Every time I have a craving since I quit (over a year ago) I remind myself that it's
because I'm an alcoholic. Not because of stress or anything else. I'm an alcoholic and so my default behavior is to drink. But by consciously choosing different responses every time I had a craving I have sort of 'retrained' my mind so that my default instinct is different now. It really worked v. well.
Example: I am anxious (my trigger) and I want to drink. I want to drink because I'm an alcoholic. Normal people call a friend. I'm going to call someone and suggest we get coffee tonight when the kids are in bed.
Really simple (not easy...simple
). I can't remember the last time I had a craving. Although I am still an alcoholic.
Welcome back!