How not to pick up that first drink?
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Reno,nv
Posts: 64
How not to pick up that first drink?
Hi all.
I just wanted to know how other people break the cycle?As all of you know by now it is a habit whether it be your normal time or what ever.I just wanted to see if anyone has advice on breaking the habit?
I just wanted to know how other people break the cycle?As all of you know by now it is a habit whether it be your normal time or what ever.I just wanted to see if anyone has advice on breaking the habit?
Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: New Hampshire, USA
Posts: 224
Nothing helps me more than going to meetings. I still don't understand why it works, but I never want to drink after a meeting. Fortunately, the effect seems to last for at least 24 hours, though I have had quite a few two-meeting-days lately. The other thing, I have read and been told, is to break other habits even peripherally related to drinking. Best of luck to you. It really does get easier as time goes one, even in a mere matter of days and weeks.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 33
put that word NO right between your ears!!!
when I reached for booze or was offered it, I told myself-NO, I don't drink, - internally I have a large NO actively trained to intervene in any attempt to accept alcohol as an option =)
when I reached for booze or was offered it, I told myself-NO, I don't drink, - internally I have a large NO actively trained to intervene in any attempt to accept alcohol as an option =)
Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 8,614
Fear for my health and the risks I took that endangered me (I'm a city bicyclist) helped me to try and try again to quit, now I am trying the AA route. I needed meds too- and finally have access to them. A few months ago I would never have put myself in a roomful of strangers. They made a difference. Underlying problems and all.
Heathen
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: La La Land, USA
Posts: 2,567
This is going to sound silly..but my therapist answered this question for me in early sobriety with "don't buy any alcohol..don't accept offered alcohol..don't go to bars or liquor stores, and pour it all out at home"
That's the easy part, but a pretty good way to start until you can throw yourself into a recovery program
That's the easy part, but a pretty good way to start until you can throw yourself into a recovery program
SR Fan
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 7,910
What helps me is thinking about the difference between my mornings after drinking and my mornings now. The difference is night and day (not to make a pun out of it). If I "forget" that I'm an alcoholic, I come to SR and read a lot of posts and find myself saying "Yep, that's me", "Oh yeah, that's me, too..." Thirdly, I think about how the world needs people like us to "spread the message" of sobriety and be examples to our children and other alcoholics who are struggling.
So far, it's worked!
So far, it's worked!
Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: St. Louis, MO
Posts: 65
Originally Posted by Norther 
Nothing helps me more than going to meetings. I still don't understand why it works, but I never want to drink after a meeting. Fortunately, the effect seems to last for at least 24 hours, though I have had quite a few two-meeting-days lately. The other thing, I have read and been told, is to break other habits even peripherally related to drinking. Best of luck to you. It really does get easier as time goes one, even in a mere matter of days and weeks.
Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Leaving Sparta
Posts: 2,912
My "routine" for years was to leave work and head straight to the bar.
I even had my own favorite spot at the bar and people would move when they saw me arrive.
I broke the cycle by heading straight for the AA meeting rooms after work, there was always a bunch of guys and gals there drinking coffee and playing cards or dominoes or checkers.
I stayed late hanging out with the oldtimers and talking with newcomers. Sometimes a small group of us would just stay there talking long after everyone else had left.
I did this for for about 15 mths.
After that I discovered a wonderful new invention called "cable tv"
.
Sobriety had rewarded me with a brand new 32" TV and cable television.
We all know that no addict in active addiction ain't got no tv and can't afford no cable so cable was a big deal for me back when i got sober and i stayed up in the wee hrs of the morning with the remote stuck to my right hand.
I started going to evening classes.I studied accounting and business management and production management and got pretty little certificates to hang on my wall.
I started going to the gym.
I developed an interest in the nature of addiction and recovery and psychology and world religions and read a lot on the subjects.
I got busy because i had found the answer to a great paradox in my life.
"The first drink was the one that did me in , everytime"
I even had my own favorite spot at the bar and people would move when they saw me arrive.
I broke the cycle by heading straight for the AA meeting rooms after work, there was always a bunch of guys and gals there drinking coffee and playing cards or dominoes or checkers.
I stayed late hanging out with the oldtimers and talking with newcomers. Sometimes a small group of us would just stay there talking long after everyone else had left.
I did this for for about 15 mths.
After that I discovered a wonderful new invention called "cable tv"
.Sobriety had rewarded me with a brand new 32" TV and cable television.
We all know that no addict in active addiction ain't got no tv and can't afford no cable so cable was a big deal for me back when i got sober and i stayed up in the wee hrs of the morning with the remote stuck to my right hand.
I started going to evening classes.I studied accounting and business management and production management and got pretty little certificates to hang on my wall.
I started going to the gym.
I developed an interest in the nature of addiction and recovery and psychology and world religions and read a lot on the subjects.
I got busy because i had found the answer to a great paradox in my life.
"The first drink was the one that did me in , everytime"
Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,237
Some great advice!!! I got a DUI in January (22) I had my last drink Jan.25...to me the risk of drinking out weighed anything else....any cravings I have I just think back to all the trouble it caused me, and how bad the hangovers were etc.... stops me in my tracks!!
I got a DUI in January (22) I had my last drink Jan.25...to me the risk of drinking out weighed anything else....any cravings I have I just think back to all the trouble it caused me, and how bad the hangovers were etc.... stops me in my tracks!!
Guest
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: uk
Posts: 464
Peter..like your account of staying sober,much of the ideals im trying now to do,ie better oneself,re,learn,use precious valuable time to make something of your life,and bring on a sense of acheivement and succes,that speaks volumes for a new productive life,that was only a pipedream,whilst pee,ing it up the wall,make it happen...the sucess of doing so, i think will never make you want to re,visit the gutter again..i myself am trying now to get a little buisness up and running,ive dabbled with things in the past, but whilst i was still hitting the bottle,a lot of half hearted efforts put in,and no consistency in progressing...
now im sober and determined to stay so,have been workin my butt off,and feeling a real sense of acheivement and moving slowly,but surely forward,and enjoying the new ride...i do factory work 5 days a week, and its not glamorous by any means,after work now am buzzin about collecting goods,for a little project,that i hope to make a livin from...am makin a seaweed fertilizer,from wash up seaweed,fermenting in barrels..adding scrap fish..and hoping to perfect a recipe to put on the market,as an all purpose garden fertilizer...so down the beach many nights pickin up the weed, and boy...sleepin like a baby..keepin on an enjoyin the sober ride of succes,...long may it run..
now im sober and determined to stay so,have been workin my butt off,and feeling a real sense of acheivement and moving slowly,but surely forward,and enjoying the new ride...i do factory work 5 days a week, and its not glamorous by any means,after work now am buzzin about collecting goods,for a little project,that i hope to make a livin from...am makin a seaweed fertilizer,from wash up seaweed,fermenting in barrels..adding scrap fish..and hoping to perfect a recipe to put on the market,as an all purpose garden fertilizer...so down the beach many nights pickin up the weed, and boy...sleepin like a baby..keepin on an enjoyin the sober ride of succes,...long may it run.. Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Toronto
Posts: 279
Hey Peter that was an awesome share
nvguy I know what you mean. There are many times when I drink out of habit because I just didn't know what else to do with my time. The hours pass too slowly and are too lonely if you don't drink and there's nothing to fill them up
nvguy I know what you mean. There are many times when I drink out of habit because I just didn't know what else to do with my time. The hours pass too slowly and are too lonely if you don't drink and there's nothing to fill them up
The New Me starting 1/11/09
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: California
Posts: 678
Hi NVGuy -
For me it was less breaking routine than breaking a thought process.
Since, as an alcoholic, my brain is basically broken, I can't trust my own thoughts. If left to my own thinking, I'll drink.
So, I prepared a list of things that I would say to myself when my brain started talking crap.
For instance, when my brain said "Oh, you probably over-reacted, you aren't really an alcoholic", I would have a pre-determined thing to say to myself "Remember that time you got pushed out of the moving car and rolled into the ditch drunk because you were about to throw up on their nice clean car?"
For me, I need to have things to say to myself that I have prepared far ahead of any possible relapse. Then, when I have a crappy day and my brain starts going haywire, it is like muscle memory and I shut it down before I even get close to taking that first drink.
I combine this with going to meetings, working with other alcoholics, and posting on SR. It is all about creating an insurance policy against future drinking.
For me it was less breaking routine than breaking a thought process.
Since, as an alcoholic, my brain is basically broken, I can't trust my own thoughts. If left to my own thinking, I'll drink.
So, I prepared a list of things that I would say to myself when my brain started talking crap.
For instance, when my brain said "Oh, you probably over-reacted, you aren't really an alcoholic", I would have a pre-determined thing to say to myself "Remember that time you got pushed out of the moving car and rolled into the ditch drunk because you were about to throw up on their nice clean car?"
For me, I need to have things to say to myself that I have prepared far ahead of any possible relapse. Then, when I have a crappy day and my brain starts going haywire, it is like muscle memory and I shut it down before I even get close to taking that first drink.
I combine this with going to meetings, working with other alcoholics, and posting on SR. It is all about creating an insurance policy against future drinking.
Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Oxnard (The Nard), CA, USA.
Posts: 13,947
I learned a set of skills that taught me how to live a life free from addiction. Here is a source of skills that I use: SMART Recovery Tools .
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