Anyone else grow up with alcoholic parent or parents?

shit was and still is tough

  • SorosFootSoldier [he/him, they/them]
    ·
    25 days ago

    My mom was an alcoholic. I was never able to get her to seek out help and sadly the alcohol ended up taking her life. I miss her a lot.

  • UlyssesT [he/him]
    ·
    25 days ago

    Go figure that Burgerland has a ruinous "war on drugs" but alcohol treats are so commonplace that you're ostracized if you aren't drinking in social settings. joker-amerikkklap

  • LanyrdSkynrd [comrade/them, any]
    ·
    25 days ago

    My dad was a mean alcoholic and heavy cocaine user. He was more abusive and mean to me than my siblings, I'm guessing it was because I was the weird one. I got away from him as soon as I old enough and basically only saw him at family gatherings.

    He lost both his legs to diabetes at 53, and then cirrhosis which messed with his cognition. He had driven away anyone who could take care of him, so I took him in, started handling all his stuff. He didn't have the ability or power to be abusive to me, but he caused a ton of chaos in my life. He managed to continue drinking by paying people to sneak it in my apartment. It was a really rough time in my life, and I ended up having a relapse.

    He died 8 or 9 years ago and I'm still conflicted about it. Honestly I was glad he was dead initially, but I'm trying to have empathy for him. He did shitty stuff, but he was also a person suffering from mental health and drug issues, just like me.

  • Cammy [she/her]
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    edit-2
    25 days ago

    Both parents. Lost my mom to it almost a decade ago and I cut contact with my dad who drank every day after work. It was to the point he insists on a delusion that things weren't bad for me and my siblings at home.

    I could go on a rant, but i just refuse to argue with someone who saw my childhood through a drunken lens.

    • UlyssesT [he/him]
      ·
      25 days ago

      I disowned every alcoholic I was biologically related to, even though one was a wine snob and claimed that it was impossible to be an alcoholic on the pretentious grape juice he nose-fucked one glass at a time.

      • Cammy [she/her]
        ·
        25 days ago

        I wish I disowned them sooner, honestly. I'm glad I did when I did, but you know at a certain point that things won't change.

        I can still picture my dad's brand of boxed wine after all this time. To any lurkers who are wondering, yes, someone can having a drinking problem with wine or other low proof drinks.

        • UlyssesT [he/him]
          ·
          25 days ago

          Oh, the boxed wine. The wine for every occasion, including his own kids' birthday parties (he believed his daughter was too well bred to go to Chuck-E-Cheese so took her to some boring pretentious expensive restaurant where she was bored silly), the wine tantrums for even suggesting he may have a problem, the driving while drunk but it didnt count because wine.

          He was always a piece of shit but the wine sort of put it in clearer focus.

          • Cammy [she/her]
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            25 days ago

            For fucks sake it's buying alcohol in bulk.

            And being elitist like that is totally on brand. They would insist they're functioning alcoholics when it's like no, you're not.

            But i try to save some of my ire for the people involved in promoting alcohol. It was wild back when the pandemic was treated seriously and I saw vodka ads on Hulu.

            Like people are stuck at home and you're telling them to drink more? It's bad for people dealing with addiction, but then i thought of people who felt some relief about their family not going to bars only to see some actor promoting a shitty cocktail.

            I don't want to support any actor or creator who promotes booze. It's accepting blood money. Especially given the stressors people are experiencing right now.

            • UlyssesT [he/him]
              ·
              25 days ago

              The smug Reddit popularized thought-terminating-cliche "you must be fun at parties" smuglord plays into normalized alcoholism, too.

              Maybe it's some neurodivergence on my part, but I hate the expectation that just being at a party means being drunk. If I have to be drunk to enjoy being somewhere, is it actually a fun place to be at all?

              • Cammy [she/her]
                ·
                25 days ago

                I was designated driver for some time before I got older and lied about an illness so i could evade pressure. Now I'm like nah I'm good and if they press it, I deploy my tactical trauma strike and tell the person how my mom died.

                If they ruin my fun at a party, I'll ruin theirs. But I haven't been to a party in a really long time, so hey. corona-and-lime

                • UlyssesT [he/him]
                  ·
                  25 days ago

                  The very last time I voluntarily spoke to that "can't be alcoholic because wine is for smart elite people" biological relative was when he called me out of nowhere and demanded I drop everything to be his chauffer from yet another drunken event. Which is not drunkenness because wine. I told him to pound sand and he had a not-drunk drunken screaming tantrum until I hung up and blocked his number.

                  He seized the phone from someone near him to call again and keep screaming. frothingfash

  • jimmyjohnsandwichsix [any, they/them]
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    25 days ago

    Yep, my father is an alcoholic, guy pretty much has lost his mind, he ended up almost shooting someone and got thrown in jail for it

  • roux [he/him, comrade/them]
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    edit-2
    25 days ago

    Our whole family is basically alcoholic. I didn't realize my sister was bad about it I til last time I went up to Indiana to visit. But also my brother drinks a lot and I've battled pretty severe issues for the last 25ish years.

    My parents weren't exactly mean but I can remember more than a few times at like 14 years old driving them home from their friends' house after a heavy evening of them drinking.

    I'm personally trying to get back on the wagon after being sober for 6 months and then fucking it up. I'm at a crossroads of "I have these 2 ipas left and then I'll stop" and "I should get back I to brewing wine."

  • LocalOaf [they/them]
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    25 days ago

    Oh yeah. Got a lot of stories and mental health stuff I could get into if there's something specific you're working through if you want to compare notes or something. Feel free anybody to send a PM if you don't want to post publicly.

    meow-hug

  • sweatersocialist [comrade/them]
    ·
    25 days ago

    my dad is a huge alcoholic. not mean but extremely negligent. he used to drink and drive with me and my siblings in the car. fuck him for that.

    his dumb ass is so addicted even while living in iran and having been to prison for alcohol he keeps drinking

  • Speaker [e/em/eir]
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    25 days ago

    Gotta ask the classic question: how old were you when you realized it was weird actually that your parent kept a 12 pack in the car and drank from it while driving you places, instead of just the way stuff is?