Old 08-07-2011, 11:47 AM
  # 3 (permalink)  
Boleo
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Detroit, MI
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Originally Posted by danielleinto View Post
My husband is an alcoholic and I'm done and done but I really need to know why it's so hard to quit - is this different from other addictions? I've gone through withdrawal from quitting ativan after 20 years of use. If I'd done it in hospital they would have had me in restraints. It was hell but after a couple of months off I'm doing well.
I have quit several addictions in my lifetime - Nicotine, marijuana, cocaine, et cetera. They were like you said "... after a couple of months off I'm doing well".

When I quit drinking, I expected the urge to drink to go away after a couple of months. However, in my case (being alcoholic), I found I missed it more as time went on. I was getting crazier and crazier each week. There was no relief in sight.

What I eventually did get was a "Spiritual Experience" that liberated me from my obsession in one enlightening moment. It was not however, the result of time spent not-drinking, but rather the result of living a whole new lifestyle. It was not just a matter of changing my thinking. I had to change the way I acted 24x7 before my thinking changed automatically.

If none of this makes sense to you, that is just the ISM part of alcohol-ISM. It defies logic and reason. Maybe that is why using logic and reason to beat it seldom works.
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