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am i drinking too much?
i'm 17/f and i think i'm developing a problem. i started drinking alcohol when i was about 14 or 15. sometimes it would just be a small sip of wine or beer, and then when i was 16, i started stealing money from my sisters to buy it from a friend who could legally buy it. now, i just mix vodka or wine with sunny D. its my parents liquor, and usually i only drink a decent amount until i can sleep well or feel good. sometimes i take some to school or to my friends house so we can all get drunk.
but last saturday night, i was drinking a small amount, and kept refilling my glass. and before i knew it, i couldnt remember my name or where i left my phone. i couldnt even walk. i'd been drunk like that before, but not for over a year. and then i woke up sunday hungover as hell. i promised myself i'd never drink again. but now, here i am, writing this, drinking wine. in my mind, its better than doing drugs because its legal and its not costing me anything, and i don't even think its fair that the drinking age is 21. do i have a problem, or am i just being a teenager? and if i do have a problem, how do i stop?
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Teenage drinking is wrong and yes you do have a drinking problem. There are a lot of reasons why the law requires you to be 21 before you can legally purchase and consume alcoholic beverages. Most of which you are experiencing.
You are a teenage alcoholic; you have all the symptoms. So drunk you couldn’t remember who or where you were. This is commonly called being dead drunk and for good reason; one or two more drinks and you could die from Alcohol poisoning. The top reason teenagers by law are not suppose to drink; most lack the common sense to stop drinking before it kills them. I’m not being mean; I’m trying to be truthfully blunt. Males are especially susceptible to alcohol poisoning because they need to show off and test their manhood. Unfortunately girls are starting to be the same way.
You’re drinking to get to sleep, you’re dinking to feel good and you’re talking alcohol to school. These all point to a person who is a problem drinker. You will never be able to tolerate alcohol. You need to learn how to live without it and the best way to do that is to join AA. Alcohol Anonymous is just what the name implies. It is a group of recovering alcoholic meeting to support each other to stay away from Alcohol. It is anonymous in that you are known only by your first name and you pay only what you can afford. If you can’t afford to pay you attend meeting at no charge. Follow this link to find a meeting in your neighborhood; [Link](Mouse over link to see full location).
You will eventually need to tell your parents, but not yet. It will be better if you first attend AA meetings and learn and adopt the 12 step program. The 12 step program is the way to a life without alcohol. It’s a good life, I know because my brother in-law has been an AA member and recovering alcoholic for over 20 years. My wife and I have attended several parties that his AA group has held and had just as much if not more fun than at parties where alcohol was served. The greatest part was driving through a sobriety check point and looking at the officer and saying “we just left and AA party and being waved on without having to take any of the tests they were conducting.
Please find and AA meeting and start attending. You and alcohol don’t mix. You by your description here are an alcoholic.
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This is why the drinking age is 21. Because you are a child, and intoxicants are for adults. Even some adults (about one of five) are completely incapable of managing themselves when it comes to intoxicants.
You very well might end up being in that 20%.
If you're drinking until you can't remember where your shit is or walk straight, there's a problem. If you're stealing to get your intoxicants, that's a real problem.
Free? Its not free. You're a 17 year old stealing money to buy booze. And you're justifying it because "It's not drugs"
Sweetheart, alcohol is a drug. In fact, alcohol is more habit forming, more debilitating, and more deadly than about half the drugs that are illegal in the US. Alcoholics Anonymous exists for a reason, and honestly I'd seriously suggest that you find a local meeting and sit in sometime, it might give you a new perspective on what you're drinking.
Nothing about what you're doing is ok. The reason the drinking age is 21 is because children need to learn to function on their own as adults before they can function on their own AND manage a drug/alcohol habit in such a way that they don't fuck shit up.
You're supposed to grow up before you enjoy the fruits of adulthood, but teenagers are stupid (you included) and think you're ready for everything just because you can stick it in your mouth.
How do you stop? It starts with a school counselor, honestly. I'm not going to pretend for a second that you'll go to your parents with this up front, but if you want to not fuck up your life and continue screwing up and stealing you need to go see someone who's able to give you some level of help, and that's exactly what school counselors are there for.
I enjoy my own recreational intoxication on a pretty regular basis. I also hold down a full time job and attend college.
That's the point. I get fucked up, sure. I never lose my shit, I don't puke, wake up strange places, or anything else that would show that I'm a child who can't handle the situations I get myself into. I go to work, I do my schoolwork, and then I get a little buzzed sometimes in the evenings once my day is done to relax.
Last. There is a strong cause/effect relationship between teenagers who develop intoxicant addictions and teenagers who are unable to grow up into and cope with the adult world. One of the most common issues with intoxicants is that they are used as a substitute for dealing with life in a healthy way. You get drunk and forget it instead of dealing with it.
Teens are in a much larger danger zone with this, because you haven't learned to handle the adult world on your own yet, not by half. An adult with their own life that they support has already developed the life skills they need. If they lose themselves in alcoholism, they can at least go back to where they started from (still being an adult) and try to pick up their lives.
You don't know shit about the real world, you haven't even stepped one foot out into it yet. You know nothing about adult life, adult stresses, and adult responsibility, much less have the experience to manage all three. So when you turn into an alcoholic, at the end of your spree of craziness, you get to return to being a teenager who doesn't know what the fuck she's doing or how to handle life, and will still have to learn.
Or, retreat back into alcoholism because it makes the pain go away, setting yourself up for a lifetime of problems you will never be capable of handling for yourself.
Go to a counselor. Talk with them. Then talk to your parents. If you don't, you're going to fuck up your life, because you have no idea what's good and what's bad, up or down, and at this point you need an adult to step in and tell you what the fuck to do because you're not going to do any of it on your own.
The first step is admitting you have a problem.
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You have a problem, This isn't just any teenage behavior.
If you are stealing money, Getting drunk and bringing alcohol to school then something is wrong. Honestly, I would look into rehab because although there is a big difference between drugs and alcohol technically when it comes to addiction they share similarities. They all have bad results if they are consumed enough. Alcohol, Depending on how much intake and how often you drink can cause memory loss, Alcohol poisoning, Liver and brain damage etc. while drugs can also cause brain damage, tooth decay and a load of other health problems. You need to talk to someone, Someone you trust a parent a guidance counselor or even a teacher. At the age of 18, If this keeps going down this road you can end up with serious consequences once you hit the age of 18 as then you would be considered legally an adult and if you were ever caught under the influence of alcohol your parents will be held responsible as you are now a minor. Rehab
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