this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2023
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.

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[–] [email protected] 161 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (3 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 49 points 11 months ago

That is terrible and I am so sorry.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 11 months ago (11 children)

They do AA in Germany? I thought that pseudo science was just an American thing.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago (4 children)

Group therapy is pseudo-science?

[–] [email protected] 38 points 11 months 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

[–] [email protected] 36 points 11 months ago (7 children)

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.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 11 months ago (2 children)

You don't know about AA, do you?

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 months ago

No, just AA

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[–] [email protected] 110 points 11 months ago (7 children)
[–] [email protected] 56 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Congrats, how many years are you sober?

[–] [email protected] 25 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago

Born again huh.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (3 children)

Oh, so you don't like it when other drink then?

Edit: that's literally the response my buddy gets every single time it comes up, every single time without fail, even from other people who don't drink.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 11 months ago

What the fuck?

[–] [email protected] 29 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Haha yeah it’s weird how NOT drinking is weird. I couldn’t care less what other people do, nor what they think of me; drinking is just no longer appealing to me

No idea why you got downvoted so bad, I guess I did have the benefit of your edit when I read your reply.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (3 children)

Right?

I mean, you teach yourself to drink something that tastes rotten. It impairs your ability to think and accomplish basic tasks. It increases your risk for legal trouble. It can make you vomit and sick the next day. It damages your internal organs, and it costs a ton. Finally, it traps you into needing it.

Yet, it's the people who DON'T do it who are weird?

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago

Sure buddy what ever you say

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[–] [email protected] 81 points 11 months ago (1 children)

“I don’t have time for alcoholism—I’m too busy shooting heroin.”

[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 months ago (1 children)

At least your not a Morman

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[–] [email protected] 62 points 11 months ago (3 children)

"My psychiatrist prefers to say that I have a 'substance use disorder' and cautions that the old 'alcoholism' model isn't very scientific."

[–] [email protected] 37 points 11 months ago (1 children)

"I don't limit myself to just alcohol"

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Modern problems require modern solutions.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Fortunately, alcohol is a solution. Unfortunately, far from modern.

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 11 months ago (2 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 46 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (3 children)

You must be a hardcore alcoholic if you had to abstain for that long.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 months ago

Well clearly given your decision, your mother drank with you in the womb and you had fetal alcohol syndrome. Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.

Checkmate, atheists.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 11 months ago (3 children)

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".

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 11 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 11 months ago (4 children)

Sounds like you have a drinking problem...

[–] [email protected] 26 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I don't have a drinking problem. I drink, I get drunk, I fall down, no problem!

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 11 months ago (7 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 25 points 11 months ago
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[–] [email protected] 18 points 11 months ago (2 children)

It’s pretty easy, actually. I drink around twice a month. No one could credibly accuse me of alcoholism.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Exactly what an alcoholic would say

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 11 months ago (1 children)

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!

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago

I'll drink to that?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 11 months ago (3 children)

I literally just threw up. I feel better now though.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 months ago

I only drink on weekdays ending with 'y'

[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I dodged it as a youth, no point starting it now.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Drinking just isn't my sort of thing

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months 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."

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