Incorparating something else into my everyday life.
In the past, when I have stopped drinking, I begin to have obsessive thoughts. Be they about the past, and guilt, or hypocondria and what I have done to my body or just things like worrying obsessively about things that may never happen down to little things like is the mat straight and in line with the sofa, are all the pictures on the walls hanging strainght and at the right height and angle to all the other pictures.
Even going to online forums used to drive me mad, if I thought someone was wrong about something, I would be like a dog with a bone.
Somehow, in my mind I equated obsessive worrying about things with protection from them. If I worried enough, they wouldn't happen.
They always, ALWAYS led back to drinking. Because the thoughts made me want to escape my own thoughts. I just couldn't live in my head with all the noise..noise, that was another obsession.
In the past I found the Smart Recovery technique of "play the tape" useful in stopping me having that first drink sometimes. I found Trimpeys AVRT..recognizing the addictive voice, useful.
But really these were last line defences. I didn't do anything to stop these thoughts building up to such a noise that I wanted to escape them.
This time I have been using the "stop thought" Smart technique for the last week or so.
Not using it, to stop the thoughts of drinking, because I haven't had any serious thoughts of drinking. And I believe I haven't had any serious thoughts of it, because Ive been using the "stop thought" on any thought I knew was going to lead to becoming an obsession.
Like I have to go for a Cal ct heart scan. I dread to think of the state of my arteries. But I won't allow myself to dwell on it. I stop the thought in its tracks.
Like upstairs neighbours, have been putting rubbish (mostly their empty beer cans) in my wheelie bin and filling it up. But I don't dwell on it, I go and take the bags of cans out and sling them beside their bin, without mulling on it.
I'm teaching myself instead of obssessing, to do what I can about a situation, then leave it, stop thinking about it.
It was as hard at first as not eating proccessed foods and fat and sugar.
But this past couple of days, Ive been finding it a little easier, to stop a nasty thought in its tracks, and distract myself with something else. As a result, this time around, staying off the booze hasn't been so hard, as my head isn't filled up with noise, and a much easier place just to "be" in