function and act differently without it, that’s addiction.

If you have 30 units but could (genuinely) stop tomorrow without implications, without behaviour change, that isn’t.

 

 

[MNVillan]

Popping back in to say that I am 204 days sober from alcohol. It’s pretty sweet. I entered rehab the day before we played Brighton last match of the season to secure Conference League. Haven’t had a drop since.

[trekka]

11 minutes ago, MNVillan said:

Popping back in to say that I am 204 days sober from alcohol. It’s pretty sweet. I entered rehab the day before we played Brighton last match of the season to secure Conference League. Haven’t had a drop since.

Really well done.  You've grasped life again and now you can enjoy it . All of the best wishes to you and your family over the festive period. 

[Rugeley Villa]

1 hour ago, MNVillan said:

Popping back in to say that I am 204 days sober from alcohol. It’s pretty sweet. I entered rehab the day before we played Brighton last match of the season to secure Conference League. Haven’t had a drop since.

Well done you, give yourself a pat on the back. Keep it up mate .

[T-Dog]

On 16/12/2023 at 06:31, MNVillan said:

Popping back in to say that I am 204 days sober from alcohol. It’s pretty sweet. I entered rehab the day before we played Brighton last match of the season to secure Conference League. Haven’t had a drop since.

Love that - Keep at it man! 

[mjmooney]

If you guys want a bit more incentive, I just got the news from a mate of mine, that his son (early 40s) is in a terminal condition with liver cirrhosis. Family devastated. 

[Captain_Townsend]

Had insomnia last night and read a lot of this thread.

Not only does it contain some of the best writing I have read but it also contains some truly brave individuals. 

I count my lucky stars every day that I am not am addict. I watched what gambling addiction and alcohol addiction did to my father in the 90s and 00s (an estimated loss of about €300,000 believe it or not) and I know the tendency could easily have been there with me.

[Vive_La_Villa]

Was doing great for 2 weeks. Good diet, good workouts, felt good on a new programme online. Then decided to have one drink Friday. Ended up in 3 days of heavy drinking and missed work today. I’m freelance so no pay. 
 

Feel like shit. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

On 21/12/2023 at 09:25, Captain_Townsend said:

Had insomnia last night and read a lot of this thread.

Not only does it contain some of the best writing I have read but it also contains some truly brave individuals. 

I count my lucky stars every day that I am not am addict. I watched what gambling addiction and alcohol addiction did to my father in the 90s and 00s (an estimated loss of about €300,000 believe it or not) and I know the tendency could easily have been there with me.

I reckon over the years I have lost about 100k on gambling. Mainly spread betting financial markets. It haunts me.

Im such a **** up.