According to the word of Google an alcoholic is:-
alcoholic
The term alcoholic is generally defined as someone who is addicted to alcohol. Addiction in turn is defined as a maladaptive pattern of drinking that leads to significant personal problems as defined by 3 or more of the following in the same 12 month period:
1. Drinking larger amounts or over longer period than intended.
2. Persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control drinking.
3. Drinking that interferes with family, friends, or job.
4. Continued drinking despite negative consequences such as divorce, lost job, DWI conviction.
5. Tolerance, meaning that over time it takes more alcohol to get drunk than it used to.
6. Withdrawal, meaning that the person has unpleasant symptoms if they stop drinking.
Well judjing by last Saturdays efforts I think I can safely say I qualify for the first 3. You see the problem I have is that on the odd occasion I do go out for a “session” with some friends I can’t stop. I get a gate fever that means I just don’t want to go home. I’ll drink and drink and drink until I fall over and then drink some more. I might only do this 2-3 times a year but the truth is that I feel helpless to stop it.
On Saturday I set out with the plan of having a good night, drinking bottled beer until about 12 o’clock, getting something to eat and then jumping in a taxi and heading home. What actually happened was we drank at a nice pace up until about 11pm, at which point I felt a lot less drunk than my friends so decided to pick up the pace and get drunk(only an hour to go you see). I have a brain malfunction that struggles to define what drunk really is. The next thing I remember was falling through our front door at 5am, wet and looking like I’d been dragged through a hedge. My best guess of how the night turned out was
1. Till 11:30pm, Nice happy drunk and in good form
2. 11:30pm – 1am, drinking too much drunk, slurring of words and generally being a very drunk, drunk
3. 1am till closing time, legless drunk, best left alone to sit down
4. Wandering around looking for a taxi not being able to find one and then deciding to make the walk home
5. From 3am till about 5am, stumbling along banging of walls until eventually falling through the door at home
All this from what was supposed to just be a normal, nice, night out. Why? My wife is a star, why she puts up with this I have no idea, I suppose my only saving grace is that fact I go out so little. Is that really an excuse to get paralytic though? I don’t think so. I can’t put into words just how f*****g annoyed I am with myself. I’m married and I have a daughter, there is no excuse for me to go out and get into a state where I can’t remember half the night. If anyone asks I had a great night, this is because that only bits I can remember were great. I can’t comment on the rest.
Anyway, so I’ve been suffering all week, I’ve not been able to work until today and I still have the nagging feeling that I’ve done something bad to my insides. No gym, no exercise for a while. So my drinking has resulted in me getting way more drunk than I’d ever want to, causing upset and friction with my wife, sickness and me to miss almost a whole week of work.
Setting up this online diary helped me to lose the weight I’d been wanting to shift for so long, I only hope it can also help to shame me into knocking this habit on the head. I don’t even know where to start though, drinking is a way of life where I live. Would my friends understand if I stuck to the soft stuff, I hope so?
Non Diet Posts
