Editor’s Note: We take unhealthy alcohol drinking seriously. We do not endorse the mixing of ANY firearms and alcohol as one drink can impair your brain. We do not endorse the abuse of prescription medication.  This article is just one writer’s perspective. We’d like to know your thoughts. Sound off in the comments section.

When I get too stressed out at home, I often find myself turning to alcohol to take the edge off my stress. For the most part, two or three 12 oz beers will put me in a nice calm state. I find myself being very forgiving of the shenanigans that go on at my house.

My wife is obsessed with dogs and has taken it upon herself to foster dogs for a local rescue. I find that I typically get pulled into a role or two when we foster these rescued dogs. Usually I take on the role of babysitter and trainer. I typically will try to teach the dogs their names and teach them that it is good to stay with their human. Sometimes we get aggressive dogs that need isolation and when my wife travels for work, I need to juggle dogs around and make sure they all get plenty of attention and get to do their business in the yard. This may not sound like that big of a deal, but when you own 5 dogs, and are fostering two dogs that cannot be together, the work can stack up fast. Needless to say, there is never a dull moment in my household and it is always eventful.

I am obsessed with having total control and perfection in my household. I demand peace and quiet while I am filming or writing, but rarely does that happen, so I have to spend time wearing out these dogs in order to get them tired so they will go to sleep. Sometimes, all it takes is kenneling the untrustworthy ones with a delicious bone for them to work on. That little trick seems to work most of the time for me.

At the end of the day, the stress usually compounds and I find my medical problems punishing me for reacting to the events of the day. For a while, I used to just blow up and isolate myself from my family and animals, but that does not do the mind good over time. I found myself regularly blowing off my family and those I love in order to just spare myself of a few minor inconveniences. For this reason I have turned to alcohol to help me relax at the end of the day.

I myself tend to be a calm person with alcohol in my system. My focus becomes a little better and I can process information very well and keep my composure. But I hate being too inhibited by alcohol. I find that two or three beers will put me in a nice calm state and I can relax from the day.

This may sound like alcohol dependency, but in reality, a little buzz every other day is not a big deal to me. In reality, I feel that this is the healthiest option for me given that the alternative is a prescription from the VA that will turn me into a non-functioning zombie. Me having two or three beers to take the edge off is a much better option in my opinion. I am fully functional still and I still retain full cognition. For this reason, I intend to use this method of relaxation for the time being until I find a better way to relax in my active household.

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