[Serra27]

I'll be honest, I enjoy a drink at the end of the day. It is relaxing for me. In the past I abused alcohol not to get hammered, but to push everything deep down so I wouldn't (in the moment) have to deal with it. Plus it felt great during the period of drinking, getting that buzz, to feel something different than extreme depression or crazy high. I understand alcohol is a depressant and makes it all worse in the long run. Now I do enjoy it at the end of the day, can just have a couple. But lately I notice it's been more. I have been dealing with my anxiety. I do have my anti-anxiety med to take, but even still I am finding I want to have a couple and 'feel good'. I should bring this up with my therapist but I by no means want to hear the words "drinking problem". I just feel like, God, haven't you given me enough to deal with with the issues I already have on a daily basis? I don't know

[Flummixed]

All things in moderation. If you're getting totally $%&! faced everyday then that would be an indication of a drinking problem. But having a couple beers would be nothing to get in a twist over I would think.

I agree.

[lil_better_everyday]

Alcohol was how I coped for years. Won't lie, it worked wonderfully for a long time. But slowly I got to the point where I had lost several jobs because of my drinking and was stealing from friends and family to get enough booze to at least keep the shakes away. I was one step from being homeless when I checked myself into rehab at the VA hospital. That's where I finally accepted my diagnoses and got sober. I'm lucky I had access to free care through the VA, otherwise I'd be homeless, drunk and crazy or more likely dead.

Mentally ill folks like us understand better than most that everyone's brain works differently; so I'm not saying any of my issues apply to anyone else, so please don't get defensive. I guess, I'm just saying be careful, my drinking started out as 'just a couple after work'. If you sense it starting to become a problem, look into getting help.

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[Mrs. Mania]

I also love a cold beer or 2. And I also used it in the past for suppression & relief. My problem is that if I drink I don't take my meds. For some warped reason I think it's worse to mix them so I choose one or the other-most likely a bad move, but then that's what I'm good at.

[Perna]

I made myself a slogan, "The truth is true whether I like it or not" and try to apply that when I don't want to hear/do something. It is concerning you or you would not have posted here. Discuss it with your T Think about it: you are trying to fool yourself and doing a lousy job of it

[regretful]

Beers - and bourbon - worked really well for me a while back. But I am finding that as the years go on I just get more depressed after drinking. I don't know if I have an alcohol problem. I know that there was certainly a time when I abused it, and it was hard to hear from people that I was diagnosed with alcohol abuse...consider what folks are saying here. I talked to a priest a while back - he told me about his woes and his drinking and said, 'think about it - it is a depressant, and the more that you drink, the more you'll likely end up depressed'...maybe he was right. best of luck with your dilemma. I know that mine has been a rough one. The longest I went without a drop was about 100 days. Now it's a once in a while thing. Last year, it was every day - but like others above have said, watch for that "just a couple after work" because that is just how it started for me...