Binge drinking

It can be tough to break a cycle but it seems in your case that you do once a week. It can be tough to stop after you had one drink. Do you think you could slowly limit yourself with the amount of liqueur you have on the weekend?

@Daisy1230 I'm in the same predicament. Before I go into my situation, let me say that I believe and I know that you can break the cycle. What has been working for me in the past year was me firstly accepting that I have a drinking problem. The next thing was looking into the reason why I drink in the first place.

The thing is like you, I don't drink during week days, but on weekends I drink until I'm almost at the point of blacking out or until I black out. I just can't bring myself to stop once I start. It bothers me why I can't be like some of my friends who are able to control their intake. I also find it hard to abstain when I'm in situations where alcohol is available, even when i don't want to drink. I've since learned that there's alcohol dependence and alcohol use disorder. I can say alcohol use disorder is what I have. As I mentioned before, what I've found to be helpful lately is to accept that I have a drinking problem and to evaluate the reasons that compel me to drink, regardless of my problems with alcohol. This has helped me skip a lot of weekends without drinking. I've lately just realised that the reason I haven't managed to quit drinking for good has been my need to fit in with my circle of friends, my need to create that camaraderie. Sounds weird for a person my age but that's the truth. I say that because I don't even drink by myself anymore. I only now drink if somebody invites me to. I also no longer initiate conversations about having a drink. So basically I need friends around in order to drink. That becomes a problem when your circle of friends drink every weekend. To solve that, I've informed my friends that I've quit drinking. I told them I have a problem, I reminded them of all the challenges I've faced, or opportunities I've missed because of my drinking, and some of them seemed to get it. The challenge I see now is to manage the pressure that I put on myself to drink in order to fit in, and to manage the obvious pressure that's going to come from some of my firends to have a drink.

I don't know the reasons that compel you to drink, but if you can figure them out, I think it will go a long way into helping you to manage your drinking, or quit if that's your aim and break that cycle.

Yeaaaa. I am the sammme. Like I’ll be cool for a week. But today I see my dad take a shot. And I’m like mannnnn. I want one. But I know if I have THAT ONE. I will crave another. Then be blacked out. About two weeks ago, I blacked out and turned into this monster and almost ruined my friendship and music career. Literally for the millionth time. I am just grateful to have a friend who loves me and understand. But I am feeling what you are saying. That craving. Smh. Ugh. That’s why I’m here to help me and heal me. And find alternatives.

I too fall into this category, and it's comforting to see so many other people struggling with this same pattern. I think it's easy to dismiss our behavior, because it isn't textbook alcoholism (as most know it) but it can be just as destructive. I've done and said horrible things (as recently as last weekend) and I need help stopping. I've recently gotten into chess, and am hoping I can convert some of my drinking energy into some other habits... like chess.