Alcohol as a symptom of something else

[Unregistered]

Yeah, Yeah, I'm an alcoholic - once a week I get smashed. One drink is too many for me. So how do we/I effectivly treat it? I have been told that if one doesn't get enough love and affection as a child it can be a factor in alcoholism developing later. Yip my Dad is pretty average at communicating his feelings and by this I mean ****. Not sure if he was cold or anything when I was a kid, the memory is a bit hazy.
According to this website social phobias can result or be a factor in alcoholism. This is true for me as I become ' the life of the party' when I drink and lose all of my irrational social phobias - it is so relieving! But boy do I pay for it when I wake up. Brain/memory damage yada yada yada.

I'm am not interested in God/spirituality so please don't suggest I go to AA - it is not for me.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on root causes of alcoholism and treatment.

[Unregistered]

I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to be popular for saying this, but I really don't think that getting smashed once a week means you're an alcoholic (although I know studies say it's true). When people thought I might have a problem, they only saw part of it, but I was drinking every day, - I would usually have enough first thing in the morning and now and then throughout the day to chill me out (and to make my school life less boring (yes I was very young)). And then usually twice a week when I was around others drinking, I would usually drink so much I would get really ill. Most people I have known have got 'smashed' once a week! Anyway, according to studies, everything bad that happens in your life can make you an alcoholic!

[jack07]

If AA meetings don't appeal to you, then you might want to get a treatment.

_________________
jack07
Addiction Treatment Center --Have more options on addiction treatment center

[AmateurHistorian]

Maybe you're alcoholic, maybe you're not. Only you can decide that. However, AA has a useful self-test questionnaire that can help you see how much your drinking is affecting your life. I'm sure it's on the AA website.

I don't know a lot about clinical alcohol treatment programs, and nothing at all about any particular programs, but a Google search will undoubtedly get you all the information you could want. You could ask a doctor, pastor, teacher, or counselor whom you trust for referrals.

I am an addict myself -- in another 12-Step program, not AA, for 13 years -- and my consistent experience is that understanding the root causes of my addiction is only incidentally helpful. I live with my addiction by focusing on solutions -- what I do, how I think, how I feel, how I live, how I grow and change inside. When I do that, I'm easing the effects of whatever caused my addiction even if I don't know what that is.

About AA, I can't say much about it specifically. But I can tell you two things. First, you do not have to believe in God, or even use the word God, to be in AA. The other term used in 12-Step groups is Higher Power, and that can cover a lot of territory. Your higher power can be your better self, or an AA group that you've come to trust, or friends, family, or a counselor whom you trust to tell you honestly what they think, even if it's brutal honesty, or some benevolent principle of the universe, or any other conception of Higher Power that works for you.

And second, there is one group (and possibly others) that uses 12-Step principles without any reference to God or spirituality. The group is Rational Recovery, and maybe that's the group for you. You can find them via Google and Wikipedia.

[Christopher1]

Many people report drinking alcohol in response to various types of stress, and the amount of drinking in response to stress is related to the severity of the life stressful and the individuals' lack of social support networks.