Originally Posted by kanamit

One thing I'd quite like to briefly discuss is willpower/white knuckling/debating with the Beast.

I have to admit I have been caught out several times here and would like to know what the best thing to do is when you make the mistake of entering into a debate with your Beast. I think this is one of the hardest points when you are new to AVRT.

What typically happens is most of the time when the idea of drinking presents itself you objectify it and move on. I very much liked one person's standard reply who posted here when they said their response to the Beast is always "Not an option." I like this as it epitomises the no-nonsense approach AVRT has to addiction.

Sometimes though (at least in my case) I let my defence down slightly and enter into a should I/shouldn't I debate. Each time I end up having to use some sort of willpower because once the debate starts I cannot get out of it. Has anyone got any tips?

I can only describe the feeling as being similar to a flood or vertigo as described in RR. However, simply saying, "that was vertigo" or reenforcing my Big Plan just doesn't cut it. The reason being the Beast has successfully injected a significant amount of self-doubt which undermines all the great techniques in the RR book.

I know in an ideal world you do not let it get to the stage but I think when you're relatively new to this like I am, this is bound to happen.

Thanks again to everyone who has contributed to these threads. They serve as a superb supplement to the book.