MeSoSober

I am just curious as to how many people here feel that either their own drinking problems or alcoholism in general is always/often/sometimes rooted in psychological factors -- chronic depression, or anxiety, or any other unidentified emotional or psychological trauma.

On a related note, I'm curious as to how many of you quit drinking with the help of counseling that addressed a possible underlying psychological issue (as opposed to counseling that simply addressed the substance abuse almost or entirely exclusively).

Thank you for your thoughts!

GroundhogDay

I doubt that there is a "one size fits all" answer, but I would say that for me psychological factors led to drinking. However, I think that if I hadn't quit drinking when I did that the drinking itself would have become the primary problem.

Dee74

For me there were various factors, psychological and otherwise, that led to me trying to find solutions in drink and drugs.

Unfortunately by the time I stopped drinking I also was an alcoholic so I had two areas to deal with in order to stay sober.

I had a little bit of counselling, but mostly things worked out for themselves...I found it amazing what I could deal with when I didn't have the choice of running away anymore.

D

sugarbear1

nature vs nurture....

I'm a bit of both

Sudz No More

For me, the psychological was the biggest hurdle but not in a clinical sense. In the early going part of sobriety my mind would not give up it's obsession. It had such a huge hold on me I even told my counselor I thought I would never get rid of the mental impulses. These days he likes to joke with me that I am still the hopeless Alcoholic that walked in his door 5 months ago. Truth be told, the farther I got from drinking the better it got.

I would be hopeful to think that even if you have a clinical affliction, not mixing booze with it will still help to some degree.

JJames818

Whew....I got into drinking while dealing with severe headaches which I later found out were being caused by nerve damage. At the time, a neurologist had told me that I "appeared fine" after CAT/MRI's and that my headaches were probably "just stress related" and that I "should relax more" >

The fact that, no matter how or what I tried, the headaches WOULD NOT go away, made me think I was INSANE, and lead to horrible feelings of SHAME and GUILT. My life had completely fallen apart as a result of these all day/nite headaches, and I started drinking to JUST FEEL GOOD even for just a little while.

Now the headaches are gone, but I've kept on drinking!!! But yes, depression and shame kept me drinking, and I hope that I can move on and LIVE A BETTER LIFE!!

strawberryblond

For me, psychological issues was a huge factor in my drinking. And while I have seen a therapist in the past for anxiety and depression (pre-drinking), as of right now I'm not seeing one. Yet.

Received

I am recovered with the help of Rational Recovery/AVRT.

I see a therapist about life issues however drinking is never brought up. Ever.

I drank to get drunk, period. Since I will never drink again and never change my mind any discussion related to it, with my therapist, is completely unwarranted, irrelevant and counter productive.

My therapist and I are in complete agreement with this.

oak

I think childhood abuse played a big role for me in developing addictions. There was a lot of pain that I tried to suppress. I assume there was also a genetic predisposition to addiction.

I think therapy to heal from childhood trauma has helped a lot in the decision not to drink. But addiction has gotten a life of its own, so it is also a separate problem. i will be very curious if I get to a place where childhood trauma feels resolved, will I still want alcohol or pills or any other sort of drug? I think addiction will always be a problem, but I am curious.

freshstart57

I was clinically depressed, with crippling anxiety, and drinking like crazy every day. Therapy, medication, more medication, counseling, none of it was working, and I was getting worse. I was unable to work, but somehow I was able to drink.

Once I quit, the psychological factors improved dramatically almost immediately. Removing alcohol from daily free consumption was the key to regaining my mental health. The knowledge that I had quit this addiction, that I had fixed this thing, was better than any medication. It still gives me strength - since I have done this hard thing, what else can I accomplish?

wolfpackfan45

My son's alcoholism was definitely brought on by psychological issues. He's suffered from anxiety, depression, and panic attacks since high school. His medication wasn't working for him anymore and he tried to self medicate with alcohol. Of course, that made it all worse. Then one of his best friends died in an accident and he hit his bottom. With the help of AA, new medication for depression/anxiety disorder from his MD, and cognitive behavior therapy, he's currently sober for 8 months and seems to be doing well.

FeenixxRising

I believe this is probably true for most substance abusers--if we look deep enough. The paradox is we can't successfully resolve those issues until we get sober. It can be a tall order.

Threshold

I believe my addiction issues (booze was one of them) are definitely psychological.

Years of therapy (pre sobriety) did not free me from addiction. Using the 12 steps has freed me from decades of rage, anxiety, guilt, shame, paranoia that kept me using. I am not totally free of those things, but they are very much reduced and I have ways of coping now that keep me from turning to substances and other self destructive behaviors.

No one was more surprised by this than me.

I also have mental illness that I take medication for.

AllieB

Absolutely.

My drinking never even pretended to be anything other than self-medication for anxiety and despair.

I'd bet that, as Feenix says, unresolved psychological issues underlie most addictions. If not as the sole causal factor, then as a contributing factor at least.

wiscsober

I'd say I inherited a genetic predisposition to alcoholism...in early childhood I was anxious and depressed...

once I found drugs/drinking the addiction/alcoholism started...now today I can not use any drugs/alcohol, not just because of those illnesses,

but my recovery from chronic depression would be greatly, negatively, affected.

My experiences only, with my doctors, were they wouldn't diagnose me or prescribe medications, until I had 1 month clean and sober.

wheresthefun

Mirage74

Psychological factors play a large role in my addiction. I've been writing some things down about my past to get them out and try to get some clarity and it has made me remember some events that happened when I was a teenager that Ive buried. If I could figure out a way to deal with some of these things from my past, I think quitting would be easier.

But I also think I inherited alcoholism, it runs in my family. I'm sure there are people that have lived problem free lives that still become alcoholics. But for me it's a combination of genetic and psychological.

ScoobyWoo

Yes, although I've never been diagnosed with anything other than "mild mood disorder NOS (not otherwise specified)" and "anxiety disorder NOS" -- both of these diagnoses -- I hear from a clinical psychologist friends -- are just categories they place the mild/"whatever" cases into.

That said, I certainly drank to escape my mental reality. From my pre-teens (maybe earlier) to when I stopped drinking, my life was disturbed by the pains of parental abuse, ostracism, antisocial tendencies, and immoral/criminal behavior, and those definitely were all part of my cause for drinking. In addition, in the Big 5 Personality Inventory, I score low on both conscientiousness and agreeableness (which I hear is the recipe for addictions). I also recognize the genetic factor in all of this, but yes - it certainly seems that underlying psychology is a huge factor.

Luckily, most of my more severe psychological issues have resolved during recovery (e.g. making peace with past abuse, learning to regard myself as a moral person, rather than a drunk criminal). I don't believe I could have done this without the help of both therapy AND AA. Each was beneficial (and for different reasons), but I firmly believe that BOTH together were VITAL for me to become healthy and relatively happy again.

GracieLou

Mine was resentment and a lot of it.

I am learning not only let go of that resentment but to take responsibility for allowing that resentment to effect not only my life but the others in my life.

Sasha4

I think I wanted it to be.
I wanted there to be some reason I drank, other than the fact I liked drinking.

If I am honest I drank when I was happy, when I was sad, when I was tearful, when I was bored, when I was tired.

In the end I cam to the conclusion there was nothing special about me.
I just liked drinking too much!

My best to you
xx