15 people share the moment they realized they were an alcoholic.
Alcoholism is an incredibly hard disease to treat, because alcohol consumption is normalized everywhere.
Being able to draw the line between needing to cut back or needing to completely give up the juice can be hard in a drinking culture.
But, for some people, there is a lightbulb where they can no longer deny that they have a problem and want to fix it.
In a popular Ask Reddit thread, people shared the moment they realized they were an alcoholic.
1. From CastleRockDoR:
When I started rotating what stores I went to for beer so that people wouldn't think I had a problem.
2. From ranchochupacabrash:
When I woke up from falling flat on my face in front of about 50 people I've known 20+ years at my best friend's little sister's graduation party at 11 in the morning.
3. From Curtis_Low:
It wasn't after a flipped a car on to a military flight line drunk as fuck. It wasn't when I came back to the US, got drunk, did cocaine, and pissed my 7 year military career down the drain. It wasn't when I got a DUI as a civilian.
It wasn't when I lost my job because I was drunk at a work function and made a huge mistake. It was Nov 15th 2014.
At a memorial wake for a friend of mine that had passed away. Combine that night and the fact it was Veterans weekend and I had the recipe for a f**k up. I went to a friend's house with my wife and two children.
I knew about 10 out of the 50 people there but that didn't matter. I would slam some moonshine (real sh*t that takes the rust off of bumpers) and then chased it with some whiskey, then followed with some beer. In a few hours I was f**ked.
I asked my then 7-year-old son the same question 5 times in a row, he couldn't answer the first time and in no way could answer the other four times. When he got frustrated with me I grabbed him by the throat.
Another father said something and I told him to get f**ked and mind his own business. He was a small guy and I am not. I realized I screwed up so I left the room and went outside. I drank more and said tons of dumb s**t.
Pissed people off and embarrassed my family and myself. I keep that up until I puked and then passed out in my friend's front yard. They left me there (as they should have) to sleep it off in the 40-degree rainy night.
Woke up and went inside at some point. Next morning my wife said I had a problem and I was the problem. She said I needed to fix it and myself. That was 439 days ago. I have not had a single drop of alcohol since.
I can never repair the things I have done. But I will fight every single day to never repeat them. I lost my career, some friends, tons of memory and untold paychecks to alcohol. Damn near lost my family as well... never again.
4. From Alpha433:
When I couldn't remember my last dry day.
5. From GeraldBrennan:
I didn't think I was alcoholic because I didn't drink every day. And I told myself, 'Alcoholics miss work. I've never missed work.' (I'd come in late, still drunk, etc...anything to avoid missing work.)
But then one day I woke up at 11, and I had missed work. Something in me said: 'You don't control this. This controls you.' And then something else said 'You hate that job. You're a writer. You can drink full-time as a writer and nobody minds.
Quit your job. Switch to scotch. You hate scotch, so you won't drink as much of it.' Etc. Somewhere in that day, I realized I drank NyQuil in a blackout.
I watched 'Magnolia' that night, and I realized I could relate to the alcoholic TV producer who doesn't know if he's a bad guy. But I was still back and forth about whether I was an alcoholic, until I started meeting others in recovery.
Someone said, 'If you have to try and control something, that means it's out of control.' There's a line about how alcoholics can't control AND enjoy their drinking, and I realized that was me...when I controlled it, I didn't enjoy it.
When I enjoyed it, I didn't control it.
6. From HailSithisMeh:
I treated my alcoholism like they did in that episode of Always Sunny. I somehow convinced myself that because I was able to wait until 5 pm I was 'just a kid having fun.'
Eventually, I would get more and more drunk to the point of being completely out of my mind (thankfully nothing happened to me or anyone else).
I have been about 1 month without drinking (aside from having 1 or 2 beers on New Years) and that was it. I'm told I look clearer.
7. From IndianChief616:
Always knew I was an alcoholic, didn't really care though. After my first DUI, still didn't get it. After a probation violation for drinking, I still didn't get it.
Came into work smelling like alcohol because I would only take a few hour naps after drinking heavily, and sometimes before work, still didn't get it.
Finally, one day, I was at my parents' house (after calling into work) and I just started crying and said, 'I want to stop but I don't know what to do, I need help'. After that I got it, I couldn't do it alone anymore.
8. From IsleofWine:
I got 8 nice bottles of wine for Christmas, and drank them all within a week. I am a petite woman, so a bottle or more of wine a day is a lot.
I denied having a drinking problem for years because I would never blackout, usually made it to work on time, would make it until late afternoon or evening before drinking, had good relationships, and was generally successful in life.
But I also wake up hungover and feel like s**t almost every day so, yeah alcoholism is a terrible thing that I have yet to overcome.
9. From chieftonian:
When I got up on a Monday morning and realized I was shaking. I figured it was just the big Sunday night but the shaking worsened through the day and on my lunch break I ran over to the liquor store and bought a flask-sized whiskey.
I skulked down half of that and felt fine within minutes. This was really when I realized I was physically addicted to alcohol and had a serious problem.
I went through rehabilitation and am sober now but yeah I'll always remember that moment as it really did sneak up on me.
10. From christian1542:
When I went to a nightclub, ordered a pint, gulped it down in one second, and then went to get a second one. It just tasted so good. I overheard some girl that had been observing me whisper to her friends 'is that guy some kind of alcoholic?'
Later when my friends arrived, I told them that story because I thought that it was funny that some girls thought that I was an alcoholic. One of the friends said, 'wtf man, you're pretty much the worst alcoholic that we know.'
11. From MattyBPureDriven:
When I finally admitted to myself that I was finding excuses to leave my wife and kids every day to go get drunk and the days where I knew I wouldn't be able to get away I would panic.
Been sober four months and went to a work Christmas party last Friday. Everyone was drinking and I wanted to drink so bad it was literally painful.
Normal people don't have that tough of a time not drinking...reaffirmed to me that yes, I am an alcoholic.
12. From cameron0208:
Lost the love of my life. Drank way too much one day, mostly vodka and tequila (I don't know my limit on either.) I've never ever been violent before. But I turned very violent (not towards her) but I was punching and breaking sh*t. She left.
That minute I sobered up. Did not touch a drink for about 6 months. Went to AA, which wasn't for me. So, I went at it alone and tried to find myself. I had previous problems with alcohol.
After my dad died around 5 years ago, I would drink all day, every day. A handle in 2 days. Almost died from alcohol poisoning. So this was another journey with my demons. It was like fighting two battles at once.
Then I started thinking about how much alcohol has cost me in my life and how sh**ty it made me. So I stopped drinking cold turkey. Luckily, for me, she came back, and we have the absolute best relationship I could ever ask for.
She's the most amazing person. Everyone else just thought it was all fun and games, because drinking is a socially acceptable breakdown. But, she put her foot down, the only person to do so, ever.
I could never thank her enough for that. She saved my life and made my life infinitely better than anything I could ever ask for.
13. From thebrokenskull:
A few months ago I quit drinking completely at my soon-to-be ex-wife's urging. She laid down the ultimatum 'quit or I leave'...so I quit. Turns out she didn't like me sober either so she ended up leaving anyway.
The day she left I thought 'I CAN DRINK NOW!!!' and started looking around the house for any stashes I had left. That's when I knew it was a problem and I've been sober since.
14. From iam1mc:
'I'll just have one drink, and then go to bed early'...then 2 bottles later I'm finally going to bed at 3 am, knowing I have to work in the morning, hating myself.
15. From Whaler92:
Fell off a third story balcony, though the alcohol did save my life. According to my doctor.