Reaching Out
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 1,074
Reaching Out
I've been sober since Feb 6, 2014, but this past week I have been having really bad urges to drink. I've been using the SMART program and it has helped me stay sober, but for some reason these urges are hitting me so hard. Sometimes I even feel bitter that I can't drink. Well, I CAN drink but the consequences aren't worth it. I just want to relax! I want an escape. It's a constant battle in my head lately, but I really just want to get through it. Aside from the potential consequences, I'm afraid that if I drink it'll just prolong these urges. The longest I have been sober is 5 months and during that whole time I had urges like this until I thought (stupidly) that if I drank it'd stop. Someone please just tell me this is normal and I'll get through it... this is me reaching out.
I've been sober since Feb 6, 2014, but this past week I have been having really bad urges to drink. I've been using the SMART program and it has helped me stay sober, but for some reason these urges are hitting me so hard. Sometimes I even feel bitter that I can't drink. Well, I CAN drink but the consequences aren't worth it. I just want to relax! I want an escape. It's a constant battle in my head lately, but I really just want to get through it. Aside from the potential consequences, I'm afraid that if I drink it'll just prolong these urges. The longest I have been sober is 5 months and during that whole time I had urges like this until I thought (stupidly) that if I drank it'd stop. Someone please just tell me this is normal and I'll get through it... this is me reaching out.
That's why going/joining an aa group near you is vital! It's nearly impossible to stay sober esp 1st few days or mths being sober coz the mind only knows 1 solution to every prob in life: A drink
But it doesn't have to be that way anymore!
But it doesn't have to be that way anymore!
I chopped your statement up to help key in on something important (urges and need to relax).
You need to ask yourself what are you doing when you feel the urges to drink. You say here its constant but realistically, nothing is constant. Find out the specific times and/or locations you feel need to drink and the relaxation part will come much easier to you.
You can separate yourself from whatever gives you the urges to drink. Next comes the relaxation part... What can you do to relax? Some others on here have already made some great suggestions. Many people on these forms don't want to believe it but the people and the program of AA will help and is essentially free counseling to a person in need find out questions about themselves that they didn't even know they needed answered.
In my opinion, without knowing you, if you have urge to drink because you need to relax then you may find you are living a "stressful" lifestyle. But you need to find out the how and why before you can make the change and help yourself to relax.
In short, you need to do 2 things: 1) find out where and why you have urges to drink 2) decide yourself or get help deciding what you can do to relax that doesn't involve drinking.
Keep at it one day at a time.
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