Binge drinking

[shadowsfall]

Every weekend for the past year or so I've been drinking pretty heavily. I never drink during the week but once Fri and Sat night roll around I always seem to overdue it. I'll maybe have 10 beers or so and a few shots per night and the next day I'll feel completely depressed and anxious. Today is one of those "come down" days and I still have a ton of homework but I can't snap out of this misery. And yea I know that alcohol is a depressent and it messes with your central nervous system etc etc and thats why i'm feeling bad. However I can't seem to snap out of this binging routine and can't help myself from just "letting go" on the weekends. Does anyone have any advice short of attending A.A. meetings?

[Meaplus3]

Every weekend for the past year or so I've been drinking pretty heavily. I never drink during the week but once Fri and Sat night roll around I always seem to overdue it. I'll maybe have 10 beers or so and a few shots per night and the next day I'll feel completely depressed and anxious. Today is one of those "come down" days and I still have a ton of homework but I can't snap out of this misery. And yea I know that alcohol is a depressent and it messes with your central nervous system etc etc and thats why i'm feeling bad. However I can't seem to snap out of this binging routine and can't help myself from just "letting go" on the weekends. Does anyone have any advice short of attending A.A. meetings?

 

Hi There,

 

I stopped drinking cold Turkey 9 month ago. After seeing that I was NO longer having just a drink or Two.. more like 4 or 5 a few times per week, I realized that this had become an issue for me. It was making me more depressed and anxious. So, I made a decesion to put it down for the sake of my heath and sanity. I did not take the AA route I just stopped. The first few weeks were very rough. I had trouble sleeping, some awful headaches and I felt real strange. however, after that time passed I was feeling so much better. So, this is what worked for me. Now, I don't know your complete history here so,you might want to check with your medical Doctor.. because sometimes withdrawl can be bad and even dangerous. But there is hope.. you just have to want to quit.. like with any habit or addiciton. Best of luck.

 

Mea:)

[electric_sheep]

I drank myself into oblivion Friday night. Even started to black out a little towards the end, which is something that hasn't happened in years. I still feel rough around the edges.

 

I used to spend every Saturday and Sunday "morning" (2 pm) miserably staring off into space at the cafe, drinking cup after cup in an attempt to stimulate my neurons enough so that I could make it through the day. Then one day I just said f**k it, and I more or less stopped binge drinking for good (with the rare exception). I've probably only been truly drunk about 10 times since and that was 6 years ago. Quite an improvement, considering it used to happen 3 nights a week.

 

Anyway, binge drinking is a particularly efficient form of self-punishment and self-destruction. No doubt about it.

[electric_sheep]

Part of it is in redefining what's "fun".

 

Unfortunately, a lot of drinkers have lost touch with what they really think is "fun". Why not ask yourself... are you actually having fun?

 

My guess is it's not about having fun at all. It's probably more about "exercising demons"... i.e., dealing with stress, depression, anxiety, etc... It's become a particularly unhealthy and dysfunctional way of coping with emotions. Somewhat effective in the short term, absolutely disastrous in the long term. At least, that was the case for me.

[shadowsfall]

Hey guys thanks for the advice.

 

I agree with you Mea, and I definitely don't want to go the A.A. route either. I don't think I'll have a particlarly difficult time quitting as long I don't slip into the "Im just going to have 1 drink" mindset. It seems there are few occassions that I can remember where I've only consumed 2 or less drinks without the temptation to drink more with the exception that I'm driving somewhere. I try and tell myself I'm just going to have a few and before I know it I'm 10 in. Are there any tips of self-discipline in this respect? OR do I just need not entice my thirst in the first place? It may also be that I always stay over at my friends apartment, so knowing that I dont have to drive anywhere probably doesn't make it any better. Perhaps I should start spending the night at home to forceably limit myself because I'll be driving. Or hopefully I can just keep reminding myself of how bad I felt last yesterday, and use that as negative reinforcement.

 

To answer your question E-Sheep, I am having fun the majority of the time but lately I've been getting a little more angry and defensive. Like you said I'm probably just binging to mask the anxiety and stress that is so prevalent in my life. Right now I'm at the pinnacle of stress in my life. MY family has moved away, my social life is not what I want it to be, work and school are more demanding than ever, bills are piling up etc. Super Bowl weekend I spent the night arguing with one of my friends about agnosticism v. atheism. Last Sat night I got a little heated with my buddy who said that I have a problem listening to people and that's one of the reason why my ex is no longer with me. In his defense, he wasn't saying it in a scolding way but because I was drinking I was a little more defensive than I would normally be. Both conversations got ugly and the next day I called both of them and apologized. These two incidents have really made me feel like **** and like I'm out completely of control of my emotions when I'm in that state. However, these incidents have provided me with negative recollections of what can happen If I choose to drink.