Posted by blueboy on May 29, 2008, at 7:16:20
In reply to Binge drinking: brain damage?, posted by Adam Donahue on November 10, 2003, at 18:22:38
I haven't read any of the other responses, so sorry if I repeat anyone. I'm a recovering alcoholic/bipolar II sufferer.
AFAIK, it's really unlikely that you suffered any noticeable brain damage from the amount of drinking you described. And yes, alcoholism is very typical of Bipolar.
Screw around long enough with the alcohol, though, and you'll mess up your brain ("wet brain"), your liver, your life, and a lot of other people's lives. Some people need to ruin themselves, go to prison, and/or kill someone before they get the picture. Some never manage to face the obvious before they bleed out through their throat. Here's a nice synopsis of where you're headed:
http://www.egetgoing.com/Drug/5_9_2_1_2.asp
If you're an alcoholic, you are not going to beat it by sitting around making resolutions, writing out lists, reading about it, talking to a shrink, drawing up plans to control your drinking. You can't control it or defeat it by yourself. Period. It's a fatal disease and the death is ugly. How well you do in life depends, largely, on how long it takes you to learn this lesson.
Go to an "open" AA meeting. They are the world's true experts in alcohol addiction and it's free. Best of all, nobody there can commit you to a hospital or start calling your family or friends to talk about "how worried they are", LOL.
The individuals in AA, in my experience, are mostly very flawed. But collectively, they are a genius. I have always found that if I sit there for a meeting or two, I eventually hear exactly what I needed to hear, even if it's not what I thought I needed to hear (hope that makes sense).
I was a very good student and thought I was The Sh*t because I went to Yale and got 800's on tests. It was a big surprise to me to find out I was even stupider than some funny-looking tatooed biker or old housewife when it came to dealing with drinking problems.
Good luck. Bipolar is a bad break. Bipolar and alcohol abuse is a real bad break, but there's a lot than can be done for both.
poster:blueboy
thread:278333
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080528/msgs/831854.html