Anyone else have become dependant on Alcohol to help with Social Anxiety?I have tried to go to AA but the anxiety of being closed in a room sitting next to other people and having to speak sends me back home with a glass or 2 of wine each time.I do drink a few more glasses on weekends but limit myself during the week to 1-max 3 glasses of wine and try to go without for 3-4 days also.I do stop drinking before alot of my friends do on weekends and just drink water or have a coffee but still have the hangover days once in a while on the weekend.Any other suggestions of getting help other than AA.I have gone to 20-25 meetings over the past years but can't handle them.That is why I started to drink in the first place to handle being around people or being close to people and I just can't do the AA thing. :o

Just one point that people get confused on, Alcoholism is not defined by how much we drink, but generally by how much our lives are controlled by the thought of drinking. Many of us suffer from anxiety in social situations and the drink helps relieve that, even after many years going to AA, I still feel nervous going to meetings at times; but I reached a point in my life when my desire not to drink was greater than my desire to drink and as a chronic alcohol who's life was consumed with the thoughts of drink, I tried every other way to stop and only AA worked for me. I didn't get sober on my 1st, 2nd or 3rd meeting, I had to keep going back until I reached the point when I was ready to listen and go to any length to get sober from Alcohol. Then I heard the message of AA in my heart and I started to get sober and enjoy sobriety in a special way; it just kind of happened! I guess you can't force it, but it's best to put yourself in the position where recovery has at least a chance, or else it's just a pipe dream......

I hope that's of some help.

Thanks blasterboy but you don't understand my drinking is because of my Social Anxiety Disorder and yes I have heard that many of us will turn to drinking because most of the medications have not worked for us."I just can't handle the meetings and being confined for any extent of time,I need to get away in Social Situations" This has now turned into a Phobia and going to work is Hell for me.I just got Celexa from my Doctor today which I will try again and see if I can get over the 2-3 week period where you go thru all the huge side effects. :blob_fire

cheeto, as a sufferer of social anxiety disorder myself, I can feel your pain. Social anxiety disorder is a torturous thing to have in that it severely limits your interaction to other people. And it seems that alcohol is the only cure. Its why I started drinking too. Since I was born to age 15, I didnt know what was wrong with me when I couldn't do the social things other kids did. I was simply terrified to do them. Alcohol immediately released those feelings.

You are right cheeto in that AA meetings only make the social anxiety rise to the surface. Its one of many reasons why AA is not for me(even though I have been to quite a few AA and NA meetings and tried to make it work). They have SSRI's(anti-depressants) that are now being given to help people with social anxiety disorder. Zoloft is one of them and I think Lexapro is another. But I'm not encouraging the use of these medicines because you can build tolerance to them and for some people they quit working somewhere down the road. And despite the doctors refusal to accept it, the SSRI's do have a withdrawal syndrome.

I hate to tell you this but I am 28 years old and have yet to find the answer to social anxiety without self-medication. Which of course leads to a nightmarish life far worse than any social anxiety. I've just learned to try to keep to myself and make friends with people I trust who dont talk a lot(like me). I have accepted SAD as a part of my life and just stay thankful that I was born with that and not something like HIV or leukemia.

Ask your doctor about Zoloft if you are going to take a medicine for it. They actually run commercials for Zoloft being for social anxiety disorder. The side effects are bad for some people but they do go away for most. Good luck my friend.