I had an interesting experience of another type of ‘craving’. I devolved into an all day, daily, drinker, with a physical dependance and consequent risk of withdrawal complications. Whilst attempting damage risk limitation, I was following a taper schedule. I’d tried and failed to taper for years, but I refused to seek medical assistance, because I didn’t want an addiction entry in my records.
I used beer, I would wait until my hands began to shake due to withdrawal and only then, drink a can. It was summer and I sat outside, in my usual drinking seat, stream tinkling, birds singing, all learned connections to drink, while I read the Rational Recovery Book, with the beer can chilling in the water, ready for my next ‘withdrawal dose’.
My hands began to shake increasingly, so I opened the can and decided to delay drinking it awhile. Unexpectedly, my hands stopped shaking before I’d even sipped the beer!
My withdrawal symptom subsided at the mere anticipation of alcohol. The brain is so powerful. This is why I appreciate Steven’s Freedom Model, because it educates and empowers the mind, in such a way that the brain can be harnessed and directed in a beneficial way: instead of fearing, fighting and subduing the brain.