Giving Up/Cutting Down Alcohol Thread Part 17

Arkers

Season_of_Mist said:

alt80 said:

@cathybird thanks not going to lie the comment jarred. Drinking can cause a lot of harm but is certainly more socially acceptable generally... Some of them fairly big drinkers lot more than I ever was but there's def less of a stigma associated with alcohol.

Long post alert. Also an apology right up front, definitely no intention to cause offence or to be taken as being a personal judgement towards any individual - it really isn't.

This is, or is supposed to be, the Cutting Down / Giving Up Alcohol thread. Alcohol, for all its ills and for all the undoubted social, personal and health problems it can cause that I'm sure we would all acknowledge, is rightly or wrongly both legal and a big part of the social fabric of this country. The other activity being talked about here - in nearly every post it seems - is illegal in itself and supports organised criminality of the most serious kind. Posters have been picked up for their comments sounding too 'harsh' or 'jarring'. Sorry but this needs to be called exactly as it is.

Class A drug use directly pays for and supports the most ruthless and destructive organised criminal networks. That little 'weekend habit' among other things funds sexual exploitation of the most vulnerable victims, fuels almost all gang-related violence, causes untold misery on a personal & family level and ultimately goes to enrich the utterly dangerous, morally destitute, cruel, abusive, narcissistic, individuals at the top of the criminal food chain. Drug-based criminality has infected almost every level of our society over the last 50 years and the corrosion and damage it has caused runs so deep it may never be cleared away. Even if you don't happen to care about the effects on society as a whole, it will almost certainly affect all of us on a personal level at some point; if your home is burgled it will be an addict looking for quick cash, if your children are robbed at knifepoint in the street for their smartphones it will be to fence them on to pay for drugs, if your car is stolen it will be used to pay off a debt incurred to dealers.

Is it really any surprise that there is "...less stigma associated with alcohol?" Really?

alt80 I wish you every success in tackling those issues, I really hope you can put it behind you for good, I can understand how discussing it is a healthy thing for you. I totally get the link between drinking and substance abuse and recognise that for many people, the two go hand in hand. I don't run MSE Forum and I don't look after this thread, my opinion counts for zip really, but the site has a clear policy on illegal content / activity and I am struggling to see how bringing up recreational Class A drug use in just about every single post is compatible with the terms of this forum or the spirit of this thread.

Yeah I definitley need to take a break for a while. I'll yellow-card myself. Good luck all.

Seasons of mist - please don't "yellow card" yourself. I've always found that this thread is one of the kindest threads about. You're entitled to voice your opinion. However please don't stay away for long. 

alt80 I don't wish to sound simplistic, patronising or indeed judgemental but you sound like you are living life at 1000 miles an hour with limited capacity to relax without stimulus. Are there any hobbies or other outlets that you could focus on that could take up some of your energy? There are still times that I get an urge to drink that I have to just take myself off to bed early and read. I'd like to write more however my pup is desperate to play!

Arkers

Good morning everyone,
13 please Cathy
I have my jab tomorrow so declaring early. 
Arkers x

alt80

Declaring early - 16 please.

@Arkers thank you and yeah you’re right about me I’m not good at relaxing if I could I’d work 24/7 I have done before but can’t do it when I’m entirely sober- just whacked in the evening idk why. 

maggiem

Changing the topic but I'm going to take a chance and declare early today so14/20 - yes I am that shallow and really really want the frog. 

Debate between levels of harm caused by drugs and alcohol is very difficult. Yes one is criminal, but in terms of social harm, mental health and addiction issues alcohol causes so many huge problems. Last time I had to visit A & E on a Saturday night it was like a war zone (and in fairness that was both drug and alcohol issues). I do however really value the way this thread helps and don't want to lose that positive spirit. 

Wanna_Bee_Free

Declaring very early to help as Thursday is trickier for me than other weeknights so 9/13 please Cathybird.
Since I am a coward when it comes to conflict I'm gonna say 3 things and then duck and cover and hope our kind supportive thread keeps going. 
1 Seasons of Mist please don't yellow card yourself 
2 After seeing the powers that be ban people I believe we should avoid illegal or forum banned topics in the same way years ago discussions on supplements  etc were too close to medical advice. We don't want the thread to suffer as it helps people with alcohol. 
3 I lurked on the first thread and got the courage up to finally post over 6 months and 300 pages later. Unlike so very many others I may be a failure as I haven't left the thread after a while. Reading and posting helps me to have a couple of AFDs a week. I still drink more than gov rec 10-14 units a week but less than I would without this thread. 

cathybird

March

7 days = 14 days = 21 days = 28 days = Target reached = Target beaten =
March targets
alt80 16/25 AnnieG 16/25 Arkers 13/10 Barny 16/25 cathybird 18/21 Coveredinbees 10/20 CuppaTea 2/14 ditty1234 11/25 JGB1955 15 lantanna 8/14 maggiem 14/20 maman 11/10 marahouti 14/21 PriceySOS 12/25 RobM99 7/24 Season of Mist 16/29 sukeyboo 11/10 WBF 9/13 xxlalxx 17/29
Newcomers welcome!

xxlalxx

Morning all!
Well well well, I did not drink on St Patrick's Day! So 17/29 for yesterday please Cathy, not declaring for today tho.....

Having scanned through all the posts this morning, I have to say that I'm proud of everyone for voicing their opinions without taking offence of others..... imagine if we were all drunk and had that conversation lol there would have been all out war hahaha

Anyway, my thoughts, @alt80 there are hundreds of thousands of Narcotic Anonymous meetings online. Probably two daily in your area. You should join them, NOT because I mind you talking about it here but because if you want to stay clean, it is the best chance you have. There is a fellowship in your local area and if you start getting to know the people online now when lockdown is over you have a ready made group of friends who have lots of social outings etc The recommendation is that you do 90 meetings in 90 days, I strongly advise you do this. Also in my humble opinion unless your professional help is from an addict in recovery turned pro, Narcotics Anonymous is where you should be, and it's free. Keep working on the alcohol here...
@Season_of_Mist
Dont yellow card yourself, you made a valid point re speaking of illegal activity and forum rules. It doesn't bother me what alt80 talks about but they are the rules I suppose.
Just want to say tho, if your home is burgled it WON'T NECESSARILY be an addict looking for quick cash, if your children are robbed at knifepoint in the street for their smartphones it WON'T NECESSARILY be to fence them on to pay for drugs, if your car is stolen it WON'T NECESSARILY be used to pay off a debt incurred to dealers.
🙈🙉🙊
Peace Out ✌

cathybird

Season of Mist, you're not wrong but in times and places when alcohol has been made illegal it has also been seized on and distributed by ruthless criminal networks, bootlegging during Prohibition being the obvious example. The criminal activity is a consequence of the illegality of the drug. There's a distinction between that and the physical and social harm the drug causes in and of itself, whether it's legal or not (I include alcohol in this). I'm not offering any kind of argument over whether or not drugs should be illegal btw. This is a complicated issue, as maggiem says. The point with alt80, if he won't take offence at my sticking up for him again , is he's trying to give up at the same time as he is trying to cut down on alcohol. If he wasn't trying to give up it would be different (for me at least). I have always taken the frequency with which he talks about it to be part of the difficulty of abstaining but I get why you might find it to be an issue given that it's not directly what this thread is about. No need to yellow-card yourself! Your comments are always valuable, don't go away

cathybird

WBF, I agree totally that we should be careful about discussing this b/c we don't want the thread to suffer as a consequence. I might actually seek some advice from the board guide as to how we should proceed.

marahouti

I am 14/21 (and frog day 🐸) for yesterday please cathybird. Thank you. X

I have read the last couple of pages and will not comment other than to say that I appreciate the honesty and good will of our members. X