Is Drinking Necessarily a Bad Thing?

1500 lbs?! I'm sure some of us would like to give it a shot!

..really?

Nope...Not a user here, dan! Just amazed & amused by that statistic!

I think it would be enough not for some of us, but all of us here, and more!

i wouldn't do it. I think it would mess with me mentally and screw with my meds. I won't touch alcohol or anything for that matter... I don't even take aspirin or ibuprophen anymore cuz of the risk of messing with the meds. I guess I am very protective of them cuz I need them so much.

yeah, pretty much that. not that i remember much of those nights:/

Well, that is precisely why I would be scared to go that route. Because, I imagine (have not tried though) that after a certain number of drinks, you simply lose count. Who is counting?

I learned to drink with age. It's art

I have a bp II friend, in real life, Joe, who just turned 46. So, from time to time he mixes pot with drinks and sends me chats with reports on his state of mind. Yesterday was such a day. Yesterday he was especially tipsy and said that he would teach me to drink, too. He wants company... does not want to be alone. I understand.

He is fully functional, a successful software engineer and father of several daughters, so... everything in order.

I can't believe this thread is still going ? I must have a bad bad case of bipolar, because alcohol is poison to me. Wait a minute is this the bipolar forum,addiction forum or the self-injury form ?

Seeing death first hand makes ya kinda confused ?

Speed, it is a bipolar forum but a universally used substance is discussed. No addiction here. No self-injury either. Just alcohol with a mention of marijuana as the (much) safer alternative to alcohol for self-discovery purposes. The people who reported having consumed large amounts of alcohol on here are not addicts. They are doing fine. My friend who does not consume as much but mixes with marijuana, while taking drugs for Bipolar II, is fine. he is a very accomplished man who was on public assistance during his youth because of debilitating disease, but eventually he found a doctor willing to experiment with many medications, found what worked for him, went to MIT, etc. etc. Married a woman who already had three kids and had two more kids with her, raising a total of five kids - a very laudable achievement. Married a woman ten years his senior, which is kind of cool, to marry an older woman. So, a fine person. Not an addict. Just a little sad that the marriage has come to a difficult spot and years of couples T do not seem to be helping. But a lot of people have been through it - he is definitely not alone.

bipolar.

i am not alcoholic and i don't drink as self-injury. we are just talking openly. I know you just experienced a shock..... but some of us just talk things that are on their mind. So maybe it's better for your sake to stay out of triggering conversations?

yes, we all are different. Some cannot handle alcohol. some can.

I drink alcohol to be more reflective and look into emotions more. So for me it is for self-discovery.

also, i don't think i am the only one who wants to be able share things about themselves without being judged.

Judging? oh no... you don't gotta go there Venus, no one is judging.

I know that I never can again... like ever... but i would give my left arm to be able to drink again. maybe even my right arm.. but then how would I drink? hmmmm... i'd find a way if I could.

fortuneately I put my well being ahead of alcohol... cuz if i drank I would way overdo it. I can't drink in moderation. so therefore I can't drink lol

To answer the thread's title's question in the most general terms, no, not necessarily, but exactly how cannot be determined. For the population as a whole, on balance, it is a good thing, because many more people, in the population as a whole, can handle alcohol fine and only a minority cannot. For those who can handle it, it offers many psychosocial benefits both as individual people and as members of their communities.

The bipolar population differs from the general population very much in that it contains many people with dual diagnosis, who are both bipolar and cannot handle alcohol. For them, it is a bad thing.

Also, some bipolar people take drugs that may interact with alcohol, although the extent of it is not well known and probably should be determined on an individual basis for people who otherwise can handle alcohol fine and want to handle it responsibly. For people who should not handle alcohol to begin with, the step of determining alcohol-drug interactions can be safely omitted.

So the set of people for whom it is a bad thing consists of two subsets: dual diagnosis BP-alcoholism or otherwise unable to handle alcohol + people able to handle it but suffering from negative drug/alcohol interactions.

HAMSTER!! I may found the solution to all your problems. That is, if you haven't tried this already.

This doohickey: http://www.instructables.com/id/Easi...ottle-of-Wine/

I updated my ID today and bought a bottle of wine to celebrate. I've had this device in my rental home since I moved in last summer (college kids rent this place, previous residents drank a lot....no surprise. They left us shot glasses too) but I've only ever seen my boyfriend open it using only the screw.

I tugged at my cork desperately (even squeezing it between my legs and tugging with both arms) until I decided to look up an easy way to open it online.

Found that technique and it was a cinch. The leverage helped a lot. I have that exact little tool.

Cheers!!

Odee, just in time as I finished my bottle of organic wine yesterday. So I need to open a new bottle today, and I do have bottles with corks.

I will report on my progress . Thank you.

***

My T gave me an exercise on life goals and satisfaction. About family, friends, education, work and projects, and what not. And called out: physical health, mental health, and... chemical health. I have never heard about chemical health. What is it? How do they explain it? Avoiding drugs and alcohol. Another uncalled for abstinence message for poor mentally ill people. I was annoyed but just put "perfect" because I did have enough more important things to discuss with T and, at any rate, she did not put the exercise together herself and she is not at fault.

95 posts & counting...But I have yet to chime in. I understand those of you who find warnings (ad nauseum) about leading a substance free existence "uncalled for." The fact is, however, the co-morbidity rate between BP & substance abuse is upwards of 30%, so a word of warning is entirely appropriate, in my humble opinion. For the 60% of you who don't have this problem, I can understand how some of the advice/responses you get may seem annoying. To quote the late Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?"

That was a very general exercise though, to be given to the general audience of T clients including those with innocuous stress-related anxiety and the like, so the comorbidity figure is way lower than 30%. But point taken.

I know full well how bad alcoholism can go. But also, there is this looming assumption that just because I have bp, I better not drink. I don't like that assumption. Not every bp becomes alcoholic.

More likely is the # of alcoholics who had something else going on that didn't get dx'd or helped with that comorbidity.

I like to drink sometimes, take it or leave it usually. Sometimes have cravings when hypo. Fine wine with good food is a nice treat.

Yes. Even 30% does not justify the assumption.

Plus, when something is involved that is both pleasurable for users as individuals and a cause for social unity, there better be really good reason to stop it.

well. i can tell you from experience that an alcoholic isn't just one at certain times-like "im only one when i drink wine but not when i drink beer."
there may be certain drinks you like to drink more of, but you're still an alcoholic! to say differently would be like a drug addict saying, "I'm only an addict during the times I shoot up heroin, but not when I'm snorting cocaine," or a compulsive eater saying, "I'm only a compulsive eater when I stuff myself with donuts, but not when I have 4 helpings of potatoes when I'm already stuffed" or a sex addict saying "I'm only a sex addict when I sleep with married men, but not when I sleep with guys who only have a girlfriend." and the fact that you drank a six pack at once shows that you are an alcoholic "with beer" too; "buzzed" is still drunk
any way, taking drugs while drinking is always a risk, not just a "no-no."

Regarding "sex addict saying "I'm only a sex addict when I sleep with married men, but not when I sleep with guys who only have a girlfriend."" in the post above...

I am not sure if sex addiction exists or has a good definition if it does, but I am positive that the relationship status of sexual partners cannot have anything to do with this definition. Addiction should have something to do with daily functioning. So, if you run a company and sleep with your CFO's wife or girlfriend, that is not addiction, it is a personal choice - why, because you are still able to run the company, so you are still highly functional. And if you sleep with your competitor's board member, still not addiction, because it does not interfere with your daily functioning. The relationship status of your partner is irrelevant.

An example from MW: "His life has been ruined by heroin addiction." (my emphasis).

So the keyword is RUINED. Not functional.

I know it is at best tangential to the discussion, but when I see something that is off to THAT EXTENT, I comment .