Quitting

I'm lookinf for a bit of advice about quitting drinking.  First, I'm not an alcoholic in the traditional sense, but I would say I have a problem with drinking sometimes.  I can go good lengths of time without alcohol, and can easily have just a few drinks at an occasion, however, if the occasion sees me having more than a few drinks, I seem to go past a tipping point and drink to excess.  I never drink to excess though in an environment where that's not the norm.

I do suffer from blackouts and it scares me.

Further, I make stupid decisions when drunk which I would never in a million years make sober, and regret highly the next day.

That, and I don't really derive a lot of joy from drinking anymore.  To me it's just a hangover that I'm making.  So, I want to quit.  I'm confident I could put the bottle down today and not pick it up again, but I'm not the issue.  My wife enjoys drinking, and our entire social circle are drinkers.  None I would say have a problem, it's just that they all like to binge on the weekend.  My wife's family all likes to drink as well.  So, short of me declaring myself an alcoholic, I don't expect I would get a lot of support from my family and friends, in that they would all basically call me "no fun" and ride me until I gave in.  In other words, social pressure would keep me drinking.

So, I don't want to go to the extreme of declaring myself an alcoholic, but I do want to stop drinking.  Any advice or tips or reading I should do?

Thanks.

[ibizan]

i was once told that the problem with alcohol problems is that the drinker doesn't think its a problem...and if u wonder about it then it IS a problem.Social drinkers don't have blackouts!Weekend binge drinking is not social drinking.....it is A PROBLEM!if u r going to try to quit...u will not remain sober amongst all these drinkers.....doesn't sound like they will support your efforts for u will be a reminder to them of the problems they have that they don't want to face.But at least the light has gone on within u that u do have a problem!U should go to an AA meeting...and just listen to what the folks have to say...and do not sit there and compare yourself out of the room!

[beezon]

Okay, fair enough.  Hard to argue with that logic.  I guess I've always associated problem drinking with socially destructive behavior and the inability to seperate drinking from daily life.  I am on a "break" from drinking right now (zero alcohol).  I've sold it friends and family with me saying I want to take a month off and see how I feel.  Hopefully that'll start a trend in my life and at the end of the month it'll be easier to just extend the month.

The main problem is my wife, she really likes the social aspects of the weekend party, while I'm tired of it.  I could go and not drink, but lets be honest, sitting around watching a dozen people drink as much as they can for a night isn't really that much fun for me.

Thanks for the reply, I may search out a local AA meeting to just sort of hear the place out.

[ibizan]

don't look at it as i'm going to quit for a month...that time frame is too overwhelming..it is best to look at it as a one day at a time thing...if 24 hrs.is too big break it down in2 one hour segments.i fully understand about the boring aspects of being sober and watching ppl act a fool getting drunk...i could not have done that and remained sober!

[imrhienxsorrows]

my family liked to drink, and it was the norm to them. eventually 7 close relatives became alcoholics, 3 died, one has bad health problems. id say that your health should be more important, and if the consequences of drinking are scaring you, i.e. the blackouts, whats wrong with just quitting drinking all together? its not for everyone i must admit, but its an idea.

[rod44]

At the end of the day you need to stop and that must be your priority I would have not considered myself an Alcoholic when I first started having problems with my drinking, I was enjoying drink and doing no harm to no one or so I thought. Looking back I was miserable. Everyone around me was miserable, those that could ditched me and ran for the hills. You may not be at this stage yet, but this is where most of us end up if we don't die first. If you feel that your drinking is becoming a problem then you must decide to stop because it will get worse. There is so much more to life than drink.
You chose to drink no one drinks for you, you chose to stop no one can stop for you. Be strong....
I wish you well and hope you find sobriety soon