• Wirrvogel@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    Not so funny when it actually happens to you:

    Because of really bad experiences with alcoholics as a child, I am afraid of people who drink. My psychologist and my doctor wrote that down.

    When I became seriously ill and could no longer work in my old job, I had to retrain. To do this, you have to go to the German employment office and get an assessment of your strengths and weaknesses, including what your doctor and therapist have to say.

    They read the paper from my doctor and my psychologist, but just skimmed over the words and decided that because the word “alcoholic” was there, I must be the alcoholic. They told me that I could get paid retraining and benefits, but only if I attended a therapy group for alcoholics once a week - me, who is afraid of alcoholics because of the abuse I suffered as a child. … I immediately started crying and swore that I had no problem with alcohol, only with alcoholics!

    It took 6 months to get someone at the job centre to actually read the papers word for word to find out that me saying “I’m not an alcoholic” was not me being an alcoholic in denial. I got a half-assed apology and my retraining 6 months after I could have started it because of this. Not to mention that every time I refused to go to AA meetings they threatened to take away my benefits and I was in such a bad mental state that I probably would have killed myself without the help of my family. Oh, and my family who tried to intervene were labelled as co-alcoholics, holding me back.

        • explodicle@local106.com
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          1 year ago

          I assume they mean this?

          In the past, some critics have criticized 12-step programs as pseudoscientific and “a cult that relies on God as the mechanism of action”. Until recently, ethical and operational issues had prevented robust randomized controlled trials from being conducted comparing 12-step programs directly to other approaches. More recent studies employing randomized and blinded trials have shown 12-step programs provide similar benefit compared to motivational enhancement therapy (MET) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and were more effective in producing continuous abstinence and remission compared to these approaches.

          Source: Wikipedia

          • JJROKCZ@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I know they get preachy but you can ignore that, many alcoholics get help from them without joining the cult of Christianity

        • abbotsbury@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Others have mentioned it, but to elaborate, Alcoholics Anonymous is not merely sitting in a circle and sharing your problems, but a belief system which requires you to submit to a higher power to move forward.

          • ϻеƌųʂɑ@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            Knew a guy who insisted he wasn’t addicted, but he can’t go a day without attending an AA meeting. 40 years, non stop. Even when in other countries for work, he finds them. Left his own daughters wedding dinner to make it to one.

            He runs his own chapter where he lives. He’s had people follow the steps, sure, but some don’t. No matter how successful the latter are, he tears them apart for “not doing it right” and has turned his back on them for not following how he did it.

      • IHadTwoCows@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        There is no greater fucking idiot than the one who thinks a social gathering for discussion is subject to the rules of double-blind scientific testing. Watching some arrogant fucking shithead attempting to slander 12-stop programs as “not scientific” is hilarious because OF COURSE IT ISN’T SCIENTIFIC!! IT MAKES NO CLAIMS TO BE.

        • CmdrShepard@lemmy.one
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          1 year ago

          That’s all fine and dandy until you get court ordered to attend these meetings as if it were a scientifically proven method of quitting drinking. It’d be like doing something bad and then being court ordered to attend church so that you can “gain a moral compass.”

  • fubo@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    “My psychiatrist prefers to say that I have a ‘substance use disorder’ and cautions that the old ‘alcoholism’ model isn’t very scientific.”

    • Twofacetony@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I believe you when you say you’re not anorexic, or ever had anorexia, but as a 43 year old man, who is 185cm tall, my healthy range is 63-86 kilos.

      I am 82 kilos give or take a meal, and if I lost 15 kilos I would be very, very slender, and that would still keep me well in the “healthy” range.

      What I’m saying is the healthy range, to me at least, should be taken with a pinch of salt, and it’s shithouse that your diagnosis has vexed you for over ten years.

    • FrostMyProstate@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I’m in a similar situation with a bipolar diagnosis. I was diagnosed after speaking with a sketchy psychologist for 20 minutes at best. Apparently thinking you don’t have bipolar disorder is a symptom of bipolar disorder.

      Even after working with two other psychologists for well over a year and both diagnosing me with PTSD and that diagnosis perfectly matching my experience, not a single doctor will put that on my medical record. They won’t refer me to appropriate treatment. They won’t change my medication and tell me it works instead of asking.

      I’ve been trying to get this fixed since 2008, but I just get shut down immediately after bringing it up. I’m barely getting by due to very poor mental health and everything just keeps getting worse.

    • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      That is so fucked up. I hate the lack of self awareness the medical field has with regard to the impossible situations it puts some patients in.

  • CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    “I have literally not had alcoholic beverages even once in my life, how would it be possible to become an alcoholic given that?”

  • DaGeek247@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Only acoholics actually need to try to convince others that they aren’t alcoholics. Nobody goes up to a person on the street to start aggressively asking if they have a drinking problem.

    Any serious questions about how alcohol is affecting your life will quickly demonstrate whether it is is or isn’t a problem, without you ever saying that you don’t have a drinking problem.

  • habanhero@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    It’s because denial is part of being an alcoholic. The same goes with being called a liar.

    • TheGreenGolem@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Except when it’s not. I so much hate this rhetoric. You know what? You can freely think that I am one, and I genuinely think I’m not. If you think that I am one, that’s your problem, not mine. That’s why OP’s question is so hard to answer. Because everybody is just parroting this rhetoric.

      And “you are clearly an alcoholic” comments in 3, 2, 1…

      • habanhero@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        You can freely think that I am one, and I genuinely think I’m not. If you think that I am one, that’s your problem, not mine.

        I mean that’s exactly the issue lol. You might not be an alcoholic, but if you were there’s a solid chance you’d deny that fact.There is a good reason why parts of the 12 step program involve admitting and recognizing that there is a problem, and it’s not limited to alcoholism but substance abuse in general.

        A lot of people who genuinely need help refuses to see or admit that they do.

    • Rob@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The same goes with being called a liar.

      Every statement I make is a lie.

  • frezik@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    I drink a lot less now that I have easy access to THC.

    This goes for a lot of other bad things, too. “Just to get it out of the way, I am not a child molester”.

    • Richard@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I am not certain whether I can safely upvote or the last part is too weird.

      • frezik@midwest.social
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        1 year ago

        Back on Reddit for /r/bestoflegaladvice, you always knew the post was going somewhere when it started with that exact phrase.

  • LoraxEleven@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    That’s exactly what a fuckin boozer would say, also.

    Although… I’ve been drinking since about October o’clock… so, what the fuck would I know about it, anyways.

    (I say: they can stop anytime you want me to.)

    Cheers!

  • TheDoozer@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    “I have about three drinks a week and get drunk maybe once or twice a year. I’d say I’m the picture of moderation, but I’m not really concerned with how you feel about my drinking habits.”

    • Bgugi@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      One book, “Swedish-made Penis Enlargers And Me: This Sort of Thing Is My Bag Baby”, by Austin Powers.

  • JTheDoc@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I haven’t drunk alcohol in over a year, last time I got drunk was maybe almost a decade ago…

    I’m sure that’ll convince someone? Though it makes it sound like I used to be one too lol.