Can an Alcoholic Drink in Moderation Successfully?

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Can an alcoholic drink in moderation successfully? Will social drinking be OK or will it drag you down?

Very few recovered alcoholics live on an uncharted island.  Hanging out with buds or in crowds and being around people who are having a ball drinking poses serious temptation–and serious angst–for the recovered and recovering alcoholics.  This can present a very strong temptation for recovering alcoholics- they can find themselves in situations where they are surrounded by others who are enjoying alcohol.

The question is how to handle this.  If you are along in your recovery, can you appease yourself with a bit of drink now and then, as long as you can get away with it and not let it get out of control?  Everyone is different, all rules have exceptions.  All I can do is tell you what the evidence says and what will work most of the time.  This tells us that, in general, an alcoholic really does have to remain cold turkey.

Why, though? From my experience, it’s just too likely that the alcoholic will best through the moderation barrier.  I wish it weren’t that way, but it is.  The alcoholic really needs to go into the realm of just being alcohol free, living a life in which other thoughts and ideas and habits have moved in and have taken up residence in a definitive way.  Playing chicken with bottle of Wild Turkey just won’t do that.

Let’s take a look at the evidence.

Denial Ain’t Just a River in Egypt

One reason moderation can be tricky for the recovered alcoholic is that when she starts to backslide, getting into something a little less moderate, it’s very hard for her to admit it.  Cliche or no, it’s true that denial is just all too common for problem drinkers or cocaine abusers.  If you’re not goingt to have a safety mechanism in place that allows you to stop, you’re in trouble.

When asking about drinking in moderation, one has to remember that one’s definition of moderation is an issue, and that’s where the denial comes in.

Which Approaches Work?

Moderation Management is a nine-step program that claims you can learn to enjoy alcohol sensibly, and while they have success stories to use as evidence, the group remains a highly controversial one. Moderation Management’s ideology is thought to be best suited to occasional binge drinkers rather than true chronic alcoholics, and while their system may be effective for those occasional drinkers, it is often thought of as providing those with more serious cases with an excuse and a gateway back to drinking.

By contrast, Alcoholics Anonymous, the most well-known and respected alcoholic support group, advocates flat-out abstinence as the only long-term solution to alcoholism.

Overcoming alcoholism is a journey studded by dangers, something which you ultimately must learn for yourself, but while at the same time acknowledging the years of experience which has been garnered by previous recovering alcoholics and support groups. I would suggest that the recovered alcoholic who can sip and dip into moderation just a little would have to be seven to ten years sober.  But I do think that a person who is really committed to recovery will legitimately reach a place where alcohol just isn’t important.  Now, I’m not saying that alcohol is evil or demonic, because I don’t think it is.  I just think that the life of sobriety is just great–it has so many virtues that it’s something to keep relentlessly seeking.

I hope this helps.

Photo Credit River Source on Flickr