From beer to wine?

I have a friend who used to drink heavily. He has so many scars out of fighting since he used to be violent when he used to drink heavily. I came to realize one thing, he stopped drinking beer and nowadays he takes wine. It is advisable to addicts that one can leave taking vodka or gin and start drinking wine. One can take a lot of wine to point of feeling drunk, can it take away the crave for vodka, as away through recovery. Is one completely supposed to forget about being drunk?

It is still alcoholic, so your friend needs to realize that there is still alcohol involved with wine. I would say that he needs to slowly lower his wine intake as well in order to completely out the issue of being violent.

I don't think that drinking wine is a solution at all. Wine is still alcohol and can still have the same effect that vodka had on him therefore getting him in violent and sticky situations as before.

My suggestion would be for him to slow down on the wine and if possible just quit drinking it as it is still as much a stimulant as vodka or gin.

Wine is usually twice as strong as beer anyhow so it's really not a good substitute. Of course drinking alcohol will take the cravings away but that's just a slippery slope to alcoholism, that's if he's not there already. How much wine does your friend drink?

I think that if a person is an alcoholic they need to stay away from all alcohol. Wine actually has a higher alcohol content than beer, even though it has less than hard alcohol, it is all dangerous for an alcoholic. I don't believe an addict has a good concept of moderation when it comes to their drug of choice.

As already mentioned by other posters, substituting one type of alcohol with another doesn't solve any problems. It's just a shift of attention. If your friend tells himself that he will be less aggressive while he is drinking wine, then his autosuggestion will probably work. But in essence alcohol is alcohol. Perhaps it might be a good idea for your friend to seek a group where he can talk freely about his alcohol abuse and frustrations that lead him to become violent at times.

I think your friend is just trying to lessen the effects of hard liquor in his drink, but it won't really solve his alcohol dependency. I think what he needs is to stop drinking any alcohol at all. He should be disciplined enough for his own good to resist taking a drink when he clearly knows that he is prone to be violent after drinking.

I don't think wine is a good substitute to beer. However, it's been proven that it's much healthier. But I don't think it would help him recover since it's still an alcoholic beverage.

It's still alcohol. All of this propaganda about how it is so good for you. I don't buy it. They are talking about ONE glass once and awhile. Not a whole bottle or a half a bottle at a time. There are other things to drink that are way better for you. Everyone seeks the altered state.
People learn what they can and shouldn't drink. They get different personalities sometimes with different forms of alcohol. Whiskey or tequila might make a guy confrontational causing him to get into fights. Where wine or whatever might make him more mellow and loving. This is very true. I've heard people say oh I can't have that I get crazy on that.

Most wines actually have more alcohol than beer. It depends on how much he is drinking. I wouldn't see it as necessarily a better thing, although most wine has fewer carbs than beer so he may be ahead of the game in that respect. I would encourage him to seek treatment.

No matter what, you have to understand that it is still alcohol. Some wines actually contain more alcohol than beer.

Yes, I agree with the posters above. It is still alcohol, and if you drink enough of it, you will still get drunk out of your mind, jut like if it was beer, whiskey or any other drink. People think it's something different only because it takes longer to get there.

My opinion differs then that of professionals on this matter. In my case, at this time, substitution is not a reasonable solution. At least, substituting another alcohol isn't reasonable. There have been cases I have personally witnessed a person reform the way they drink without quieting. These numbers are insanely low and not worth gambling with.

In my case, I am completely clean of alcohol but... ok, I'll just come right out and say it. I smoke weed. THIS is in NO way advocating for its use. To understand that, I should say I never smoked weed until I was 40. (about 9 months ago).

In my case I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression (of course), They put me on pills for a year to help with that. It didn't help at all, after about 5 rounds of pills, I was ready to throw in the towel. I would be drinking today had it not been for an effective alternative.

I suppose this is the sort of thing that drives counselors nuts because, in rare cases people find a way without complete abstinence.
I am sure that at some point I will have to address the weed, but not right now, for now it's keeping me from being dead in a ditch someplace.

P.S. I live in Washington State, that's why weed is an option for me.

Exactly. I think so many people tend to neglect the thought that wine is still an alcoholic beverage that has the same effects as beer and other liquor.

Switching from one alcohol to another does nothing to solve the problem. All alcohol has the same effect in that it gets you drunk. In order to deal with the problem the addict has to give it up and stay away from it. As long and he/she is drinking then they are not dealing with their problem. They are still addicted and still need that fix no matter what it is they choose to drink.

I think when changing from one substance to another it can be a change and also the body may find it hard to adjust, so need to be careful not to mix the two or it can lead to hospital visits and pain in the body. I reckon it needs to be taken with caution as I know someone who used to drink 3 litres wine a day, and had to go to the rest home and also it is strange that he did not understand his health problem. It is something that a person needs think about when switching drinks as the mind can get affected and also the person needs to be around people who are positive and will not, pressure the person into drinking.

Wine or beer your friend is still an alcoholic. He might have opted for wine instead of alcohol regarding it as a lesser evil. At the end of the day he will still need to rethink his stand on taking that as well.

When I was just starting out drinking, I found lagers to be too bitter for my liking. I opted to take wine. While it was also cheap and bitter, I got drunk pretty fast and that meant no prolonged bitterness.

Wine is actually more alcoholic than beer. The only solution is to take whatever beverage in moderation. Beer is still a good thing unless it leads you to such activities as fighting. Yet, it is not the beer leading your but your own avoidable weakness. I have found that while I can do stupid stuff when drunk, I really have control over what I say or do. I must confess, however, that I have done some pretty stupid stuff while drunk, especially when I was just starting.

While wine us seen as being more classy and sophisticated as compared to other drinks, the fact is that its still alcohol. And its still going to have the same effect on you as beer or anything else. If you drink enough of it, you will get drunk, I assure you. I wouldnt advise your friend to drink wine.

Replacing one form of alcohol with another doesn't solve the problem in the least bit, though. In fact, it could make things worse, depending upon how much your friend drinks. I think it's time to help him realize that fact. Swapping alcohol sources changes nothing, and wine might take away the craving for specific alcohols, but it doesn't lessen the craving for alcohol in general.