Alcoholism -- Disease Or Addiction?

Discussion in 'Health & Wellness' started by Babs Hunt, Mar 28, 2016.

  1. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    I can also drink without problem but I hate the taste of alcohol so what's the point. I have been drunk a few times in Hungary but I drank then with that intent. :)
     
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  2. Terry Page

    Terry Page Supreme Member
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    Yes but alcohol itself doesn't really taste, I found beer to be an acquired taste as I initially didn't like it, but something like chocolate Baileys is irresistible from the first sip :rolleyes::D
     
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  3. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    I guess bailey is an exception to the rule but I don't care for creamy drinks either so that wouldn't entice me either.
     
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  4. Holly Saunders

    Holly Saunders Supreme Member
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    See I don't agree terry...I hate the taste of baileys in fact I hate the taste of all alcohol...
     
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  5. Terry Page

    Terry Page Supreme Member
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    But have you tried pure alcohol it has no taste itself whatsoever, the taste depends what you put it with. The nearest to it is pure filtered vodka. It does have a burning effect is that what you mean?

    Ethanol (Ethyl alcohol, drinking alcohol) itself has no taste beside a burning sensation
     
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  6. Cody Fousnaugh

    Cody Fousnaugh Supreme Member
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    Two things my wife loved about me, when we first met...........I didn't smoke and I was a light drinker. I use to smoke, but not enough to make it hard for me to quit before meeting her and I knew how to "Party" (drink) without getting into trouble for it or having it as a problem.

    Her ex was pretty much a 100% alcoholic and she had to bail him out of jail at times for it as well as take him to "court ordered" AA Meetings. He also smoked quite a bit. She doesn't want to remember him much, but there are times we will discuss him a little. In fact, she cut him out of a number of photos that she was in and other photos she simply had me shred. He was a good-looking dude, but those two things pretty much destroyed their marriage. He's deceased now.

    My real dad was a full-blown alcoholic as well. Fortunately, I was only around him the first 6 years of my life. Him and my mom split up and I was sent to live with an Aunt.

    The way I see it, there are two kinds of drunks.........the nasty type and the happy/laughing type. When either of us get somewhat "tipsy", we are definitely the "happy/laughing" type. When I worked as an EMT, I did see some "nasty" types. Most of the time, those "nasty" ones did something where they had to be cuffed and rode in the back of a squad car to jail, even though we were called to the scene. Yep, "Resisting Arrest" and swinging at an Officer just doesn't cut it!
     
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  7. Holly Saunders

    Holly Saunders Supreme Member
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    No I have never tried Pure alcohol, although I know what it is....I just meant I hate the taste of beer, spirits, alcohol generally...
     
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  8. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    I think the hardest part of knowing and loving some alcoholics...is watching them destroy themselves and the best things in their lives...and knowing there isn't a damn thing you can do to stop them...even when you try. :(
     
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  9. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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  10. Cody Fousnaugh

    Cody Fousnaugh Supreme Member
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    This is very true.........just ask my wife about her ex-husband.
     
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  11. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    @Babs Hunt Since I've been gone awhile, any good news update on your hubby? I called him your hubby but right now I can't remember if you are married or not. Hope I got it right.

    Reason I'm asking is my ex has been calling and he says he quit drinking but he's said that before.

    Aside from the alcohol he was a decent man. Very good to me and would do anything to make me happy, but at the time...stop drinking.

    Another boo boo, this isn't the post where you mention your husband drinking, at least I'm not finding it. Never mind, maybe I'll start my own thread later.
     
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    Last edited: Jun 23, 2016
  12. Corie Henson

    Corie Henson Veteran Member
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    I am not good with definition but I would say that environment is a big contributory factor in alcoholism. I don't want to admit that my father was an alcoholic, likewise with my brothers particularly the 3 former horse jockeys. They are all gone now and in my memory, they are drinkers or excessive drinkers or maybe habitual drinkers but no alcoholic. From what I understand, alcoholics couldn't last a day without a drink for they would be with shaking hands and out of focus. Clearly, alcoholism is an addiction as per the symptoms of craving.

    But in the case of my father and brothers, I don't see those symptoms. They can last a day or 2 without a drink but they are heavy drinkers. I used to hear that any one of them can finish 24 bottles of beer in one sitting. It may be an idiomatic expression but still it's an indication that they are heavy drinkers. In the recent years, however, my second eldest brother looked like he was alcoholic, a few years before he died. His swollen hands due to arthritis were still able to hold a glass of beer, he happily told me. And he also admitted that he drinks everyday for he couldn't sleep without a drink. Well?
     
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  13. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    @Chrissy Page Yes, he definitely is my husband. On July 30th we will celebrate our 11th year of married life but we have known each other over 13 years.

    I don't have any expectations of my husband quitting drinking Chrissy. And although this is not the tread I started where I specifically talk about my husband's alcoholism I don't mind answering your question. Yes, there is good news. Since I started that tread we have had two Family get togethers and my husband did not have one beer at either one of these get togethers. He did buy him a six pack of O'doull's, which is non-alcoholic but tastes like beer. I didn't even ask him to do this either, he did it all on his own. And when he came to spend the last week of my stay at my daughter's with me in Texas, he limited his beer intake to no more than 4 lite ones a night. All his own doing too.

    Maybe some people don't feel I should have said my husband is an alcoholic but I don't hide this from anyone and I'm not going to do it on this Forum either because there are times his drinking does affect me emotionally...and I want to be free to discuss my feelings about this as I know I am not the only one that lives with addiction in their lives...even if no one else talks about it. My husband is a really good man and I have no plans to leave him. He is teachable and he accepts my boundaries with his drinking. When he does mess up, he knows he has and admits it, and does his best to not do it again. None of us are perfect, and although I feel this is a stronghold in his life that God could set him free from.....that is between him and God. I asked God for a husband who would not abuse me and who would know my heart....and that's exactly what God gave me. He may hurt me by his behavior sometimes when he drinks, but he has never abused me. And by hurt...I probably should say his behavior embarrasses me because that would be more a more accurate word, because he does not hurt me physically, the hurt comes because it embarrasses me that my husband gets drunk and says stupid things or behaves in stupid ways. When he embarrasses me at a Family function I really get upset...even though I know this is what alcoholics do. He lost his own family pretty much because of his alcoholism....but I won't let him lose mine. They all love him dearly, and the grandkids think he is the best Papaw ever because he knows how to be a kid just like them. They don't see to much of his drunkeness because when I see the warning signs that he's almost there...I take him home. Alot has happened in my husband's past that contributes to his drinking...things he uses alcohol to numb the pain of. Even though he knows God, he doesn't believe God can heal him of the wounds and pain he has carried for so long. And even though I pray for him, until he tells God he wants to be healed and set free....life will go on the way it is. And I will just keep loving him and setting any boundaries I have too so we can continue to have a good life together. And so he will know that he is loved by me the way God loves him. Even though he is an alcoholic, he is a kind and loving husband to me, he supports us just fine, and he knows my heart better than anyone else ever did...and I know his that way too. I pray one day God sets him free, but even if that day doesn't come until he's breathed his last I will still be right there beside him. He's worth it.
     
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  14. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    @Cory Henson There are different forms of alcoholism. Some alcoholics are what you call binge drinkers, they can go months without taking one drink...and then one day start drinking and not stop for days or weeks, etc. at a time. My husband is what you call a funtional alcoholic. He can work, and behave just like other people do until a certain time of day, then he starts drinking and can't stop until the beer he has runs out or he falls asleep. The older he gets the earlier he is falling asleep now...and not drinking as many beers as he used to. Other alcoholics drink from the time they wake, until the time they pass out and most of these can not end up holding a job, or keep a marriage together or help raise their children. They totally live to drink and drink to live. And these are the worst to me because they will say and do anything to have their next drink. One of the warning signs that someone is an alcoholic is the fact that once they take that first drink...they cannot stop drinking until they pass out. They cannot drink one or two drinks and quit like people who aren't alcoholics can.
     
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  15. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    I saw this after I saw your other post, Babs. The difference I see between your husband and my ex is that you love your husband, I LIKED my ex so I couldn't or wouldn't deal with the stress. I don't think I could love anyone again like I did my husband so I thought liking was enough, guess it wasn't.

    He is a very good and kind man, sounds very similar to the way you describe your husband and if he didn't drink I think we could have had a decent life together....at least companionship even if I wasn't madly in love with him.

    Maybe I should just stop even the phone conversations....I don't know. :(
     
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