Thursday, February 18, 2010

Imagine one beer a night...

Someone told me the other day
that they took their friend to AA
meetings each week
she has been going fir a few years
and is now down to one beer a night

Sounds like complete agony to me!
Infact it's complete agony imagining it...

I wonder whether to suggest al-anon?
For the helper who sounds like an enabler?

I still can't imagine one beer a night
well I can, and it's likley to be all
I thought about for the remaining 23 and half hours
til the next one

illusion that I can drink like a normal drinker?
No!

Any suggestions? That's all I know so far
she just slipped it into an email
as you do...

6 comments:

Lydia said...

Wow. I was similarly shocked once at work in the lunchroom when one of the women who had given birth earlier in the year was telling a pregnant co-worker that having a glass of wine each night wouldn't hurt the baby. I mean that wasn't even an addiction issue (or was it?) as the issue was the health of an unborn child and a mother's decision to drink during pregnancy. The co-worker, btw, looked aghast!

I was silent about that one. But maybe you shouldn't be about the info that came your way. Your idea of mentioning al-anon is a good one, I think. Perhaps can be done as a link in a return email, mentioning that there are tools there that she can learn to get her friend off the one-drink-a-night routine "sooner than she would otherwise, since getting there and staying with it is the ultimate goal." You are right; this person sounds like an enabler. It's almost eerie that she would mention this the way she did; perhaps she has an inkling that things aren't quite right but she doesn't know how to change course...
This is definitely a tricky one.

Syd said...

I don't think that Al-Anon could hurt anyone--in fact, it is a great program for any of us who has alcoholic friends or relatives. It sounds as if the beer drinker needs to accept Step One or perhaps isn't even a real alcoholic.

An Irish Friend of Bill said...

as alkys are such devious little bastards :) who knows how much the 'one' beer drinker is actaully drinking..

i would say, it wouldnt do any harm to try a few al anon meetings and see how u feel, or open aa meetings. they can always stop going if it doesnt seem helpful.

also remind the al anon that it is your experience that MANY drinking alcoholics habitually lie to all they know, about the extent of their drinking, and that honesty is a skill acquired in recovery for many, due to the overwhelming influence of denial.

Unknown said...

I'm with Syd on this Al-Anon is a brilliant program that couldn't hurt anyone, this just sounds absolutely agonizing to me and I agree that the 23 hours to the beer would be sheer terror and obsesssion. Wow!

Thanks for the post~
G

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