PP's WAW Adventure Continues - (8)

[Vanilla]

PP, I know lots of people who can go 30 days without a drink. Including me. About half my friends. (rough estimate). A lot of people just don't drink. I think for a lot of people its just a non-issue.

Also I am wondering. H drinks every day. Since about 2 months pre-BD he went from drinking maybe 2x per week to daily. At what point do you say someone has an addiction? I believe he is self medicating for the depression, but what is the risk of becoming an alcoholic?

I hope you don't mind me hijacking here.

Addiction is about losing control over the substance or behaviour. That can mean 'needing 2 beers' every day. Such a person isn't seen as an alcoholic but they are, others drink and just don't some days even tough they have more.

There are fascinating studies on drug addiction, it is estimated that 60% of American soldiers in Vietnam took drugs regularly and one would think that on returning there would be a huge drug issue. It didn't happen. The reason is threshold, addiction arises at threshold. Some of us have high thresholds for addiction, others low thresholds, the issue is do we overstep the threshold. The level of the threshold, is determined by genetics, epigenetic and environment. There seems to be a lower band and an upper band level.

What we do know is that once the upper band threshold is crossed, the person becomes addicted. We know that aborigine tribes lack physiological control over an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase and have the lowest threshold of all for alcohol addiction. Even tiny amounts cause addiction.

As I see it from PP description he was compulsive (lower band threshold) heading to upper band addiction. At some point decided enough and started recovery. Both types compulsive and addictive have to cease the substance or behaviour completely. Each exposure episode takes the person to the upper threshold quicker with more concentrated substances and behaviours. An alcoholic will switch to spirits for instance, a gamblers max bid goes up. The fall is quicker every time.

The answer is if the drinker goes out tonight do they know if they can stop? A drinker who bends every few months is just as alcoholic as the evening drinker on 2 pints, if neither can do without or stop.

Some substances have a lower threshold than others, heroin is more addictive than meth, meth lower than weed. It's a generalisation though, individual physiologies make a difference too. The mechanism with porn isn't understood.

I hope that explains my view. No one really needs substances to change state, why bother? If our hormone systems are maximum our nutrition clean then we can fly on our own body state. I do, get a great trip on your own body.

When I had cancer I had a pain killer that was heroin based I didn't become addicted, had no withdrawal. I stopped it with no problems, never craved, others are not so lucky. Small doses had great effect.

I no longer drink alcohol at all. Coffee was harder to give up and sugar was a nightmare, true detox.

Alcohol is a depressant and it depletes nutritional status. Drinking even a little bit will intensify depression. So extreme self care in stress switches, super nutrition and no alcohol or cigarettes.

V