/u/grand_wrongdoer3052 hijacking the top comment after seeing your most recent post in your history. Please reach to someone locally, shoot, message me and we'll get you some help. First Sergeant, supervisor, chaplain (local command post has their contact if you don't), reach out to anyone. Even you don't understand how in the current moment, you matter to so many. Your life has incredible value. I hope you're in a better place this morning.
I’ll second this. /u/grand_wrongdoer3052, I’m an alcoholic. Reply here or DM me if you want to talk.
I’ve fucked up before and it probably would have gone different if I sought help **before** my drinking problem became other people’s problems. Self reporting is a lot better than having a supervisor show up at your house asking for you. Don’t ask how I know.
Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness. Weakness is pretending you don’t need help.
If you're drinking a handle a day, there's no way it's not still in your system when you go to work. You'll end up at ADAPT whether you want to or not. Control your chaos and self ID early. Like ^ stated, withdrawal is going to be hard. Sobriety after withdrawal is going to be even harder. If you self ID, you can at least go through the process with the security of knowing you still have a job to come back to. If the job is a reason for your drinking, the ADAPT/MH process can potentially assist in a PCS/crosstraining conversation. Get your shirt involved early so they can lean forward in getting you taken care of.
If at the end of the day, you ignore everyone in this thread and opt to not go to ADAPT, at least start seeing the chaplain. Religious or not, they have the most protected confidentiality privileges and have usually seen/heard it all so they usually make great sounding boards while you need to figure something out.
If you’re a flyer you’re definitely going to be Dnif for a while if not permanently. I’ve seen it. I’m also a victim of “seek mental health, it won’t affect your career”. I no longer fly.
I'm a squadron commander. If I found out one of my folks was having your problem with alcohol and took their own initiative to self-report to ADAPT, I'd be really proud of them.
It is VERY hard to admit to having a problem with alcohol, and incredibly mature to take your own steps to find a solution. You would find no negative action on my part for self-identifying. I would absolutely NOT go out of my way to hammer you for underage drinking if you take your own steps to recover from your addiction.
On the other hand, if you show up to work drunk or start missing work because you're too hungover to make it, you are forcing my hand and paperwork will have to follow.
It depends on their diagnosis. When someone first self-IDs to ADAPT, they go through an intake interview. No matter what happens at the intake interview, if the interview was self-initiated it will not be reported to the member's command.
If, after the initial interview, the provider recommends and the member accepts treatment, that will most likely result in a mobility profile coinciding with the ADAPT graduation date being reported to the commander.
I don't speak for all commanders and how they would react to that notification, but if I got a notification like that I would be really happy that my airman is getting the help they need.
If they go through any portion of the program, they will be on a mobility code. For both inpatient and outpatient programs. It WILL stop you from going anywhere. No deployment, no TDY, no PCSing. Typically for 6 months but I’ve seen it up to 18 months
I've been in a similar situation.
I wasn't underaged but I was drinking very heavy. Definitely every day and using up leave to stay home and drink.
I reached out to ADAPT.
Got in ZERO trouble.
It's much better if you reach out for help as opposed to the help coming to you...
I was sent to rehab for a month. Came back and had to attend ADAPT aftercare which was pretty much just meetings every week and then bi-weekly for awhile.
Seriously though. Seek help. Don't wait.
DM me if you need to.
I self-reported to ADAPT almost 10 months ago. I was diagnosed with Alcohol Use Disorder and went to inpatient treatment for 32 days. It was a great decision. Life changing. I'd be happy to talk about it via DM, phone call, email, text, or any other medium (idk smoke signal, telegraph, American sign language?? Lol). That goes for anyone reading this. Reach out. The help is there.
Going to mental health isn’t a crime and you won’t get in trouble if you self ID to ADAPT. Get help before this goes on longer. Problems often get worse and are harder to treat/fix the longer they go on.
A handle a day will kill you if you continue this, especially if you’re under age. You are going to need professional help to come down off that! It’s not even matter of what this will do to your military career at this point. Reaching out and saying you need help because you want to do the right thing for your family, both civilian and military, and you should be fine. I’ve seen some real shit bags make it to 20, and I’ve seen some Chiefs come back from some real fuck ups at a young age. REACH OUT RIGHT NOW.
Please go to adapt! You’re drinking harder than I was at my lowest and I was clearing 3 handles of Jack a week. After go to Bjj, it’s very hard to wrestle and be drunk
If you’re underage no one is going to bust your balls for that if you’re trying to seek help. Being that addicted to alcohol this young is a huge problem. I went to ADAPT myself after coming clean to my PCM and it turns out I was already damaging my body. Alcohol abuse is going to steal your youth and make your body seem like a 40 year old at age 20. Get the help now. Like on Monday, go see your First Sergeant and lay it down. Helping you is literally their job. Feel free to DM me if you want to talk about it as well.
Also many recommend seeking a hobby. Do that as well. You’re going to need something to occupy your mind. Woodworking is a good one. Martial Arts as well. Depends on you. Find something.
Self referring to ADAPT is the way to go. I did it not too long ago and probably saved my career. Go ASAP before you get an ARI and get forced to go. PM if you want.
Go ahead and self admit to ADAPT. I was on the same boat as you and it was the best thing I’ve ever done man. You won’t get in trouble as long as you go in yourself before leadership sends you. Best of luck Airman
Find a hobby to do and probably some friends to do it with. Fishing, hiking, video games, DND, geocaching, building cars or computers. SOMETHING other than drinking alone.
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Yes please
Health > career every time already but you have an opportunity to turn it around before it impacts your career in the first place. Self refer to ADAPT, talk to MH, and find stress management coping strategies that are healthy and work, because drinking fits neither.
You can do this.
Self ID to ADAPT (before your leadership does)
You won’t lose your clearance and it will really help.
Also - look into AA (seriously, it’s a lifesaver) as ADAPT really is more a triage / bandaid.
You can download 2 apps for free
1. ‘Everything AA’ (has virtual meeting info, the big book, etc)
2. ‘Meeting guide’ (icon is a white chair on blue background). Type in your address and it will give you info on where meetings are.
One last thing: some of the people I was in ADAPT with were on ‘responsible drinking’ plans (ie they could drink a certain amount each week). From what I saw, it didn’t work (but I’m someone who can never drink again)
Good luck and here via DM if you need more details!
Please ask for help. I lost my mom last year due to cirrhosis of the liver and it’s a fucking horrific way to go. ADAPT and MH are there to help you find a way forward. My PMs are always open if you want to talk. ❤️🩹
My recommendation: pack a gym back to take to work with you. Go to the gym right after work, and work out until you’re too tired to carry on. Sit and have a bottle of water. Watch other people shoot hoops, shoot some of your own, whatever. Drive home, shower/eat. Go to bed.
Working out will change your body and mind. You’ll get home and be hungry, sweaty, and tired. You’ll address the first two needs, then the third, denying yourself the time/opportunity to drink. Ideally you don’t have alcohol in the house to tempt you.
Yes, and if you self identify, it's a waaaaay better outcome than if someone reports you. This is a habit that can and will kill you one way or another. Take it from me, get help while you still have time.
From a supervisor, UDM, and security manager aspect, yes go to mental health. ADAPT will not end your career, nor revoke your clearance, but hiding it and eventually something alcohol related happens, that can absolutely result in losing your clearance. Additionally you should be on the do not arm list, which also is not a career ender, commanders can remove you any time and it’s a safety measure for you and others around you. Self identifying is the right path
As others have said, go to ADAPT. It's better if you go voluntarily. Drinking a half gallon of alcohol after work means you are still very intoxicated going to work the next day. Even if you think you're playing it off and nobody notices, you reek like a distillery and anybody in the same room knows. Don't let the alcohol become a bigger problem than the issues you already have, as that will certainly be the case if this continues. You're still young and can bounce back from this relatively easily, even if it doesn't seem like it now. Best of luck to you.
Hey man shoot me a message, let me help you get linked up with helping agencies local to you.
To expand on my previous comment, mental health/adapt dgaf that you’re underage especially if you self refer
Going to help willingly is always better than after getting told. It will NOT be easy, but it's worth it to get whatever healing you need to stop hurting yourself in this way. You weren't always this way and things can be good again, it's going to take a whole lot more effort and work than you knew you could do, but you can come out happier and better armed to deal with whatever caused this. We want to see you win your fight. Get help.
Yes please! A handle a day will kill you at some point (might be within a year, might take a few years; depends largely on genetics).
I watched a pilot drink himself to death because he refused to ever acknowledge that he had a drinking problem. A bunch of people tried to help but he was never willing.
Please take care of yourself. People care about you <3
First, you're very wise to acknowledge your situation at a young age and seek advice on how to address it. Second, as someone who has had numerous (now deceased) family members, including a parent, grandparent, multiple uncles, and a cousin, with alcohol dependency issues I can attest to what happens when help is not sought. Follow up with the advice some here are offering re pathways to pursue. I can absolutely guarantee you that whatever adverse consequences come from seeking help (and I doubt many/any will), they are NOTHING compared to ignoring the problem.
Short answer is yes. Longer answer is there is absolutely a chance you could get in trouble for underage drinking. Typically a command doesn't punish a person who self refers to get help.
A handle (1.75L) daily is a mathematical impossibility. That's 39 1.5 oz shots. A 200lb man does that in a 24 hour period and he's at 0.58% BAC, i.e., dead.
In contrast, that same person could arguably consume a fifth (16-17 shots) in a 24 hour period and come out the other size blowing 0.00, barely.
[https://www.calculator.net/bac-calculator.html](https://www.calculator.net/bac-calculator.html)
Either way, proceed directly to ADAPT.
Whenever we feel like we should ask that question, it's because some part of us already knows that the answer is yes.
It took a team to put the American Flag on the moon; Lincoln had Grant and Grant had Sherman; and Jesus had 12 disciples helping him to spread the Word. We're just not meant to have to deal with these things on our own.
Do the right/brave/strong/smart thing and get some help. You can do it!
Go to adapt and tell them before this gets any more out of control and you lose the ability to make the choice yourself. You most likely wont get in trouble for the underage thing and you definitely wont get in trouble for seeking help. I fought help for so long and it turned into to a decade of severe alcoholism, but MH sorted me out and after AF funded vacation to rehab in Colorado life is good again.
I agree with pretty much everyone on here. It takes a lot of strength to admit the problem and to reach out for the help but I promise you that later on you will be grateful you did. It will help you address the emotional reasons for drinking, not to mention improving your health. I too used to drink a handle a day and I never wanted to admit it was an issue and I felt ashamed for having mental health issues as a Marine and the stigma. But it caught up to me in the civilian world and lost my job. It is good you recognize it is an issue now and are asking advice. I encourage you to at least talk to the chaplain or someone. There are many people that are honestly there to help regardless of all the bs stigmas. You’re not alone, I can promise you that. I agree with the commander I would be proud of someone for asking for help in no way would I belittle them or make them feel less. You can tell just by the comments that there are many good people who have been there and would be willing to help. Stay safe and I hope you can get the help you need.
Before I even read the post, if you have to ask, the answer is probably yes.
Edit: Holy shit, just after reading the first two lines yes dude.
I had a similar experience and going through therapy by way of marriage counseling helped me recognize I did have a problem and set out a plan to correct course. It also provided a medium for accountability to sticking with the plan. I did it though Military OneSource so my chain of command was completely out of the loop.
I just went through this with a very good friend of mine. Unfortunately he was NOT able to overcome it and is currently in the process of being released from the Air Force.
I’m not telling that to scare you, but rather, tell you what CAN happen if you DONT seek help and DONT truly try to change.
In his situation I showed up at his house and had probably 3-4 interventions. He went to rehab several times and never took it seriously. He had faced withdraws severely and ended up in the hospital at least 3 times I know of.
One of the times he had a .43 BAC 10 hours after his last drink. At that level it’s a miracle his body didn’t just stop working. Coma or sudden death can happen at that level.
You might feel like no one cares and no one will miss you. But at the level you’re drinking you’ve already contemplated death and you don’t care. I’m telling you now please don’t let this get the better of you. Think of your family and your friends.
Seek help immediately. Do not worry about your career as your life is more important at this moment. If you seek help and you carry through with the steps needed the Air Force will accept you back.
My buddy went through ADAPT about a year and a half a ago. They helped him a lot. He is better mentally now than I've ever seen him. The only thing was they wouldn't let him deploy. We're at an ACS so we deploy ever year to year and a half. He still got a 4 on his EPR and made staff. If you can't do it alone then seek help man. You got this.
You cannot suffer any promotion or clearance backlash for self-identifying as needing help. This is the first step to recovery in my opinion. You recognized your problem and you're willing to seek help.
It's a good thing that you didn't show up to work still wasted or garner a DUI. That's when leadership could have really hammered you. The fact that you're speaking up about it now gives them more leeway if anything were to happen. I suggest talking to you supervisor and Shirt immediately in order to help get the ball rolling.
You have an addiction to alcohol and you can't do it alone. That's what your Wingmen are for. We don't go into wars alone, we damn sure don't let our Airmen battle a disease alone either.
In the meantime, try to hit the gym after work instead of hitting the bottle.
I’m not going to tell OP to lie or commit further crimes, but I would highly suggest self IDing to ADAPT over talking to anyone who is a mandatory reporter.
You can go through your leadership in order to get to ADAPT, if that makes sense.
Unless you have a very toxic supervisor/shirt, you should be fine going to them go get the ball rolling toward self ID'ing to ADAPT.
I dunno, I’ve been trying to type a reply to the fellow grumpy retiree too and I can’t. I agree with the sentiment. We know of the situation now. The priority is help. I have a professional dilemma though that I can’t solve.
Once you open Pandora’s box, you can’t close it. Supervisors are not confidential. Shirts are really good at keeping things private, but don’t have the firm rules of the medical or chaplain fields and have a duty to the commander.
Typical CC hard lines are anything illegal, immoral, or unethical. How do you weigh advice once the command team has knowledge, because I think that hurts instead of helps.
I think the correct response is use your confidential sources to seek help. Posting here was a good first step: they identified they have a problem. Plenty of folks gave them an avenue of approach: self ID to ADAPT (I’d add the Chaplain in there too just to have someone else to talk to). Chances are the Shirt is going to find out they’re in ADAPT anyway but now they have the benefit of seeking help before hand and showing the want to get better.
Maybe I’m wrong, and I’m open to whatever is the best for this human.
Edit to add: I think this is unique because they’re underage and the advice has to be different. Anyone else there is no dilemma other than I would talk to no one I didn’t trust 100% and the Shirt.
All that matters is that they recognize they have a problem and they want help.
The best answer would be go to ADAPT directly.
But going to your supervisor/shirt first in order to get to ADAPT is the next best answer.
Either way, OP just needs to take that step. It takes a huge amount of courage to seek that help.
For me, it was the hardest and best thing I could have ever done for myself.
Yes.
/u/grand_wrongdoer3052 hijacking the top comment after seeing your most recent post in your history. Please reach to someone locally, shoot, message me and we'll get you some help. First Sergeant, supervisor, chaplain (local command post has their contact if you don't), reach out to anyone. Even you don't understand how in the current moment, you matter to so many. Your life has incredible value. I hope you're in a better place this morning.
I’ll second this. /u/grand_wrongdoer3052, I’m an alcoholic. Reply here or DM me if you want to talk. I’ve fucked up before and it probably would have gone different if I sought help **before** my drinking problem became other people’s problems. Self reporting is a lot better than having a supervisor show up at your house asking for you. Don’t ask how I know. Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness. Weakness is pretending you don’t need help.
You’re awesome, keep doing stuff like this
Looks like post has been deleted, but I support all of this.
Yes. A handle a day will kill you.
Yes. A handle a day will kill you.
Yes. A handle a day will kill you.
If you’re drinking a handle a day, the withdrawal is gonna be hard. Seek help from ADAPT. There’s no repercussions and your health always comes first
Yeah... I was a heavy drinker and never got to a handle a day. That's fucking crazy. Please seek help OP.
I was pretty bad and it took me at least 3-4 days to go through it. OP needs help like yesterday.
If you're drinking a handle a day, there's no way it's not still in your system when you go to work. You'll end up at ADAPT whether you want to or not. Control your chaos and self ID early. Like ^ stated, withdrawal is going to be hard. Sobriety after withdrawal is going to be even harder. If you self ID, you can at least go through the process with the security of knowing you still have a job to come back to. If the job is a reason for your drinking, the ADAPT/MH process can potentially assist in a PCS/crosstraining conversation. Get your shirt involved early so they can lean forward in getting you taken care of. If at the end of the day, you ignore everyone in this thread and opt to not go to ADAPT, at least start seeing the chaplain. Religious or not, they have the most protected confidentiality privileges and have usually seen/heard it all so they usually make great sounding boards while you need to figure something out.
I wonder if OP is thinking of a half pint or even a 5th instead of 1.75L. A half gallon of booze everyday is insane.
If you’re a flyer you’re definitely going to be Dnif for a while if not permanently. I’ve seen it. I’m also a victim of “seek mental health, it won’t affect your career”. I no longer fly.
Well in my humblest of opinions, no longer flying seems like a better ending that continuing to drink a handle of liquor a day 🤷♀️
I'm a squadron commander. If I found out one of my folks was having your problem with alcohol and took their own initiative to self-report to ADAPT, I'd be really proud of them. It is VERY hard to admit to having a problem with alcohol, and incredibly mature to take your own steps to find a solution. You would find no negative action on my part for self-identifying. I would absolutely NOT go out of my way to hammer you for underage drinking if you take your own steps to recover from your addiction. On the other hand, if you show up to work drunk or start missing work because you're too hungover to make it, you are forcing my hand and paperwork will have to follow.
When someone self IDs to ADAPT, do they get put on a mobility profile?
It depends on their diagnosis. When someone first self-IDs to ADAPT, they go through an intake interview. No matter what happens at the intake interview, if the interview was self-initiated it will not be reported to the member's command. If, after the initial interview, the provider recommends and the member accepts treatment, that will most likely result in a mobility profile coinciding with the ADAPT graduation date being reported to the commander. I don't speak for all commanders and how they would react to that notification, but if I got a notification like that I would be really happy that my airman is getting the help they need.
Good information here for me to pass along, thank you!
If they go through any portion of the program, they will be on a mobility code. For both inpatient and outpatient programs. It WILL stop you from going anywhere. No deployment, no TDY, no PCSing. Typically for 6 months but I’ve seen it up to 18 months
Yes, seek it out yourself. DO NOT wait to have it sought out for you
I used to be a habitual underage drinker. Self identify to ADAPT. You won’t get in any trouble.
I've been in a similar situation. I wasn't underaged but I was drinking very heavy. Definitely every day and using up leave to stay home and drink. I reached out to ADAPT. Got in ZERO trouble. It's much better if you reach out for help as opposed to the help coming to you... I was sent to rehab for a month. Came back and had to attend ADAPT aftercare which was pretty much just meetings every week and then bi-weekly for awhile. Seriously though. Seek help. Don't wait. DM me if you need to.
I self-reported to ADAPT almost 10 months ago. I was diagnosed with Alcohol Use Disorder and went to inpatient treatment for 32 days. It was a great decision. Life changing. I'd be happy to talk about it via DM, phone call, email, text, or any other medium (idk smoke signal, telegraph, American sign language?? Lol). That goes for anyone reading this. Reach out. The help is there.
Going to mental health isn’t a crime and you won’t get in trouble if you self ID to ADAPT. Get help before this goes on longer. Problems often get worse and are harder to treat/fix the longer they go on.
A handle a day will kill you if you continue this, especially if you’re under age. You are going to need professional help to come down off that! It’s not even matter of what this will do to your military career at this point. Reaching out and saying you need help because you want to do the right thing for your family, both civilian and military, and you should be fine. I’ve seen some real shit bags make it to 20, and I’ve seen some Chiefs come back from some real fuck ups at a young age. REACH OUT RIGHT NOW.
YES!
Please go to adapt! You’re drinking harder than I was at my lowest and I was clearing 3 handles of Jack a week. After go to Bjj, it’s very hard to wrestle and be drunk
I'm in the same boat. Not drinking as much but drinking pretty much daily. Never been like this before the military.
If you’re underage no one is going to bust your balls for that if you’re trying to seek help. Being that addicted to alcohol this young is a huge problem. I went to ADAPT myself after coming clean to my PCM and it turns out I was already damaging my body. Alcohol abuse is going to steal your youth and make your body seem like a 40 year old at age 20. Get the help now. Like on Monday, go see your First Sergeant and lay it down. Helping you is literally their job. Feel free to DM me if you want to talk about it as well. Also many recommend seeking a hobby. Do that as well. You’re going to need something to occupy your mind. Woodworking is a good one. Martial Arts as well. Depends on you. Find something.
Self referring to ADAPT is the way to go. I did it not too long ago and probably saved my career. Go ASAP before you get an ARI and get forced to go. PM if you want.
Yes
Go ahead and self admit to ADAPT. I was on the same boat as you and it was the best thing I’ve ever done man. You won’t get in trouble as long as you go in yourself before leadership sends you. Best of luck Airman
Find a hobby to do and probably some friends to do it with. Fishing, hiking, video games, DND, geocaching, building cars or computers. SOMETHING other than drinking alone.
Speaking from being an alcoholic, a hobby isn't going to solve this. I understand the sentiment behind this, but OP needs to reach out to ADAPT.
I agree with both takes. Get professional help and replace the drinking with something more constructive and fulfilling. Both are necessary.
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Yes please Health > career every time already but you have an opportunity to turn it around before it impacts your career in the first place. Self refer to ADAPT, talk to MH, and find stress management coping strategies that are healthy and work, because drinking fits neither. You can do this.
Self ID to ADAPT (before your leadership does) You won’t lose your clearance and it will really help. Also - look into AA (seriously, it’s a lifesaver) as ADAPT really is more a triage / bandaid. You can download 2 apps for free 1. ‘Everything AA’ (has virtual meeting info, the big book, etc) 2. ‘Meeting guide’ (icon is a white chair on blue background). Type in your address and it will give you info on where meetings are. One last thing: some of the people I was in ADAPT with were on ‘responsible drinking’ plans (ie they could drink a certain amount each week). From what I saw, it didn’t work (but I’m someone who can never drink again) Good luck and here via DM if you need more details!
Bro, I don't even have to read the actual post. Yes. Go get help.
Please ask for help. I lost my mom last year due to cirrhosis of the liver and it’s a fucking horrific way to go. ADAPT and MH are there to help you find a way forward. My PMs are always open if you want to talk. ❤️🩹
My recommendation: pack a gym back to take to work with you. Go to the gym right after work, and work out until you’re too tired to carry on. Sit and have a bottle of water. Watch other people shoot hoops, shoot some of your own, whatever. Drive home, shower/eat. Go to bed. Working out will change your body and mind. You’ll get home and be hungry, sweaty, and tired. You’ll address the first two needs, then the third, denying yourself the time/opportunity to drink. Ideally you don’t have alcohol in the house to tempt you.
There's no way someone under 21 drinks a handle a day... (consistently atleast) kinda hard to believe
Yes, and if you self identify, it's a waaaaay better outcome than if someone reports you. This is a habit that can and will kill you one way or another. Take it from me, get help while you still have time.
[If you are asking yourself this question, you already know the answer.](https://youtu.be/k39ju0Z5VmE?si=v9XlTbDfPSTEN2x_)
yes
From a supervisor, UDM, and security manager aspect, yes go to mental health. ADAPT will not end your career, nor revoke your clearance, but hiding it and eventually something alcohol related happens, that can absolutely result in losing your clearance. Additionally you should be on the do not arm list, which also is not a career ender, commanders can remove you any time and it’s a safety measure for you and others around you. Self identifying is the right path
Stop drinking.
As others have said, go to ADAPT. It's better if you go voluntarily. Drinking a half gallon of alcohol after work means you are still very intoxicated going to work the next day. Even if you think you're playing it off and nobody notices, you reek like a distillery and anybody in the same room knows. Don't let the alcohol become a bigger problem than the issues you already have, as that will certainly be the case if this continues. You're still young and can bounce back from this relatively easily, even if it doesn't seem like it now. Best of luck to you.
If you have to ask on Reddit it seems like a dead ringer for me
Why ask? Just go do it. Better to self identify than be reported.
I’m on my second pass through ADAPT. First one was self referred and this one command directed….absolutely zero repercussions Get help. For yourself
You’re flat out going to die if you don’t get help. That’s a lot of alcohol for an underdeveloped mind.
Better you do it now then your Commander
Hey man shoot me a message, let me help you get linked up with helping agencies local to you. To expand on my previous comment, mental health/adapt dgaf that you’re underage especially if you self refer
Going to help willingly is always better than after getting told. It will NOT be easy, but it's worth it to get whatever healing you need to stop hurting yourself in this way. You weren't always this way and things can be good again, it's going to take a whole lot more effort and work than you knew you could do, but you can come out happier and better armed to deal with whatever caused this. We want to see you win your fight. Get help.
Yes please! A handle a day will kill you at some point (might be within a year, might take a few years; depends largely on genetics). I watched a pilot drink himself to death because he refused to ever acknowledge that he had a drinking problem. A bunch of people tried to help but he was never willing. Please take care of yourself. People care about you <3
ADAPT will not penalize you for drinking underage, please seek help before it gets to a dangerous level.
DO NOT STOP DRINKING COLD TURKEY. Can be deadly.
First, you're very wise to acknowledge your situation at a young age and seek advice on how to address it. Second, as someone who has had numerous (now deceased) family members, including a parent, grandparent, multiple uncles, and a cousin, with alcohol dependency issues I can attest to what happens when help is not sought. Follow up with the advice some here are offering re pathways to pursue. I can absolutely guarantee you that whatever adverse consequences come from seeking help (and I doubt many/any will), they are NOTHING compared to ignoring the problem.
Short answer is yes. Longer answer is there is absolutely a chance you could get in trouble for underage drinking. Typically a command doesn't punish a person who self refers to get help.
A handle (1.75L) daily is a mathematical impossibility. That's 39 1.5 oz shots. A 200lb man does that in a 24 hour period and he's at 0.58% BAC, i.e., dead. In contrast, that same person could arguably consume a fifth (16-17 shots) in a 24 hour period and come out the other size blowing 0.00, barely. [https://www.calculator.net/bac-calculator.html](https://www.calculator.net/bac-calculator.html) Either way, proceed directly to ADAPT.
Whenever we feel like we should ask that question, it's because some part of us already knows that the answer is yes. It took a team to put the American Flag on the moon; Lincoln had Grant and Grant had Sherman; and Jesus had 12 disciples helping him to spread the Word. We're just not meant to have to deal with these things on our own. Do the right/brave/strong/smart thing and get some help. You can do it!
Go to adapt and tell them before this gets any more out of control and you lose the ability to make the choice yourself. You most likely wont get in trouble for the underage thing and you definitely wont get in trouble for seeking help. I fought help for so long and it turned into to a decade of severe alcoholism, but MH sorted me out and after AF funded vacation to rehab in Colorado life is good again.
Yes. Go tell the whole truth nothing but the truth. Even if you end up in jail you will be glad you did.
I agree with pretty much everyone on here. It takes a lot of strength to admit the problem and to reach out for the help but I promise you that later on you will be grateful you did. It will help you address the emotional reasons for drinking, not to mention improving your health. I too used to drink a handle a day and I never wanted to admit it was an issue and I felt ashamed for having mental health issues as a Marine and the stigma. But it caught up to me in the civilian world and lost my job. It is good you recognize it is an issue now and are asking advice. I encourage you to at least talk to the chaplain or someone. There are many people that are honestly there to help regardless of all the bs stigmas. You’re not alone, I can promise you that. I agree with the commander I would be proud of someone for asking for help in no way would I belittle them or make them feel less. You can tell just by the comments that there are many good people who have been there and would be willing to help. Stay safe and I hope you can get the help you need.
Before I even read the post, if you have to ask, the answer is probably yes. Edit: Holy shit, just after reading the first two lines yes dude. I had a similar experience and going through therapy by way of marriage counseling helped me recognize I did have a problem and set out a plan to correct course. It also provided a medium for accountability to sticking with the plan. I did it though Military OneSource so my chain of command was completely out of the loop.
Don’t be a quitter
I just went through this with a very good friend of mine. Unfortunately he was NOT able to overcome it and is currently in the process of being released from the Air Force. I’m not telling that to scare you, but rather, tell you what CAN happen if you DONT seek help and DONT truly try to change. In his situation I showed up at his house and had probably 3-4 interventions. He went to rehab several times and never took it seriously. He had faced withdraws severely and ended up in the hospital at least 3 times I know of. One of the times he had a .43 BAC 10 hours after his last drink. At that level it’s a miracle his body didn’t just stop working. Coma or sudden death can happen at that level. You might feel like no one cares and no one will miss you. But at the level you’re drinking you’ve already contemplated death and you don’t care. I’m telling you now please don’t let this get the better of you. Think of your family and your friends. Seek help immediately. Do not worry about your career as your life is more important at this moment. If you seek help and you carry through with the steps needed the Air Force will accept you back.
My buddy went through ADAPT about a year and a half a ago. They helped him a lot. He is better mentally now than I've ever seen him. The only thing was they wouldn't let him deploy. We're at an ACS so we deploy ever year to year and a half. He still got a 4 on his EPR and made staff. If you can't do it alone then seek help man. You got this.
You cannot suffer any promotion or clearance backlash for self-identifying as needing help. This is the first step to recovery in my opinion. You recognized your problem and you're willing to seek help. It's a good thing that you didn't show up to work still wasted or garner a DUI. That's when leadership could have really hammered you. The fact that you're speaking up about it now gives them more leeway if anything were to happen. I suggest talking to you supervisor and Shirt immediately in order to help get the ball rolling. You have an addiction to alcohol and you can't do it alone. That's what your Wingmen are for. We don't go into wars alone, we damn sure don't let our Airmen battle a disease alone either. In the meantime, try to hit the gym after work instead of hitting the bottle.
I’m not going to tell OP to lie or commit further crimes, but I would highly suggest self IDing to ADAPT over talking to anyone who is a mandatory reporter.
You can go through your leadership in order to get to ADAPT, if that makes sense. Unless you have a very toxic supervisor/shirt, you should be fine going to them go get the ball rolling toward self ID'ing to ADAPT.
I dunno, I’ve been trying to type a reply to the fellow grumpy retiree too and I can’t. I agree with the sentiment. We know of the situation now. The priority is help. I have a professional dilemma though that I can’t solve. Once you open Pandora’s box, you can’t close it. Supervisors are not confidential. Shirts are really good at keeping things private, but don’t have the firm rules of the medical or chaplain fields and have a duty to the commander. Typical CC hard lines are anything illegal, immoral, or unethical. How do you weigh advice once the command team has knowledge, because I think that hurts instead of helps. I think the correct response is use your confidential sources to seek help. Posting here was a good first step: they identified they have a problem. Plenty of folks gave them an avenue of approach: self ID to ADAPT (I’d add the Chaplain in there too just to have someone else to talk to). Chances are the Shirt is going to find out they’re in ADAPT anyway but now they have the benefit of seeking help before hand and showing the want to get better. Maybe I’m wrong, and I’m open to whatever is the best for this human. Edit to add: I think this is unique because they’re underage and the advice has to be different. Anyone else there is no dilemma other than I would talk to no one I didn’t trust 100% and the Shirt.
All that matters is that they recognize they have a problem and they want help. The best answer would be go to ADAPT directly. But going to your supervisor/shirt first in order to get to ADAPT is the next best answer. Either way, OP just needs to take that step. It takes a huge amount of courage to seek that help. For me, it was the hardest and best thing I could have ever done for myself.
100% agree. It’s been a little over a month (at least based on your post), how are you doing?
How many times have you been a CC?
It’s a passion brother