[Stuey]

I quit about 4 years ago.

I don't know if you should quit but I do know you can find out real easy. Just quit for a while and see if you find it difficult. Quit for a good 6 months just so you have time to see what if any difference it makes.

You are going to be very surprised if you do indeed have an alcohol problem, as life will be so much easier after you quit for a month or 2. Plus you will look and feel much better.

The fact that you need a reason or the encouragement of others to convince you to try quitting is a bad sign. Why is the thought of quitting so daunting that you need an important reason to do it? Just try it and see for yourself what results you get. Or are you more attached to the drinking than you are admitting here?

I drank less often than you do but I drank about the same amount you do when I did drink. I had lots of little problems in my life. Work, personal, and minor health problems.

The people I worked with, my family and even my doctor knew how often and how much I drank. I asked them all if they thought my problems could be due to the drinking and they all said they did not think so. They said life is just hard for everyone and I was going through a rough patch and things would improve.

But for some reason I felt the drinking had to go so I quit. The change was immediate and impossible to ignore. In less than 3 months all my problems were gone. I still have problems but they are tiny and I can deal with them easily.

I read somewhere that depression cannot be properly diagnosed if the patient is a heavy drinker. I think they implied that all heavy drinkers are depressed to some degree.

Anyways sorry for the long preachy post here. I don't really know what is good for other people but I wanted to share my experience as it was startling how much quitting drinking helped me.

The most amazing part is even though my co-workers, family and my doctor have noticed and remarked at how great I look and how much happier I seem now they often offer me a drink. [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]