Alcoholism Support Group

Ewart, thats so fantastic. I too hope you find the hope that you need.

Is La Hacienda the one in Texas? I know of it because Chris R. works there. He is an awesome guy. Listening to him totally changed my recovery.

Good luck with both your meetings. Let me know how they go. Thanks.

Great! I hope you find the hope too! LOL. I can't imagine anyone NOT finding hope in an AA meeting. When I went to my first one, I was floored ~ because it was my first meeting, they held a First Step meeting, and everyone told their "stories" ~ and believe me, if that doesn't give you hope, nothing will! There was probably over 200 yrs. of sobriety sitting there at the tables, all told.

Best of luck, and let us know how it went! God bless!

Depression is almost always related to alcohol. Alcohol is a depressant, and even if were depressed already it can make it worse. I suffered from depression most of my life. Alcohol made it worse. My depression went away after I stopped drinking, and started taking medication as prescribed. I can see you already have hope. Your going to a meeting. Having hope is a great gift that we need. You have it. Treasure it and hold on to it. Your doing great. Keep it up, and keep your focus on sobriety. Without that we have nothing, and we die. All the best. James

make sure to introduce yourself as a newcomer, even if you arent all into AA it is really good to meet other people who can help and who truly understand. Let us know how it goes.

I was slow about getting what the AA program had for me.I found out that it is a program of recovery that involves much more than going to meetings.I fought with depression for a while after I stopped drinking,but once I got to working the Steps it started to get better.I still have those bad days occasionally,but they're not as bad or as frequent as they used to be.

Thanks everyone - my first meeting today was good BUT I am still struggling with - am I an alcoholic or am I just depressed? I know that I'm done drinking, but am I obsessing about it because I am depressed and when the depression lifts (IF EVER) then the thoughts go away?

Yes, in Hunt, TX where Chris R is - he's great.

Oh, and I'm stuck on step 3 - believing my God can take this all away. How hard was that for y'all?

Guess if I really thought I was just depressed, I would go talk to a doc about antidepressents and see how that goes first.

Then when you start feeling the depression lift, see if your desire to drink lifts too. I would LOVE to have it work like that for me, but, I'm the real thing...alcoholic for sure!

Do you stop drinking when you feel a little better, or do you not know where the cut off point is? I can never stop drinking til I drop! black out then pass out!

With God, I know all things are possible, BUT I keep taking this problem of mine back. I have no problem believing! though that He most certainly can and will take this from me.

The steps are also designed to be gone through with a sponsor. They help you get through each one...step by step, and they break it down for you so you understand it better.

alcohol is a depressant, and most of us can relate not thinking alcohol was the problem.

Ditto on the depression and alcohol. I had to stop fighting did the chicken or the egg come first ... in other words did the depression cause the alcoholism or did the alcoholism cause the depression. In the final analysis it didn't matter that I acquired both mental diseases but rather that I had hope that I too could recover from both and I'm happy to report that after 6 years of staying sober and taking my anti-depressants as prescribed I was able to discontinue the meds. That was 3 years ago and thanks to Alanon, AA, and the support of my friends here at DS I stay sober and only bits of sadness arise from time to time just like "normies". Ewart, it is possible so please just keep showing up until the miracle happens for you. Blessings and oh yeah, don't worry about the God thing - He/She/It has you covered even when you can't feel it (or so I was told).