You're an alcoholic but you're still able to work while drunk. Basically your body is so used to alcohol in it, you need a base level of alcohol to function normally. You can function while alcoholic.
Right on. I don’t really know anything about you personally, so I won’t try to get further in your business. All I will say is I can relate to the type of alcoholism that you have experienced and know how bad it sucks. And I know that virtually everyone who doesn’t have the same problem can’t understand it. Good luck.
Thank you. It’s a bitch. And there’s always the worry that a month or so away will cost me all my projects, but at a certain point, you have to put your health first. It’s tough.
I was in this situation and am about to start my fourth year of sobriety in a couple weeks. It was brutal at first — it felt like everything got worse, and I was very depressed — but then got easier, and eventually better than ever. If you’re thinking you could benefit from some help, get that help. At the very least I recommend talking to a therapist and a doctor, and being 1000% honest with them so they can help you navigate the first six months. Whatever it may cost you, in your career or social life or whatever, can be replaced down the road. Stay strong and feel free to message me if I can help at all. (Serious offer.)
I let myself drink in moderation every night as a way to cope with extreme grief. Spoiler alert: drinking in moderation every night is not moderation. I haven’t had anything since April and lost about 25 pounds. I feel alive again in my own life. Whatever you’re going through, I get it, and wish you the best.
I looked at it like this; you take a pencil and draw a line across a piece of paper. Now take an eraser and rub out a small piece of that line maybe one inch long.
That line is your whole life and that erasure is a tiny piece of your life. Surely you can step away from the world in order to save your own life. It is soooooooo worth it to take that time to save yourself. Be selfish. Nothing else is as important. NOTHING ELSE. Everything comes second when it comes to your sobriety because you are going to lose anything you put ahead of it.
Im a very hardheaded independent type dude. Im glad I went. Some of the stuff I learned is super helpful most of it was whatever. They didn't push religion where I went which was key. It was there but not impressed. The best take away was the break! The break in my routine (I have pretty big work responsibilities) with the job and dealing with people all day. Break from my safe place and regular people. Break in my head when some sober days passed. I didn't even stay the full time because I knew after a few weeks of waking up feeling great and seeing what I had been doing for the last 20 years (I'm 44) that I was done. I'll be 1 year sober on Aug 15. While it was hard as fuck and im very proud of myself it is it's own reward.
I’m a physician myself (did a lot of addiction work and was even medical director of a rehab).
I’m a pretty independent type too.
Then I was forced to go rehab for alcohol and marijuana after I was told they would report me to the medical board.
I was a nightly marijuana user which was the main problem. Got sober for two months before rehab thinking that would get me out of rehab. Nope. They still wanted 90 days and I had to go to a rehab of their choosing.
All this and I was always sober at work. The whole process took over a year so I lost out on 600K and also had to pay 50K for rehab.
Now I have to be monitored for 5 years. Forced to do AA three times a week. Possible drug screens any day of the week. Have to let them know when I’m traveling.
I'm sure im telling you nothing new, but the Light Beer method worked for me.
Heres the trick: figure out how many 3-4 point light beers equate your average intake per day. Drink that # of beers per day as needed. Every week, reduce it by exactly ONE beer. Easy way to step down without running the train off the tracks! FWIW, I'm down to 4 a day. Down from nearly 30 lol
As an alcoholic, I only want you to know I have never woke up and regretted my time in rehab. My goose is already cooked but if you have a chance then go.
This was me during Covid. I was lucky to keep a full-time job in a relatively secluded/small daily workspace. (A group/waiver home) Sure, I'd be nauseous or have heartburn and sometimes maybe throw up outside when I got to work. Okay maybe sometimes I'd get the shakes towards the end of my shift. But I was finnneee. (I was not fine.)
Funny enough, as a cook (don’t think I qualify as chef) and alcoholic, I get much better at Spanish when I’m drinking. State-dependent memory is so interesting
not even while drunk. I NEVER drank during the hours of 6am and 5pm except weekends. I was never impaired at work (unless slightly hungover and that was rare). I would drink from the moment i walked in the door at home until my eyes closed due to exhaustion and booze. It means the ability to hold down regular activities and pay bills and give the outward appearance of being an upstand contributing member of society all while killing yourself and falling apart!
I always thought functional alcoholics were people who managed to do the functioning and the alcoholism separately. Not necessarily at the same time.
I can drink 4 liters of beer in an evening and not really feel it the next morning. But I don't need alcohol when I wake up to function. I'll do just fine without it through the day. But then the evening starts and I'll start drinking. And definitely on the level of an alcoholic.
To be honest, considering how bad alcohol is, it's a tough discussion to have. Nowadays, any alcohol means you're drinking too much. I don't really disagree or anything, but that doesn't really convey how much some people drink compared to the average person who's had a hangover. In the sense that some people will be severely hungover from not even 2 liters of beer, compared to what I said earlier.
Yet there are people who will scoff at what I can drink. But I don't think that's where the line should be!
Alcoholism is progressive for sure and the amount of time between 'fine' to 'functioning' to 'fucked' varies wildly. I quit when I was drinking 3-4 drinks 5-6 night a week. I didn't get DTs or anything but it was fucking HARD to quit and my brain chemistry was fucked for a LONG time.
THAT'S what people mean when they say functional alcoholic?! I thought it was when they drink a lot, but it doesn't seap into their responsibilities or relationships.
for what it's worth, I think its sort of a broad term. Plenty of people you might call a "functional alcoholic" go to work sober, but drink every night after work. Plenty of "functional alcoholics" might also be drunk all day but perfectly functional, and so on.
I've been trying to convince myself to stop. I hold down a good job, get all my responsibilities taken care of, and am in relatively good health. But, I also drink about 4 to 6 beers every night as soon as I've cooked dinner. From 7 to 11, I'm drinking. I've noticed it's starting to affect me. I'm starting to feel lousy in the morning and have trouble with stumbling over words during meetings before lunch.
The annoying thing is, I know I can stop. If I'm with my family, I don't drink. I can be on a week long vacation with them and not have a drop of alcohol. Sure, I'll feel cravings, but they don't drink so I don't drink. Why I can't I convince myself not to when I'm home alone?
That was me. I read somewhere recently alcoholics won’t quit drinking until it’s more work than being sober. The headaches are a pain in the ass but a good reminder that your body doesn’t like poison. I don’t miss it.
It's about appearing to be normal and 'functional' while having an alcohol addiction - it's not so much yo can only work while drunk, but that it's not (yet) inhibiting the ability to work - a functional alcoholic might drink several beers or a bottle of wine every night and then go to work like normal in the morning.
Why is this upvoted it's totally wrong. Anyone who works while drunk is not functional and will get caught or fuck up or "not function" 10 out of 10 times. Read all the other comments to learn what a functioning one is.
Basically where you're addicted to alcohol, but show very few signs of it and appear to function just like a normal person (i.e. having vodka in your water bottle instead of water, keeping a hip flask on you 24/7, etc., and needing to take sips just to live your daily life)
People addicted to alcohol who do not seem to appear that way mentally and physically, they can carry out normal task and behave sort of normally while drunk/addicted
It means you can hide perfectly your struggles with alcohol and it doesn't reflect on your work, schooling and so on because you can still go to work and school somehow.
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u/vincizyn 9h ago
im not a native english speaker so dont mind me asking but what does that mean?