yeah this thread is sucking way more than it should

Details about how you climbed out of your vices would be more interesting.

What do you think was the single biggest factor in your recovery?

How often did friends and family try to help you before you worked it out on your own?

Worst thing you've ever done due to your lack of sobriety?

I find your user name odd given your story. Why would you choose that name after 24 years of sobriety?

wat

Is this meant to be an achievement?

If I was OP there are about a half dozen people I'd want to punch in the face for making ******ed "jokes". But he seems to be a good sport about it.

Thanks for the input OP, and congratulations.

sorry tuq, i shoudn't hate, fascinating thread

cliffnotes for those who haven't read it:

1. dude "hits bottom"

2. dude goes to AA

3. dude lives happily ever after.

I agree it's not the most scintillating ask me thread ever, largely due to the lack of detail. But it takes a minimum of creative talent to come up with a "wouldn't you just love a drink right now?" joke, and basically exhibits that the people who do likely have no idea the intense, lifelong struggle that some people go through.

Also, a lot of the bad jokes were made before OP responded to posts asking for details, so that he chose not to does not pardon the ones that were made prior to that decision.

well come on, it's not like the guy is posting interesting replies that would in and of itself demand respect to be like, "come on guiz let's stop joking around, this is getting kind of interesting"

in reality when the dude won't even talk about THE MOST INTERESTING THINGS, it makes you wonder why he made this thread in the first place and the jokes are understandable in that sense because they're just trying to entertain themselves

what do you think of the idea that true self-control is the ability to use in moderation?

how often/how much lsd/mj/whatever where you taking. i'm a recreational user of those drugs myself and am interested in quantities etc, and perhaps a synopsis of how you went from normal person to drug fiend. at what point did the downward spiral start?

Good point.

Ahh, near mental breakdown, got ya.

Click on the picture Eyedea posted for the BobS clip. I was being serious b/c it sounded like you listed weed as the biggest of your problem drugs but now you've said LSD was the major problem.

I guess you felt you were addicted to all vices or one led to the other and that you couldn't seperate the harmless form the harmful? It was your addictive personality that limited your ability to enjoy these things in a positive way?

I think the reason you are getting so many questions about your bottomout is because it is your choice to go from using to sober that is much more interesting the 25 years since that you have been sober.

i always think it's amazing that it takes a "bottoming out" to whip people back in shape

why is that exactly

My guess is because there is a fine line between drinking/using drugs in a recreational, positive way and being a fiend. And it is very hard to see that line for yourself through your eyes as you near fiend-dom.

Its never necessarily a "bottoming out." It's more likely simply the lowest point that one person ever reached as after this point they improved and stayed that way (or re-bottomed cancelling the previous lowest point).

uhhh so you quoted my post to clarify something that didn't need clarifying?

Do you really view alcoholism as a disease? If so please explain why?

AA seems to focus on giving your life to a higher power. Do you believe you quit your addictions or did some outside forces do most of it for you?

My questions are sincere. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer for any of them. You quit and that is all that matters. I do find it interesting how many disagree about these details however. Gratz on beating this thing for so long and good luck in the future.

I have not had a drink in about 6 years, I think. I have no idea if I am a true alcoholic but I tell people that I am when they try to force booze on me. lol ohoh one last question!!

Do you ever find some people intentionally try to make you fall off the wagon and have you had to remove these people from your life? I had to.

It's from a Grateful Dead song called High Time. "I was having a high time, living the good life."

I view alcoholism as a disease because that model works for me. I don't know if it is or not. I'm not a scientist nor a doctor. I don't know if it is genetic or environmental. There are other models for recovery. I believe the 12 step fellowships are just the most successful in helping the most people recover.

I had been in 2 nut houses for 14 weeks in 1983 and had tried to kill myself. I had hit my bottom months ago and been in this living hell. I don't know why but after getting busted for smoking pot in the nut house, I was laying in bed, waiting to go to sleep and said "Please help me". The next day was my first day without using anything in a long time. So is there a higher power? I don't know. But I think that if one believes in something, their life can change for the better.

One thing I've always liked about the 12 step fellowships is that they don't force you to do anything or to believe in their God. They encourage you to find your own understanding of a loving, forgiving God.

Most of my original using friends didn't care or didn't understand about how serious my addiction was. I saw them a couple of times and they kept offering me to get high. I had to find new playmates and new playthings pretty quickly.

Qfforgetting the last word of the song.

I smoked my first joint and first cigarette when I was 10 years old. I started drinking and smoking pot in earnest when I was 16. I first dosed at 18. I dosed about 50 times and would smoke weed every day if I had the means.

The point is it doesn't matter what or how much you use. It's what effect it has on you. At the end, McDonald's wouldn't even hire me because I was burnt out and could barely hold a conversation.

For normal people, they can use in moderation and have true self-control. God bless them! I am the same way with a glass of milk. I could drink a 1/2 glass of milk and leave the rest on the table. It wouldn't bother me at all. I could look at it all night. But if it was a 1/2 of beer, there is no way I would leave it there.

When I start a thread titled, "Ask me about blowing a hobo for his bottle of Nyquil", then I will consider to answer.

Are you on meds? Reason I ask, such a correlation b/w acid and mental illness. Saw ratdog last night, pretty damn good show.

What I've learned about addiction says that I can't use anything in safety. I would probably be ok for a few months but I feel in my gut I would end up dead or worse, back in that living hell where I was.

I've also seen scores of people come in and out of the 12 step fellowships. Alot of them don't make it. Alot of them can't get honest with themselves about their problem and end up dead. That's a pretty good motivator for me to stay sober. Basically, my life is so good the way it is today, there's no way I would tempt fate. Bottom line is, I no longer have the desire to drink and use because I am content with myself.

No I'm not on meds. But I was on some pretty serious stuff in 1983, in the nut house. The same stuff they gave Gary Gilmore. I also trudged my way through the depression, the first few years of sobriety because I didn't want to take meds.

I will see Ratdog and Phil New Years Eve this year in San Francisco.