This is a question I always got asked by the nurses at the detox and rehab facilities and by the doctors when seeking treatment at the chemical dependency center.
I would say 4 years old.
They'd look at me as if they didn't believe me. Until I explained.
Yes, 4 year old alcoholic (unless you count in the womb). You see, I come from an Italian family on my father's side and it was customary, a cultural thing, to give kids a full glass of wine every Christmas dinner, Thanksgiving, Easter, New Years, birthdays, weddings, funerals...basically any occasion or excuse. They could say so what? it's just one glass, but a full glass of wine to a little kid is akin to a whole bottle to an adult.
It wasn't long until that one big glass at dinner was more important than the lovely feast before us. I would sneak drinks from other people glasses throughout the evening when no one was looking. If I was caught it was no big deal ("look at Jake the little boozer, haha").
Soon I was constantly stealing drinks from my dad's wine cellar, beer from the fridge, and liquor from the well-stocked cabinet. When they'd find me hammered, the problem wasn't that I was drinking alcohol, just that I was drinking their alcohol. It wasn't long until I was able to somewhat support my habit from the money from my paper route (you can guess who was buying it for me from 12 on). Other than that I was thieving at a young age to buy the poison.
Much crazy daily drinking throughout childhood and my teens, where it only got worse. Most of my life is a blur.
By adulthood I was drinking literally...literally...24/7. I would take beers to bed and wake up every hour or so to chug one down. All the while perfectly able to hold down a good job, just as long as I took precautions so they couldn't smell it, they could never tell I was drinking all day (same as in school when younger). I just looked hungover at work every day, but many guys did. If I had come in completely sober, then they might have thought something was wrong/different with me.
I'm not going to go any further into my adult drinking history (seizures from withdrawal, many hospital visits, and regular trips to detox) because I'm sure I've gone into that before, and it's not the point of this topic. I just felt like sharing what I hadn't shared here before and wondered if anyone else had the disease get into them at such a young age.
Thanks.
-- Edited by Jakamo on Thursday 3rd of March 2016 04:23:59 AM
I didn't drink until I was 21. I chose to do it. No one forced me. I knew it was a bad idea because I knew I had an addictive personality - even before I knew what it was, if that makes sense.
Alcohol didn't become a real problem until I was 31. It became a need more so than an outlet or a corollary to a social outing. It was (and still is, sadly) a crutch.
Within one month I had a divorce because of a Wife cheating on me, lost my job due to cutbacks and was taken out of a very prestigious grad school program because my ex forgot to submit my financial paperwork. And that's when I became a full blown alcoholic. Alcohol didn't cause any of those events but I chose to use it as a remedy.
My story is similar to TW's, ... I was 2 weeks shy of my 21st BD ... I was in the military and had just gotten a 'breakup' letter from my girlfriend ... I was raised in a family that NEVER drank alcohol at all, so I decided since I was on my on, I'll try this stuff one time ... so I bought a bottle of 'Boone's Farms' wine, clerk saw I was 2 weeks shy of 21 but said, oh, what the hell, and sold it to me ...
I drank the whole bottle and got the buzz of my life, then I got soooooo sick, I swore I'd never drink again ... and I didn't for about 2 years ... then it was peer pressure at a party ... they said mix your own drink ... ??? ... I'd never mixed a drink before so I put Seagrams 7 and 7-up in a tall glass, 1/2 7-up, 1/2 Seagrams ... they had to carry me to the car after I 'thew-up' all over the place ... my new wife, the one that broke up with me, drove home ...
After that, I started drink'n beer with the Bowl'n team ... hated the taste of beer(then), but drank with the guys anyway ...
That's how I got started on my journey to alcoholism ...
Pappy
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
I first got drunk at 14. Atarted binging at 18 in college. Started having some problems with abusing it through my 20s, then full blown alcoholic in my 30s up til getting sober at 36.
Jackamo, you're not alone, I mean, does it really matter at what age you started drinking? We all ended up in the same place in the end. I was 13 and loved it from the first sip, got kicked out of my first college because I stayed up all night getting wasted and couldn't make it to classes. Straightened up a little bit, went to work, school at night, got my BA, had kids and then really started to drink in earnest. Had a long run until I was 40. Sober 10 years this year.
The only reason it matters to me what age I started drinking is because unlike most people I don't remember a time before drinking. It's all I ever knew. My life now as a sober person is something that never existed before. I am now able to enjoy life for what it is. I guess I was hoping to find someone else who shared my experiences, although I wouldn't wish it on anyone. The reason I put the title of my topic in quotations is because it's a question I'm often asked, not necessarily because I'm asking everyone how old they were when they started drinking. I now know a life I never thought possible, and it's wonderful.
Over the last few years, I've come to know quite a few members that started drink'n before the age of 10 ... and those that are still with us say the same thing you are say'n ... that they had never known a life without alcohol before AA ... and it has exceeded their wildest dreams too ... good post ...
__________________
'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
Cunning. BAFFLING. Powerful. I didn't become an active alcoholic 'til my mid 20's. Snuck right up on me. Your origin, Jakamo, may be exceptional, but your trials resulting from it are not unique.
I probably snuck my first beer with a buddy at around age 8. He was Italian. I had another classmate, also Italian, that I spent many weekends with from about 5th grade on and they always had wine with dinner so I had wine with them. By age 15 or so, I was out and about drinking most weekends in the small town where I grew up. College freed me up to legally buy and drink and I'm not sure I spent more than a few days over the next 30 years when I wasn't drunk or recovering from a drunk. Maybe we could point back and blame my Italian friends, but I don't think that culture was my problem. No, the whole culture of my small town was okay with teen drinking. But I could have chose not to drink when I hit college, but I didn't. Looking back, I can say that I was an alcoholic by the time I was 18 years old and could legally buy and drink. It just took over 30 years for me to realize it.
The only reason it matters to me what age I started drinking is because unlike most people I don't remember a time before drinking. It's all I ever knew. My life now as a sober person is something that never existed before. I am now able to enjoy life for what it is. I guess I was hoping to find someone else who shared my experiences, although I wouldn't wish it on anyone. The reason I put the title of my topic in quotations is because it's a question I'm often asked, not necessarily because I'm asking everyone how old they were when they started drinking. I now know a life I never thought possible, and it's wonderful.
Same here. First time drunk at ten, seemed to throw a switch. Though not drinking, my behaviour went off from that point. Next time I got access to alcohol was 13, and I kept it up until I got sober at 22.
The thing that got me, and perhaps you feel the same Jakamo, is that most of the older members of AA achieved a few things in their lives, like careers, family, home, etc and then lost it. I always felt they had an advantage over me in at least the knew what they were trying to get back. I never achieved anything. My life crashed on take off. I was a disaster from the start. So when I got sober I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into or what a "normal" life might be like. Talk about blind faith. I had no experience of normal.
But there are advantages to getting sober young. The big one is the 9 step list hasn't had time to get too long, and there is always a great degree of encouragement for young people trying to straighten out. Then there is the obvious one that we get our whole lives back and a world of opportunity. It's a good deal.
However, I did achieve things like relationships and careers throughout my alcoholism, only to lose them more or less because of it. This was one of the biggest signs for me, other than my depleting health and ending up in ER multiple times. This is when my fear of drinking started to overwhelm the few rewards of drinking. A lot of people drink to be more social, but many of the best nights of my life were ruined because I got way too drunk and passed out and missed out on the funnest parts that I would later hear about the next morning.
The best part is now I know what it truly means to "enjoy life". It doesn't mean to have more fun because you're drunk or doing drugs, another problem I had in addition. To me, it means contentment and enjoying the small things, something I was unable to do before, without the need to try to 'enhance' them with certain substances. Overall happiness and a lust for life is now what I experience and have to look forward to in the future, when before I had nothing to look forward to except the next drink.
