Originally Posted by endlesspatience

Dear Feeling Great

Thanks for that thoughtful response. Just to clarify, I have drunk about four or five times in the past year, not in the past month. But you're right - the smoking issue has become an excuse to get drunk and getting drunk has become an excuse to smoke.

It's also sound advice that the money spent on professsional help is small in comparison to picking up the addicitons again. I actually do have an addiction counsellor and he's been incredibly helpful but he smokes and this makes me feel he hasn't really broken a major addiction in his own life.

I don't think a docor is the best place to start with this but I think I can probably seek some other professional. I have a feeling people can do courses to overcome obsessions and phobias, and this might be what's needed here.

Highwind, you're right. Scolding smokers gets me nowhere. They are addicts and don't care what a non addict says to them.