Man, so many replies, which is great! I went away to the beach for a couple of days and wasnt expecting so many, and such great responses! A real eye opener! I can really see both points of view from John_X and Eric, Deep Dish as usual, always has a very educated point of view. Thanks guys. Also, thanks to the rest of you, Sazuki etc.
No, I didnt drink down the coast. haha.
I will try to go through and answer some questions and give my own opinions, if I miss anything, please just reply and ask again.
Ok, so yes, I have a history of alcoholism in my family. It runs wild, one of my uncles always says "if they bred alcoholics like they do racehorses, you and your brother would be champions"! A very fair statement, and one of which is very true!
I have looked up and researched a lot of information on a lot of things to do with alcoholism, and have very firm knowledge on depression medication. (my dad suffered from severe depression, one of his sisters suffers it too). My dad committed suicide last year, and the depression medication didnt do ANYTHING to combat his illness. If anything, it did make him worse. He got addicted (found a doctor who had severe memory loss as she underwent brain surgery), who gave in and gave him too many drugs. He got severely addicted and ended up in detox! Following this, was when he took his own life.
I do think depression medication could do good for many people, however, I cant really say I have been depressed as such. I have definately gone through some rough times in my life, where I have been very sad, but always get over it in time. Never, have I been stuck in a rut that continued for a long time. Depression is not on my mums side of the family whatsoever, so hopefully I have inherited those genes.
As for a broken home etc. I would say I had a great great childhood, infact one of the best I could hope for up until I was a teenager. My parents both then got ill (my dad was a professional football player and did some serious spinal damage), hence the reason he was on a lot of pain releif medication and anti depressants! My mum went downhill due to stress. My family life was not great after that, but I would still say it was stable until I was about 20, in that time, my dad became very depressed and I was the one who really had to deal with it. Some nights I would even come home from work (I worked in a sports centre after my dayjob, or after university), and I could hear him screaming out crying from his bedroom even from my driveway (of which was about 30 metres away from the bedroom). So yeah, it was a very bad period.
I however, have always seemed to had a rational head. My parents always wonder where I got my willpower and determination from, as it has not been a big trait of the family. I got rid of all my friends at around age 17 who were into drugs, and just had no future and made new friends. These friends are the most loyal, motivated group of guys, and are a very big help to me in my life! We all help eachother enormously. I received great grades at university, I am currently in the process of receiving my second degree. I have travelled the world, have sports I love, and a great girlfriend (for the moment). A very stable life. I have of late, probably the past 6 months, been cutting down the amount of time I go out and the times I drink. Probably drinking only every 1-2 weeks now, instead of every single week.
I think the main problem with me is drinking had become a way of life, it was just what I did. It was what I had become accustomed too on weekends. Further, as I have read, when I went a couple of weeks without drinking, I would feel very anxious, like I needed a drink to calm me down. Exercise would not work, in this way, it was my body being addicted as it was stuck in a constant cycle and used to being fed with alcohol once a week. This is apparently one of the main things I will notice on my path to not drinking.
My mum attends AA, 12 step meetings to gain a better understanding of her father (an alcoholic), however, she just rambled her generitc meeting crap off, and seems to bring home a lot of "bums" who have nothing better to do than to hang out with eachother, as none of them work have a good circle of friends or anything else to do worthwhile in their lives. I do dispise this, and also do not like the "religous" nonsense that goes along with it. I definately am religous, just dont like to be bible bashed, as I have had my family doing it to me my entire life.
I am going to Sydney tomorrow with mates for a few days, just to relax, go to the beach and have a break. A couple of them will drink heavily, of which will be good for me to test myself in the beggining. I am going to definately take the first obvious step, and try and work through this myself. I have tried and said many other times I will quit, but of course never continued with it. But none have been more serious than this time. Not to mention, for the past few months, I have actually not even enjoyed myself drinking, hence another reason why I have been going out less and less.
If I do lapse, and start drinking again, I will definately seek help. Until then, I will do what I always do and try fight it out myself. I do have stable foundations in my life, so that is not a problem. Further, if I do suffer prolonged depression from the withdrawal, I will see a doctor for medication and/or advice.
That being said, I definately suffer from alcoholism, practically all my cousins do, an uncle does, my brother does, both my gradads do. Some are alcoholics (drink every day), others simply cause a rampage when they drink and dont remember a thing. Each, just as dangerous and damaging to your life as the other.
Hope this kind of makes sense. Hopefully some other guys can read this also and realise they have a problem and maybe work through it with me. If so, I will keep a constant log of my progress, how I feel, the times I have found it most hard to resist etc and maybe have someone else to go through it with. Otherwise, I will just use my friends and family for that! My mum is very supportive of me seeing someone as is my grandma, as they have seen it throughout their lives and know what it does to the males of our family.
Thanks guys, please keep the replies coming if you have anything to add.
Cheers.
