Cravings - mental vs physical
Cravings - mental vs physical
I, and others, have cravings that occur weeks or even months after we stop drinking.
I've been told that these cravings are mental and that physical cravings stop sooner than this.
The two best attempts I've made so far at staying sober have been 39 days and 42 days. At the end of both of these, it was like my whole body was screaming at me: "Drink. drink. drink. drink. drink." It didn't feel mental at all.
Can someone explain? Was this a physical craving or not? Because if it wasn't, it definitely felt like it.
I've been told that these cravings are mental and that physical cravings stop sooner than this.
The two best attempts I've made so far at staying sober have been 39 days and 42 days. At the end of both of these, it was like my whole body was screaming at me: "Drink. drink. drink. drink. drink." It didn't feel mental at all.
Can someone explain? Was this a physical craving or not? Because if it wasn't, it definitely felt like it.
I don't know why people separate the two, because mental = physical since our brains are physical things and work on electrochemistry. Cravings are just cravings, and they come from physical changes to your brain that you made by drinking a lot of alcohol for a long time. Acute withdrawal and post-acute withdrawal are just different phases of the same healing process.
That said, there are lots of things you can do to end cravings and not encourage them by triggering yourself. Distraction is a big one, not going to certain places or spending time with certain people, avoiding smells and tastes (especially of alcohol), there are long lists. Cravings are temporary, and they end, but you can make them much worse by fixating on them.
That said, there are lots of things you can do to end cravings and not encourage them by triggering yourself. Distraction is a big one, not going to certain places or spending time with certain people, avoiding smells and tastes (especially of alcohol), there are long lists. Cravings are temporary, and they end, but you can make them much worse by fixating on them.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 704
Well the mind / brain controls the body .. right ?
Physical to me is more the withdrawal symptoms of shaking and feeling ill and worse depending. These usually go away after a week or so.
Craving after a few weeks would be mental I think.
Either way you should fight it off.
Physical to me is more the withdrawal symptoms of shaking and feeling ill and worse depending. These usually go away after a week or so.
Craving after a few weeks would be mental I think.
Either way you should fight it off.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Zion, Illinois
Posts: 3,411
I, and others, have cravings that occur weeks or even months after we stop drinking.
I've been told that these cravings are mental and that physical cravings stop sooner than this.
The two best attempts I've made so far at staying sober have been 39 days and 42 days. At the end of both of these, it was like my whole body was screaming at me: "Drink. drink. drink. drink. drink." It didn't feel mental at all.
Can someone explain? Was this a physical craving or not? Because if it wasn't, it definitely felt like it.
I've been told that these cravings are mental and that physical cravings stop sooner than this.
The two best attempts I've made so far at staying sober have been 39 days and 42 days. At the end of both of these, it was like my whole body was screaming at me: "Drink. drink. drink. drink. drink." It didn't feel mental at all.
Can someone explain? Was this a physical craving or not? Because if it wasn't, it definitely felt like it.
Jack,
Physical or mental, urge or craving we find a way through. I have to focus on the solution and not dwell to much on problem. Today if I take action towards the solution it really makes no difference.
What's your solution to get past this??
Physical or mental, urge or craving we find a way through. I have to focus on the solution and not dwell to much on problem. Today if I take action towards the solution it really makes no difference.
What's your solution to get past this??
<snip>
Cravings are temporary, and they end, but you can make them much worse by fixating on them.
Cravings are temporary, and they end, but you can make them much worse by fixating on them.
If I have been off alcohol for a while (like past the acute stage) and I get a drinking thought, that is more a habitual response, in my opinion. Jack465, you can define it any way you like, this is just how I see it.
Thoughts are just thoughts. The thoughts of drinking are going to come - maybe forever, I don't know. I do know that by distraction or by habitually denying the urge, they become less intrusive and more manageable.
Yeah, I am one who separates the two, because I have some control over what I choose to dwell on in my thinking. I don't have control over the initial thought that comes that says, "Drink drink drink," true. I don't call that a craving. A craving to me is that feeling I got after I started to drink and I felt like I had to keep going. So it is just a matter of semantics or splitting hairs.
It was you and a couple of other posters that told me this. But if that's all you meant, then I feel stupid for posting this.
Jack, we all have different ways of looking at things. Not only that but I don't always go into long detailed posts about a concept. I remember that post I made to you. It is a process of developing beliefs or concepts that resonate. We don't all see things exactly the same, and that's okay.
The craving thing in the Big Book of AA is pretty spot-on in my opinion, like Music posted above. "The Doctor's Opinion." You can go to AA.org and read it, or just Google "The doctors opinion aa".
The craving thing in the Big Book of AA is pretty spot-on in my opinion, like Music posted above. "The Doctor's Opinion." You can go to AA.org and read it, or just Google "The doctors opinion aa".
Member
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 5,229
i thought about this a lot with quiting cigarettes and with booze cigarettes seemed easy to figure out I think it was like 72 hours or something the nicotine is out of your system and it takes about 2 weeks or so for you to kinda physically normalize to life without it after that they say its all mental.
Booze is another animal tho I think.
in both cases my idea was to detox that chemical poison out of me as fast as possible by drinking lots of water and cranberry juice and eating fruits and veggies etc.. I wanted to not be chemically dependant on it as fast as possible i ifugred that would up my chances of beating it. and at least get me halfway there then i'd just have to beat the mental game.
I dunno if it helped or not but i felt better and felt like iw as accomplishing something.
I think for me tho I used booze to cure anxiety for so long that any bit of anxiety and i felt i needed a drink. and its like no no anxiety isnt the sign of an alcohol deficiency!
Booze is another animal tho I think.
in both cases my idea was to detox that chemical poison out of me as fast as possible by drinking lots of water and cranberry juice and eating fruits and veggies etc.. I wanted to not be chemically dependant on it as fast as possible i ifugred that would up my chances of beating it. and at least get me halfway there then i'd just have to beat the mental game.
I dunno if it helped or not but i felt better and felt like iw as accomplishing something.
I think for me tho I used booze to cure anxiety for so long that any bit of anxiety and i felt i needed a drink. and its like no no anxiety isnt the sign of an alcohol deficiency!
The physical craving after the first drink is what drives the destructive drinking. If we never took the first drink, then this problem would be solved. But then the obsession of the mind comes in, which contrives to make us take the fatal first drink .
The Doctors Opinion suggests that the main problem is in the mind, therefore, just avoiding the first drink may not be a sufficient or reliable solution. Something has to be done about the mind.
The Doctors Opinion suggests that the main problem is in the mind, therefore, just avoiding the first drink may not be a sufficient or reliable solution. Something has to be done about the mind.
What helped me was finally making the commitment that I just wasn't going to drink anymore. I no longer entertain, or debate the thought when it comes. That's what always got me in trouble before, because my mind can eventually find a way to rationalize taking that first drink.
For me, no thinking = no drinking.
For me, no thinking = no drinking.
i thought about this a lot with quiting cigarettes and with booze cigarettes seemed easy to figure out I think it was like 72 hours or something the nicotine is out of your system and it takes about 2 weeks or so for you to kinda physically normalize to life without it after that they say its all mental.
Booze is another animal tho I think.
in both cases my idea was to detox that chemical poison out of me as fast as possible by drinking lots of water and cranberry juice and eating fruits and veggies etc.. I wanted to not be chemically dependant on it as fast as possible i ifugred that would up my chances of beating it. and at least get me halfway there then i'd just have to beat the mental game.
I dunno if it helped or not but i felt better and felt like iw as accomplishing something.
I think for me tho I used booze to cure anxiety for so long that any bit of anxiety and i felt i needed a drink. and its like no no anxiety isnt the sign of an alcohol deficiency!
Booze is another animal tho I think.
in both cases my idea was to detox that chemical poison out of me as fast as possible by drinking lots of water and cranberry juice and eating fruits and veggies etc.. I wanted to not be chemically dependant on it as fast as possible i ifugred that would up my chances of beating it. and at least get me halfway there then i'd just have to beat the mental game.
I dunno if it helped or not but i felt better and felt like iw as accomplishing something.
I think for me tho I used booze to cure anxiety for so long that any bit of anxiety and i felt i needed a drink. and its like no no anxiety isnt the sign of an alcohol deficiency!
Basically the idea of getting cravings due to the body being physically dependent on alcohol, opposed to the cravings coming from somewhere else.
Not really sure which it is, I have been fortunate in this recovery that cravings have not been there, yes the first few days but that is to be expected. I was talking with my better half about this the other day as she brought it up when we were in a pub that has amazing food and she was a bit concerned so she asked if this was a trigger or did it make me crave, I replied no I control my AV and it's in a coma, chances of it coming out are not good, she is a Dr in mental health and laughed. If it were to happen I would chalk it up to the AV, acknowledge the feeling and move on, that is something we were taught to do in a program with all feelings and it works for me.
There are also a lot of supplements you can take that will help with this.
SoberinSyracuse just did an impatient Amino Acid program, but there are lots of over the counter things that help, like milk thistle, but there are a lot more.
Check it out, but they key is to ALWAYS remember that although your cravings will have you believe that a drink will help, the reverse is true.
The only solution is not to drink and over time they will see how strong you are and not bother.
This is one of those times where just saying no really is the answer -- and its not just no -- its no, never, and I am not changing my mind. Most of us find that when we say that we are not changing our mind there is a little feeling of discomfort -- thats our AV's fear that we really do mean it.
No, never, shut up, bug off, the list can go on...
SoberinSyracuse just did an impatient Amino Acid program, but there are lots of over the counter things that help, like milk thistle, but there are a lot more.
Check it out, but they key is to ALWAYS remember that although your cravings will have you believe that a drink will help, the reverse is true.
The only solution is not to drink and over time they will see how strong you are and not bother.
This is one of those times where just saying no really is the answer -- and its not just no -- its no, never, and I am not changing my mind. Most of us find that when we say that we are not changing our mind there is a little feeling of discomfort -- thats our AV's fear that we really do mean it.
No, never, shut up, bug off, the list can go on...
Hello Jack, I personal think only you can say whether you cravings is psychological or physiological. It maybe depend on why you start to drink. For me, was trauma and while drink start out as coping mechanism, at some point, it become physiological to my brain. I has have many (many) year of therapy for my trauma, but brain still adapted to alcohol as standard operating fuel (ketones).
I now recent quit, and, my brain not liking it one bit. Is tought going, but it still total worth it though.
I now recent quit, and, my brain not liking it one bit. Is tought going, but it still total worth it though.
Here: 11 Herbal Remedies For Alcohol Cravings - Natural Remedies For Alcohol Cravings Treatment | Search Home Remedy
What do you think? I might try them all, they aren't expensive.
If I may, I think you should watch last week PBS Frontline episode on supplements, and then does deep research into any supplement you take. I not say they not can be helpful, but my self, I have 30 year deep research on supplement but still ultimatley did more harm than good.
I would say, first and foremost, total commit to food nutritions, see how that go, get proper sun, get interval exercise, get you sleep in order, examine you mental health, get blood tests. THEN see about supplement.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/fi...ts-and-safety/
I would say, first and foremost, total commit to food nutritions, see how that go, get proper sun, get interval exercise, get you sleep in order, examine you mental health, get blood tests. THEN see about supplement.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/fi...ts-and-safety/
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)