How I Overcame Alcoholism and Thought About Life in General

By Bill Hieser

The basis of this book is how I overcame my drinking problem. I was trapped in a cycle of restricted drinking followed by uncontrolled binges. I believe this is a common pattern.

Conventional approaches of abstinence and harm-minimisation actually exacerbate the problem.

I devised a routine of cycles between drinking a lot, then drinking less each cycle. Each cycle I drink a bit less. An advantage of cycles is the drinker can compare the difference between drinking different amounts of alcohol. There are pluses and minuses for each amount but drinking less enables more to be done in other areas.

Once a drinker can control his drinking he can decide what is best for him.

I have included my thoughts about life in general which I hope are of interest to the reader.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press AU
• Release date: Jul 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9781982291099

Bill Hieser

The author’s name is Bill Hieser. He was born in Canberra in 1955. He currently lives in Lismore NSW. He is interested in Maths and Science and languages. He is fluent in Russian and Spanish. He has had a drinking problem since he first drank beer age 14. In recent times he has controlled his drinking using methods described in this book.

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Copyright © 2021 Bill Hieser.

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ISBN: 978-1-9822-9108-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-9109-9 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 07/09/2021

Contents

Introduction

Philosophical Considerations

Habits and Addictions

Gambling

Learning and Education

Reflections on Things I Have Said Previously

Introduction

I will start this book with a line from the Cuban song Guantanamera. "Antes de morirme quiero echar mis versos del alma.", which translates as Before I die I wish to deliver my verses from the soul. Well, these are my verses from the soul. They are not poetry but philosophical thoughts and comments about life in general.

The main subject is alcohol, but I will also comment on Gambling, as well as Learning and Education. There will be a lot of philosophizing and commentary. You might think, Why all the digressions? It is because to deal with a serious drinking problem you have think about what life is all about and how you should live it. And I’ve got a few things to say and I’m going to say them. There is psychology, but from a personal point of view. I think the only person who can gain a deep insight into yourself is yourself.

So expect a mixed bag. Just think of it as being like a novel with a main plot and lots of sub-plots.

Personal observations about alcohol

All my adult life I have been in a binge-abstinence cycle. This might be approximately two weeks heavy drinking followed by two weeks abstinence, which might not be total abstinence, but moderate drinking. Moderate drinking is much more similar to non-drinking than it is to heavy drinking. The official limit of safe drinking is two standard drinks per day, which to me is a waste of time. I gradually allowed an increase in moderation guidelines, until even by my standards it wasn’t particularly moderate. I therefore aimed at controlled drinking, rather than moderate drinking, looking for a regime sufficiently liberal that I could stick to it. The important thing was getting it under control, and not drinking without limit. An analogy would be catching a wild horse, where you restrict his movements gradually.

I believe a binge-abstinence cycle is common.

I think total abstinence is only helpful if it is for life. It doesn’t usually work that way, but sometimes it does. One man I know lived down in the Riverina. He bought vats of wine from a winery, dirt cheap. No middle-man or tax-man involved. He lay by his wine-vat with a siphon hose in his mouth. That’s the way to enjoy a quiet drink!

Anyway, one day this man decided enough is enough, and hasn’t drunk since. If that’s the way it works for you, good luck, but it doesn’t work for me.

Many times I have been disgusted with my drinking, making the social blunders that drunk people make and making myself sick as well. I have decided enough is enough and sworn off the grog. After about a week the self-disgust wears off and I have a few drinks and feel better than I’ve felt in a long time.

When my friends go into rehab, they’re usually back in the pub after rehab. Short terms of abstinence