I'm pretty sure I'm a depressed alcoholic.

Had some really bad medical news about myself and my girlfriend a few years which put my into a tailspin resulting in a year away from paid work and a focus on my online business.

The hopes and dreams I had about that business kept my mind busy enough to kind of distract me. I quit alcohol for a time and focused on it 100%. But medical shlt got my back on beer.

Now it's turned out that I actually have a successful business and with that is responsibility to my first major client instead of the bliss I was expecting. People are awful at predicting happiness as that famous book pointed out.

I'm getting drunk every evening at home and have removed myself from everything social except for one friend who I meet for beers. Every time I even consider that things are going ok, I remember medical stuff and want to escape.

Being away from Ireland means I don't really have any sort of proper government level / doctor sort of thing to turn to. Wondering what I should do. I still do the things I need to do and I can still laugh and be a good person to be around so the immediate isn't a concern. I just don't want to let it slide into something worse.

suicide_circus

would a return home mean a better medical outcome?

Foweva Awone

Would you consider attending an AA meeting - they have English-speaking ones almost everywhere in the world.

machomac

Hey mate. Sorry for your troubles. I've been through some of the stuff your going through. Been alcohol free for nearly 5 months. It's awesome. When you drink excessively you are doing it for a reason. It's an escape from your own mind or to calm down your mind from over thinking and worrying. The problem is the next day you feel like crap and that compounds the worry and doubt etc. When I decided to stop drinking I was in a bad slump. Anxiety issues combined with a relationship split. I felt horrendous. I went to see a psychologist and what he told me to do was so simple and effective that I still do it. Go to bed and just before you turn off the light, write down 3 things that you are grateful for. It sounds ridiculous but it is so powerful. My sleep instantly improved. I was waking up happier, my days were more focused. And this got better every day. When you start to love life it's easy to stay away from booze. Just try it. You may find things start falling into place. I actually use a very simple yapp called Bliss. Can I ask what country your in? I'm in Aus myself. Best of luck with everything buddy.

machomac

machomac wrote: »

Hey mate. Sorry for your troubles. I've been through some of the stuff your going through. Been alcohol free for nearly 5 months. It's awesome. When you drink excessively you are doing it for a reason. It's an escape from your own mind or to calm down your mind from over thinking and worrying. The problem is the next day you feel like crap and that compounds the worry and doubt etc. When I decided to stop drinking I was in a bad slump. Anxiety issues combined with a relationship split. I felt horrendous. I went to see a psychologist and what he told me to do was so simple and effective that I still do it. Go to bed and just before you turn off the light, write down 3 things that you are grateful for. It sounds ridiculous but it is so powerful. My sleep instantly improved. I was waking up happier, my days were more focused. And this got better every day. When you start to love life it's easy to stay away from booze. Just try it. You may find things start falling into place. I actually use a very simple yapp called Bliss. Can I ask what country your in? I'm in Aus myself. Best of luck with everything buddy.

Interesting. I'll try do this soon. And I'm in Vietnam.


This was another bad weekend. Puking at 6pm yesterday cause I wanted to avoid the hangover in the morning so had a few vodkas and beers.

It was an extremely productive week getting through some of the most complex code I've ever put together. Really good for the business. I guess I took that and decided I deserved a rake of beers. Now I feel like hell and am tapering off with a few so I might sleep.


I've been looking into a multi-month motorbike trip around Europe with the girlfriend next year or 2020. We've done similar before (my longest two months, our longest, two weeks) and it guarantees lots of sobriety. I need something else to aim towards outside of what I have going on now.

antix80

Holidays are great to look forward to, but you can't LIVE for holidays either. Otherwise you'll have a series of highs and lows, rather than being content and confident.

It sounds like you're focusing on the negative thing about your health, and were hoping for too much from success at work. Try to rebuild your social life - drinking alcohol is no substitute for a social life!

Improve your mental health by seeing a therapist/coach/counsellor. If you can't find one in Vietnam you might consider seeing one through skype.

nthclare

http://www.aavietnam.org

Bobtheman

Jack Vale "quit the booze easily"Read this before AA. Actually try a lot of things before AA but Jack Vale first