freedragonfly

Well I was not sure where to post this. Its just been on my mind a lot lately now that I want to be sober for good.

I get really triggered to drink if I see people drinking in movies or television. does anyone else? I even get triggered by movies about recovery from alcoholism because usually there are scenes of drinking in them. I may have to be pretty careful about what I watch right now. Unfortunately, a lot of times, I do not know beforehand if drinking will be in what I'm watching.

It goes without saying that seeing drinking in real life is rough on me too.

Timmah

My biggest trigger is rain. I love getting buzzed and watching the rain. Kinda weird I guess. We all have triggers, some are easier to avoid than others.

Alcohol is every where. It's tough to avoid. Sorry I don't have any advice. Just wanted to let you know you're not alone.

freedragonfly

It is good to know I'm not alone. Its true we all have triggers. Other things besides movies and tv trigger me too. The rain doesn't trigger me but hot days do. I am quitting in summer time so its a bit hard. Guess it would be hard anytime really.

Verte

Yes, Freedragonfly!

My sober commitment is just over one month now, but in the first few weeks I would 'roll my eyes' and think 'here we go again'.

It seems as if the alcohol drinking is often portrayed as a reward of some sort. Which is how I started to justify my downhill.

The only show that gets to me right now is "Game of Thrones'.

Similarly, cigarette smoking used to be portrayed as more of a habit everywhere during shows and now when people smoke it seems to be in an alley, leaning against a wall, with the person hurried to get back to their 'life'.

Nice job with the commitment, FreeDragon.

freedragonfly

I find the worst trigger is when movies or tv glorify drinking as if its so wonderful.

I am also a smoker and have tried to quit. found certain movies and tv shows to be really triggering for that too. currently not trying to quit as need to deal with alcohol first.

Nuudawn

Freedragonfly ..I remember on a previous quit smoking attempt (I'm attempting that also with my sobriety as they just go hand in hand in my self destruct penchant) I decided to go to an afternoon movie. It was the sequel to Bridget Jones.

GEEZ..every second frame was Bridget and her pals smoking and drinking. It was an incredibly painful movie to get through. Your post just reminded me of that.

As wine is my poison, I find Facebook and there constant little witticisms about how "wine" is a woman's answer to everything incredibly disturbing. I used to find them funny.
Now I just find them incredibly sad. Whatever happened to having a cup of tea for pete's sake.

freedragonfly

so glad I'm not alone in this. I have been avoiding facebook lately. I just feel too crummy to want to see anything on there. my newsfeed is mostly about books though since I liked so many book pages. I guess another possible trigger is books that mention drinking. not as bad since the type of books I like don't usually have that in them.

Easilypleased

Timmah, I can totally relate to the rain trigger, it was only the other day on vacation that I almost broke. It was purely the fact it was raining and I wanted to just sit in a bar so bad and get sozzled. I did go to a bar but thankfully I ordered a coffee, otherwise it would have been 13 months up the spout! Keep strong all.

PurpleKnight

Drinking and smoking can be very romanticised in films and on TV, there are a few films I intentionally cut out when I got Sober for this reason.

The characters don't have to suffer the hangover the next morning at work!!

freedragonfly

yes, addictive things are often romanticized. alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, other things. the reality is really not the same as what is in the movie or tv show.

Brian316

I will just briefly speak to my experience. Triggers used to be huge for me and they can still get me a little bit sometimes, but at 7 months they aren't as bad as they were at 7 weeks. However, I'd be lying to tell you they don't bother me at all. I'm a member of Alcoholics Anonymous and part of my program of recovery from alcoholism is turning my will over to a higher power. For me this involves daily prayers, scripture and recovery readings. That said, I'm also a big hockey and action movie fan. There's beer all over those things! And sometimes man, I just have to stay away. Try setting up some mental blocks if you can, but if it still gets at you I say just avoid it for now.

freedragonfly

I am so early in recovery that I think just avoiding anything triggering is the way to go. If I find some movie has too many triggers in it, I can stop it and watch something else. well it goes for any trigger really. there are a lot. one big thing for me is being bored. I have to try to catch my boredom early on before it gets bad. Doing something that keeps my mind busy helps.

leviathan

my triggers are always surprise triggers they sneak up and go "BOO!". movies-no. other drinkers-not so much. however, today a contractor we hired started ripping out my huge, old inground pool with large machinery. i was in position as spectator. when he started swinging the wrecking ball, i thought (for a second), "man. i could use a beer." -the iced tea was just fine.

in the past, he would work. i would sip. as he packed up to leave, i would be too buzzed to be constructive myself. onward this would go until hitting the bed for dreamless, slobering sleep, and well...you know how tomorrow would be-suffering or bloody marys again.

freedragonfly

I can see how that would be. I should be on the lookout for surprise triggers too. really just so many things can trigger me. I used to have many excuses for drinking that first beer.

HeyStoopid

About three weeks ago, I watched Don Draper (Mad Men), sneak a pilfered bottle of vodka into his office, and take the first big swig straight from the bottle. He proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon getting drunk, alone, in his office. I thought, "JFC, that's my exact behavior here at home four or five nights a week." However, it was still not quite my epiphany.

Finally, this past Tuesday, after a holiday weekend binge to end all binges in which I managed to blackout twice in three days and make a fool of myself in front of my parents, I checked myself into in-patient detox/education/meetings. I was just released, and I am going to a meeting tomorrow morning. Some of the stuff I saw and heard while at in-patient was appalling. I have to quit before I end up in legal trouble. I will post a separate thread on this entire experience later, once I have had time to give it some thought.

freedragonfly

I am also grateful that I somehow never had legal trouble in spite of doing quite a bit of drunk driving. Really ashamed of having done that. Its in the past now though.

I am going to a meeting shortly. I also managed to call one of the women on my phone list and it was really helpful talking to her. I had been feeling like going out to get beer. Now I do not.

jessie65

Absolutely a trigger, those alcohol commercials and people drinking on the shows. I get triggered just by songs about drinking, and I love country music so I'm screwed every time I turn on the radio. It seems sometimes the world revolves around drinking.

freedragonfly

there really are a few too many triggers around in the media. I just realized today that even some of my video games might not be good for me right now since some have a little bit of drinking in them. or the option to drink. In one game its realistic though and damages your health in the game. so basically you don't do it.

Brian316

Stay with a course of action like that and you never have to experience how the law deals with drunk drivers and after a while those triggers will have less of an effect on you. Best wishes!

freedragonfly

well my friend has had a bunch of DUIs and now cannot drive at all. also so expensive for her. she is turning stuff around. though still drinks a little but not nearly where it was. I really like the fact that I can still drive so don't want to screw that up at all.

I did mess up tonight though. the meeting was really hard for me. sometimes hearing about drinking makes me want to drink even more. though honestly today was already difficult in that regard. I drank 2 1/2 beers tonight. obviously I'm not drunk or even buzzed (high tolerance by now). but its still bad and I feel not good. I do not want to give up yet though. its just been so rocky for me. I am a bit mad at myself.