Post by Ironhead on Jan 9, 2014 21:53:18 GMT 9
Do You Drink Too Much? Here's How You Can Tell
Alcoholism is a word we've all used, but it means different things to different people. In medicine, "alcoholism" sometimes encompasses both alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence—vague terms that denote a problematic relationship with alcohol—but what do they actually mean?
To help clarify things, the American Psychiatric Association recently revised its manual, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), and changed the way we talk about alcoholism.1 "Alcohol abuse" and "alcohol dependence" were replaced by a single diagnosis: "alcohol use disorder." The change deemphasized the sheer quantity of booze consumed and gave greater importance to symptomatology. To be diagnosed with alcohol use disorder, one must exhibit a problematic pattern of alcohol use—not just an isolated holiday binge—as well as two or more of the following within a 12-month period:
1. Alcohol is often taken in larger amounts or over a longer period than was intended
2. There is a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control alcohol use
3. A great deal of time is spent in activities necessary to obtain alcohol, use alcohol, or recover from its effects
4. Craving, or a strong desire or urge, to use alcohol
5. Recurrent alcohol use resulting in a failure to fulfill major role obligations at work, school, or home
6. Continued alcohol use despite having persistent or recurrent social or interpersonal problems caused or exacerbated by the effects of alcohol
7. Important social, occupational, or recreational activities are given up or reduced because of alcohol use
8. Recurrent alcohol use in situations in which it is physically hazardous
9. Continued alcohol use despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by alcohol
10. Tolerance, as shown by a diminished effect when drinking the "usual" amount or a need for increasing amounts to achieve the desired effect
11. Withdrawal
But some people aren't interested in symptoms; they want numbers. Fine, here: According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, men put themselves at risk for alcohol use disorder if their alcohol consumption exceeds 14 drinks per week and women may be at risk if they have more than seven standard drinks per week. (A standard drink is defined as one 12-ounce bottle of beer, one 5-ounce glass of wine, or a 1.5-ounce shot of liquor.)
The Ironhead's coming up on damn near six-months sober at this point, and I think I'm going to go ahead and see how far I can take it into the Undiscovered Country of the Future. None of these ever honestly applied to me except for 1 & 4 and those usually only in tandem when I'd make my monthly fall-off-the-wagon-and-roll-around-in-the-mud soirees with the brewsky. The rest of them never applied to me at all.
I was never a hard liquor drinker. I honestly just could never hack it. Just the smell of whiskey has always made me want to erp. Same with the "Ju" as Smokey calls it. Just smelling it makes me want to hurl. No, I was strictly a beer man and a beer man only.
So why did I quit supping on the Golden Salubrious Fluids?
I think it was those God-forsaken feel-like-it's-the-end-of-the-world Monster Hangovers I'd get the next day (and often stretching into two) afterwards. A couple of those two plastic bottles of the brew and the night ended in me erping and then laying in bed all the next day feeling like I was about to die. Depression... like it was the end of the world, and there was no hope and that all-was-lost...all-was-lost... everything was dust-and-ashes... "a tale told by an idiot... signifying nothing" as some feller wrote somewhere here, there or yonder.
And I guess I simply asked myself, Tell me ONE thing... just ONE... just ONE GOOD and NOBLE and EDIFYING and BEAUTIFUL and TRUE thing that has EVER happened while intoxicated.
And I couldn't think of a single goddamned thing one. Not one.
Not one funny story. Not one good time. Not one happy memory I'd like to cherish and hold on to.
Not one.
Eh... I left it on my back door. I think for good.
Don't need it. Nothing edifying and true and upbuilding and awakening and strengthening and true and all them other Wayne Dyer-esque adjectives I like to roll around in during my better moments of living and moving and having my being.
Anyways, what's the feller say? "You sly dog, you! You got me monologuing!"
Korea... the whole "Alcoholism does NOT exist here!" cultural philosophy and the whole corresponding "Alcoholism is a merit and virtue and a strength of character" amongst these folks.... Eh... could never dig it myself. Just never has sat right with me.
Always seemed to stem more from some kind of personal (and collective) weakness of sorts more than anything else.
ALWAYS had a way-down-deep-where-the-money's-at fundamental disconnect with this people and this place and this culture because of that. ALWAYS did.
Where's the clip at? Just change the particulars a bit here and there, and it would fit for that-there feller I see in the mirror everyday.
That's just me though.
Alcoholism is a word we've all used, but it means different things to different people. In medicine, "alcoholism" sometimes encompasses both alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence—vague terms that denote a problematic relationship with alcohol—but what do they actually mean?
To help clarify things, the American Psychiatric Association recently revised its manual, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), and changed the way we talk about alcoholism.1 "Alcohol abuse" and "alcohol dependence" were replaced by a single diagnosis: "alcohol use disorder." The change deemphasized the sheer quantity of booze consumed and gave greater importance to symptomatology. To be diagnosed with alcohol use disorder, one must exhibit a problematic pattern of alcohol use—not just an isolated holiday binge—as well as two or more of the following within a 12-month period:
1. Alcohol is often taken in larger amounts or over a longer period than was intended
2. There is a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control alcohol use
3. A great deal of time is spent in activities necessary to obtain alcohol, use alcohol, or recover from its effects
4. Craving, or a strong desire or urge, to use alcohol
5. Recurrent alcohol use resulting in a failure to fulfill major role obligations at work, school, or home
6. Continued alcohol use despite having persistent or recurrent social or interpersonal problems caused or exacerbated by the effects of alcohol
7. Important social, occupational, or recreational activities are given up or reduced because of alcohol use
8. Recurrent alcohol use in situations in which it is physically hazardous
9. Continued alcohol use despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by alcohol
10. Tolerance, as shown by a diminished effect when drinking the "usual" amount or a need for increasing amounts to achieve the desired effect
11. Withdrawal
But some people aren't interested in symptoms; they want numbers. Fine, here: According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, men put themselves at risk for alcohol use disorder if their alcohol consumption exceeds 14 drinks per week and women may be at risk if they have more than seven standard drinks per week. (A standard drink is defined as one 12-ounce bottle of beer, one 5-ounce glass of wine, or a 1.5-ounce shot of liquor.)
The Ironhead's coming up on damn near six-months sober at this point, and I think I'm going to go ahead and see how far I can take it into the Undiscovered Country of the Future. None of these ever honestly applied to me except for 1 & 4 and those usually only in tandem when I'd make my monthly fall-off-the-wagon-and-roll-around-in-the-mud soirees with the brewsky. The rest of them never applied to me at all.
I was never a hard liquor drinker. I honestly just could never hack it. Just the smell of whiskey has always made me want to erp. Same with the "Ju" as Smokey calls it. Just smelling it makes me want to hurl. No, I was strictly a beer man and a beer man only.
So why did I quit supping on the Golden Salubrious Fluids?
I think it was those God-forsaken feel-like-it's-the-end-of-the-world Monster Hangovers I'd get the next day (and often stretching into two) afterwards. A couple of those two plastic bottles of the brew and the night ended in me erping and then laying in bed all the next day feeling like I was about to die. Depression... like it was the end of the world, and there was no hope and that all-was-lost...all-was-lost... everything was dust-and-ashes... "a tale told by an idiot... signifying nothing" as some feller wrote somewhere here, there or yonder.
And I guess I simply asked myself, Tell me ONE thing... just ONE... just ONE GOOD and NOBLE and EDIFYING and BEAUTIFUL and TRUE thing that has EVER happened while intoxicated.
And I couldn't think of a single goddamned thing one. Not one.
Not one funny story. Not one good time. Not one happy memory I'd like to cherish and hold on to.
Not one.
Eh... I left it on my back door. I think for good.
Don't need it. Nothing edifying and true and upbuilding and awakening and strengthening and true and all them other Wayne Dyer-esque adjectives I like to roll around in during my better moments of living and moving and having my being.
Anyways, what's the feller say? "You sly dog, you! You got me monologuing!"
Korea... the whole "Alcoholism does NOT exist here!" cultural philosophy and the whole corresponding "Alcoholism is a merit and virtue and a strength of character" amongst these folks.... Eh... could never dig it myself. Just never has sat right with me.
Always seemed to stem more from some kind of personal (and collective) weakness of sorts more than anything else.
ALWAYS had a way-down-deep-where-the-money's-at fundamental disconnect with this people and this place and this culture because of that. ALWAYS did.
Where's the clip at? Just change the particulars a bit here and there, and it would fit for that-there feller I see in the mirror everyday.
That's just me though.