Tom: Downfall of a Functioning Alcoholic (Part 2 of 4)
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- Опубликовано: 4 апр 2009
- Tom gets into rehab but leaves the program without serious intentions to get better. The drinking gets worse and he leaves his family, his successful job, and ends up running from the police all because of the disease of alcoholism.
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I blasted alcohol for 40 years. I was a very high functioning alcoholic, I worked 7 days a week, went to the Gym 4 or5 days per, and drank copiously after work and Gym.
At the worst I was drinking 10 longnecks of beer and 2 or more litres of goon each night and was still wide awake.
At the end, (many years later), all I did was drink, 4-5 litres of red cask wine (goon) per day.
I collapsed several times. Once I 'died' was resusitated and spent 2 weeks in hospital. Don't remember any of it.
Finally I collapsed again and was hospitalized for 9 weeks. I couldn't even stand up on my own. I was constantly crapping myself and was down to 58kg. I was having massive halucinations. I was diagnosed with Liver failure and Korsakoff's dementia.
I was put into aged care at age 57. I was expected to have a massive bleed and die.
Now 2 years later I haven't had any alcohol at all. I've done a course in Freelance Journalism and got an article published and got paid for it. I'm now a member of a writers group and am working on a couple of novels.
I've been very fortunate that people were there to put me into care and the people who work there have been extremely good to me.
I come and go as I please. I cook most of my own meals and live in an independent flat/unit.
I'm currently in the process of getting my own place, getting my licence back and doing some part time work as well as going to the Gym 3-4 times per week.
I don't miss alcohol, I simply made a decision to never drink again. I was fortunate.
Most people with Korsakoff's either die or end up severely brain damaged.
So far I seem to have all of my memory, which I can confirm with my family.
(That's important because people with Korsakoff's tend to make up memories to fill in blank spots.)
I also have advanced Diabetes problems, (Charcot's Foot, Retinopaphy and Poor Kidney Function). I won't live as long as I might have if I hadn't abused Alcohol, but I will live the best I can.
Thank You for reading this. God Bless.
All I can say is well done But if I may ask do u struggle to remember things from the past
@@robertmarkold3408 No. I know it's unusual for people who have Korsakov's not to struggle with memory. I guess I'm just lucky.
I seem to have mostly recovered.
There are slight hiccups from time to time, not in the memory but in unusual things like reading a map.
@@bossdog1480 thx for your reply take care
Mate bad luck fo
@@bossdog1480 Thanks for the post ! How are you these days ?
Keep on Enjoying sober life Tom. Im a 32 year old from NY who comes from a big Irish / Scottish American family that has seen alcoholism run rampant through my family, killed my Grandpa. Im writing this at 5:57am after a 5 day bender. Literally am ready to call it quits. And for what it's worth, your video is a big factor in my acceptance.
You fall off the wagon or still doing good?
Possibly the former
@@marccuomo2295 I’m doing great - 5 yrs sober as of last May
U doing good now?
@@Mikey_The-Pikey yep - I’m 5 and a half years sober. Life is good, thanks for asking
I'm walking around with another guy's liver. My liver failure was so acute my kidney couldn't handle the extra load & went south. I'm also walking around with a third kidney as a result. Believe me, you don't want to go through with this.
My dad was a functional alcoholic. He had the same job for 30 years, played hockey, was with my mom for 30 years, stayed in shape, taught me about girls and driving, and boating, camping, how to water ski, was at all my hockey games, took me and my friends wherever we needed to go... it took a fast sudden change when he was about 52. He got real skinny, stopped playing hockey, became very depressed. He took his own life at 54
Sorry for your loss man. Alcoholism is so bad
After my life tanked I went from social drinking to serious blackout boozing. And what cured me of boozing was not some realization I needed to quit. It was the gout I got in my toes. It was the sore joints that made it hard to move my shoulders. It was the muscles in my back that kept ripping and my calf muscle that just tore one day when I was going up stairs. It was the welts that opened on my palms, bleeding like stigmata. And above all it was the massive depressions I would get the morning after a boozefest. Depressions that would cripple me for the day, so sharp they cut me. I simply stopped drinking because I had to. I don't know if that helps anyone. But I will also say a heresy here. I sincerely believe that by drinking in my most serious life situations I took the edge off the seriousness and actually avoided suicide. Drink does have a function but it has a serious cost.
maciej wrotek It was all over the map but usually a 750ml bottle of hard booze and bottle or two of wine. I could also go for weeks at a time without drinking. Then I gave up the hard stuff and "just" drank three bottles of wine a day. I suppose that is mild compared to some booze artists. I had a friend who killed himself at the age of 37. Died of a heart attack during detox. He drank I would say two to three bottles of hard stuff a day and ate almost nothing.
maciej wrotek Beer is about all I eat. I definitely do make sure to have a meal or at least a few things here and there a day, though. I'm way past the hangovers. I can't remember the last time I've had one, but my gosh if water is not the first thing I intake in the morning. I have at least 2 glasses, then coffee, cereal, then it's usually time to start on beer. Mind You I wake up around 1pm.
+Oris Cornerman how do you survive
Bill Smith Yup. This resonates with me. For me, it was my stomach. The nightmare of wanting that morning drink, pouring the vodka and sucking it down over and over, but then hugging porcelain and dry heaving...ya...for me, at least, sobriety is worth it'll I never want to go back to that. That was absolutely awful. And whenever I think of picking up? Porcelain. I remember that cool, sickly feeling of hanging my head on random hotel toilets in random places. No thanks.
Bill Smith, this is exactly the sort of comment I can identify with.
By the time I detoxed I had started the liver welts on the hands and across my stomach. I also transitioned into blackout drinking when my life went to shit. The DTs were scarier than anything I'd ever been through. Seizures so bad I bit part of my tongue off on day 2.
I never wanted to quit. I had to or I was going to die a 30 year old. Now I'm clean and square. Haven't wanted a drink since... I've wanted 30 of them at once and that's why I can't go back.
I'm still fairly early on, so the depression is still pretty strong. People like you remind me it can be done. The comment helped.
I spent 9 yrs drinking alcoholically and to the point that the only thing I did was live to drink - nothing else mattered. Thankfully I am now 16 mths sober and its only with distance between me and that last drink that I relaise just how unwell I was and how destructive alcohol is to an alcoholic. My solutution, as much as I didnt want it to be, has been AA. Breaking down the resistance to accept I was unwell, to being open about my drinking and listening to an alternative solution to that which i thought was right (it clearly was not) was not easy but its saved my life. Life with out alcohol is challenging but infinitaley better then the one I escaped from.
Nathansmithba never ever thinks you're cured! Its waiting everyday, worst than the day you left off (I'm 9 yrs clean after 10 yr relapse).
I hope you are still sober, I drink too much and hope I can put it down
The way you type gives away the fact that you have not succeeded in sobriety.
Nathansmithba I hope you are still doing well.
@@lynnlynn9124 I hope you are still going strong. Hang in there.
4:17 It came through Tom, and it’s an amazing thing to hear. God bless each and every one of you.
Thank you, you have helped a lot of people with this.
You come across as a true, humble, honest person
peace and love and all the light to you my friend
I love how the segment just ends when he said "I was in the lions den and I drank." It was literally over at that point and so was the segment.
Thanks for this. I'm getting help after two years. People like you help me and others. Thanks very much
who else is watching think drunk
This guy is really cool, truly a class act. It's nice to see a guy like this feeling on top of the world after years of despair. Congratulations to him.
I don't know if he feels on top of the world, but it sure as shit beats where he was at.
My Life is Sooooooooooo Much Better without Alcohol
Thank you for sharing. I'm getting sober and it's going to work this time because I have support. Things like this really help too.
Amazing video. Thank you so much.
Just listening him talk is so satisfying because of his intelligence.
Someone get the damn phone
Thank you Tom I will pay it forward.
wow, such honesty, I have just separated from an alcoholic partner...who is in complete denial
Same scenario here .. and she thinks she is going to be a nurse
Very good video. Thank you so much. Would be nice if the phone wasn't ringing and people talking in the background though. Thanks again for for your story.
Are these people just rude in the background with the phone ringing and laughing out loud. This guy is spilling out his story seriously
the ultimate cause is that you go through a period when you think you can stop with the booze and before you know you realize you are unable. You lose faith in your future you lack will to live. In order to restore hope inner strength one has to have a future goal. It is peculiarity of humans that they live only by looking into the future.
You might choose Mindfulness Therapy - it is one of the most effective CBT therapies available for overcoming depression and anxiety and for recovery from addictions.
thanks...
he said one thing that all addicts need to know and that is there is something your afraid to deal with so you hide from it through changing your mind
o yeah live that life i love it
I need a drink
Not drank in 11 years still got the same mental health problems
Alcohol is just a sticking plaster, to work through your mental health problems you need therapy! Talk x
i try not to drink every week but i got a friend that keeps calling me a few times a week and bugs me and makes me think about drinking
fathers an alcoholic, i myself being 23 went on a short bender after turning 21 but never really got into booze. But seeing someone destroy their life first hand is an eye opening experience and makes me never want to get into it. I do have a slight problem with weed though but im sure ill get over this stage in due time
Weed's fine man. At least it doesn't cause any life threatening withdrawals, only mildly irritating ones at worst. I smoke weed daily and alcohol almost every day in small amounts which is worrying me, I'd like to cut down a bit but always go back to the same routine. Not quite enough to cause a chemical dependency but it sure is moreish and I miss it a little sometimes when it's not around.
i feel you brother, for me at least the mental addiction has always been the most difficult to overcome, Weed is fine for most people as it was fine for me for a long time as well. one day i woke up realizing that i didnt enjoy life as much when i didn't have weed and would even get mild panic attacks if i didn't have any. I realized that i did not have many friends if any at all that didn't want to smoke or drink when we would get together. Like you said the routine was the hardest thing to break. After five or so years of basically smoking everyday i forgot how to enjoy life in a sober mindset. Anything that controls your life in such a way as weed did to mine is detrimental in nature. With that being said i would always advocate the use of weed as a tool when needed as compared to using it as a crutch in the way i have. That goes for anything really if you can control yourself. Booze is very sneaky though with the physical reliance becoming evident before you even realize you have a problem. If you dont have many adverse effects with weed then i would stick with it all day. I feel your pain, the fact that you're aware of yourself is probably the most beneficial thing you can have. There's an awful lot of people out there way worse off then you who would never admit to having a problem and those are the ones that are normally doomed. Don't be afraid to live life my friend we're all learning together.
respect to you my friend
Been there props to the guy for getting himself sober.
i dunno sometimes i just feel like drinking going all out
To each their own
Anybody know where he is now?
I need help right now
im 27 been drinking everynight for 10 years, about 8 to 12 miller lites, i should be ok right ? the doctor scanned my body and took my blood a year or 2 ago said i was healthy, i feel like lite beers cant harm u, its not whiskey, i quit hard alcohol i went a couple years drinking whiskey in between
You young enough to get away with it now, but it will catch up fast over the years. Lite beer still contains alcohol, and 8 to 12 a day is excessive
Description- tom is slowly ruining his life.
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He didn't sound very high functioning at all
interesting.
What?
he looks like hes drunk a bottle of vodka the night before
The drink has aged him,he looks worn out.
The horse?
Bad luck FO
I've just fucking relapsed and now going to have to dry out.
How you doin these days? Running through the same ruts.
Ya, and I mean, all those people with cancer... pfft. Stealing the spotlight! Really?
Lol. No need to watch. We see enough of the people on a daily basis.
a really good way to never get addicted to drugs is to have a rich social life
Not necessarily man. A rich social life will involve lots of going out, which always involves drink or drugs at some point. If not even amongst your group of friends you'll see it everywhere in the places you go.
Hes really cool i would drink a beer with him for sure :)
He doesn't drink
A recovering alcoholic cant even have 1...its all or none.
1:53 LOL. He was gold digging a poor waitress! What a succubus! I hope he was good in bed at least!