How do I stop drinking?!
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: STL
Posts: 2
How do I stop drinking?!
If I can make it two days without drinking I can't stop my mind from thinking about it all day and well into the evening. My thoughts about alcohol consume my brain. Lately I'm drinking every day. I just don't know how to get these thoughts out of my head. Does anyone have any advice?
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,373
Hi Jodcee 
Joining SR and reading and posting here regularly helped me...it was much harder to rationalise a problem away when I logged on and made myself confront the reality everyday.
You'll find a lot of support here - and if you think you need more support, you'll find ideas on where to find that too
welcome
D
Joining SR and reading and posting here regularly helped me...it was much harder to rationalise a problem away when I logged on and made myself confront the reality everyday.
You'll find a lot of support here - and if you think you need more support, you'll find ideas on where to find that too
welcome
D
Community Greeter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Upstate New York
Posts: 51,526
Welcome Jodcee. Joining SR was the thing that helped me face reality. I originally came here by accident, looking for health problems of 'heavy drinkers'. The first few posts I read, I knew I had found a home. I was among people who were just like me, and really understood what I was going through.
As Dee suggested, keep talking to us - and you'll find you're not alone anymore. It's good to have support, encouragement, and hope.
As Dee suggested, keep talking to us - and you'll find you're not alone anymore. It's good to have support, encouragement, and hope.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: New England
Posts: 259
Welcome. I, like you, am consumed by thoughts about drinking day and night. Contributing on SR is a huge step in the right direction; there are always people here to reach out to that know exactly what you're going through. Sober addicts are the strongest people I know. Be strong, the thoughts will eventually not be as constant.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: northern michigan. not the U.P.
Posts: 15,281
glad to see ya here!! when the pain of getting drunk exceeded the pain of reality and i was to the point of get help to stop drinking or take another drink and kill myself, i went to AA. i put my trust in the people in the fellowship that it would get better, fought them cravings because i knew what would happen if i took another drink, worked hard on changing my thinking( went from suicidal thought to homocidal thoughts, but that was progress!!) and kept my trust in the people that had already walked in my shoes when they said it will get better. they were right.
it took T.I.M.E., but i still remember the 1st complete 24 hours when i didnt even think about alcohol. actually, i didnt realize it until the day after, but that was a friggin miracle!
today i dont have a drinking problem, but i still have a thinking problem, but im good with that.
it took T.I.M.E., but i still remember the 1st complete 24 hours when i didnt even think about alcohol. actually, i didnt realize it until the day after, but that was a friggin miracle!
today i dont have a drinking problem, but i still have a thinking problem, but im good with that.
Nothing Left to do but Smile.
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Upstate NY
Posts: 808
You need to identify your AV and see it for what it is. Then tell the AV that you are done drinking and don't want to listen to it anymore. You need to tell everyone in your life that you drank with, that you don't drink anymore. You need to..........
Well, you asked.
Just don't drink any booze. It's as simple as that and as hard as that.
Fortunately, you came to the right place to guide you to your recovery. Welcome.
Well, you asked.
Just don't drink any booze. It's as simple as that and as hard as that.
Fortunately, you came to the right place to guide you to your recovery. Welcome.
Guest
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 590
Welcome. Glad you are here. This place is a great start. You'll find lots of great posts and lots of great people. I think the thoughts in your head are common for daily drinkers and even for a while in early recovery. It does get better though if you continue to seek and stay truly sober!
You are not alone. Keep reading and posting.
You are not alone. Keep reading and posting.
Powerless over Alcohol
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Trudging the Road to Happy Destiny!
Posts: 4,018
I can still look at a cold beverage and my mouth will water.. Those thoughts dont consume me anymore but it took a lot of work and time..
For me AA showed me the way to live without drinking.
For me AA showed me the way to live without drinking.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: San Diego
Posts: 4,451
First off, welcome to SR. You've taken a big step coming here, and by taking action these past two days. That's terrific.
I was just thinking tonight about when I first came to SR. It was a shock to discover so many people had so many similar experiences. But it was also a relief, you know? So my first bit of advice is to pat yourself on the back for coming here. And like the others said, stick around.
Yeah, the obsession. That's what addiction is all about. I sure know that feeling. You can absolutely overcome it. Don't doubt that for a second.
I'm never going to drink again, and I feel great about it. I don't miss it, and it doesn't bother me to be around it. It really does get better.
You're going to be glad you decided to deal with this now, before it got worse. Congrats again.
I was just thinking tonight about when I first came to SR. It was a shock to discover so many people had so many similar experiences. But it was also a relief, you know? So my first bit of advice is to pat yourself on the back for coming here. And like the others said, stick around.
My thoughts about alcohol consume my brain.
I'm never going to drink again, and I feel great about it. I don't miss it, and it doesn't bother me to be around it. It really does get better.
You're going to be glad you decided to deal with this now, before it got worse. Congrats again.
Self recovered Self discovered
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Toronto Canada
Posts: 5,148
Jodcee, welcome to the team here, and good for you for making the decision to quit drinking.
You know that the answer to your question is very simple. You stop drinking by stopping. I drive the the store / I go to the alcohol / I choose what to get / I pick it up / I pay for it / I take it home / I open it / I pour it / I drink it. Whatever your sequence of events is, you stop drinking by not doing any ONE of those. How can it be any other than this? There is no magic or ******.
You must decide to stop drinking if you are going to stop. For me that meant making a plan. What was I going to do differently? Was I going to pour out the stuff I had at home? Was I going to go to AA? Was I going to learn more about other ways to quit? Was I going to make a list of reasons to quit, and another list of reasons to stay sober? Was I going to take this seriously?
For me, I learned how to identify my drinking urges, how to separate myself from them, how to accept them and how to not act on them. You can do this too.
Read as much as you can right here at SR, jodcee. There are literally thousands of stories of people just like you who quit drinking. You might be extra special, but I found that I was just like everybody else around here, and I quit drinking like them too.
Make your own plan to quit drinking. Are you ready to make your plan about continuing to use alcohol?
You know that the answer to your question is very simple. You stop drinking by stopping. I drive the the store / I go to the alcohol / I choose what to get / I pick it up / I pay for it / I take it home / I open it / I pour it / I drink it. Whatever your sequence of events is, you stop drinking by not doing any ONE of those. How can it be any other than this? There is no magic or ******.
You must decide to stop drinking if you are going to stop. For me that meant making a plan. What was I going to do differently? Was I going to pour out the stuff I had at home? Was I going to go to AA? Was I going to learn more about other ways to quit? Was I going to make a list of reasons to quit, and another list of reasons to stay sober? Was I going to take this seriously?
For me, I learned how to identify my drinking urges, how to separate myself from them, how to accept them and how to not act on them. You can do this too.
Read as much as you can right here at SR, jodcee. There are literally thousands of stories of people just like you who quit drinking. You might be extra special, but I found that I was just like everybody else around here, and I quit drinking like them too.
Make your own plan to quit drinking. Are you ready to make your plan about continuing to use alcohol?
Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 1,226
Welcome. You have received great advice already. SR has been a tremendous support.
Freeing yourself of the obsession is incredibly liberating. You will be amazed how good it will be to get this monkey off your back.
Stay with us.
Freeing yourself of the obsession is incredibly liberating. You will be amazed how good it will be to get this monkey off your back.
Stay with us.
Grateful to be free
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Arizona
Posts: 3,680
Welcome!
here are some things that help me deal with obsessive thoughts, be they about drinking/using or anything else.
When they come up, identify them, remind myself it's a thought. I don't have to act on it, or stress over it, or get caught up in it. I have thousands of thoughts a day, and most breeze right on through my brain. Why should I decide THIS one is any more important?
SO, having taken some of it's power away (like turning on a light when I was convinced there was a monster under the bed) I begin to turn my mind towards something I want. Training myself to think about what I want to do, rather than what I don't want to do. On what I am moving towards, rather than what i am moving away from.
It's like moving to a new city, I get directions on how to get there, I look around at where I might want to live, what sort of job I will get, what kind of activities and events are available in the new place. I let myself get excited over all the things I am moving towards.
I get to know some people who live in the place I am moving to, and pick their brains over neat things to do and places to go.
Of course there is a grieving process for the old and familiar. And I acknowledge that too. There are things I miss, and old memories. But I allow myself to believe that there are new things waiting, and I will make more memories and that nature abhors a vacuum. If I let it, new things WILL fill any old holes left behind. IF I let it.
Sobriety is something I allow myself to have and experience. It's a gift I give myself. It is NOT about denying myself anything, it's all about allowing myself to be free, functional, and open to life.
here are some things that help me deal with obsessive thoughts, be they about drinking/using or anything else.
When they come up, identify them, remind myself it's a thought. I don't have to act on it, or stress over it, or get caught up in it. I have thousands of thoughts a day, and most breeze right on through my brain. Why should I decide THIS one is any more important?
SO, having taken some of it's power away (like turning on a light when I was convinced there was a monster under the bed) I begin to turn my mind towards something I want. Training myself to think about what I want to do, rather than what I don't want to do. On what I am moving towards, rather than what i am moving away from.
It's like moving to a new city, I get directions on how to get there, I look around at where I might want to live, what sort of job I will get, what kind of activities and events are available in the new place. I let myself get excited over all the things I am moving towards.
I get to know some people who live in the place I am moving to, and pick their brains over neat things to do and places to go.
Of course there is a grieving process for the old and familiar. And I acknowledge that too. There are things I miss, and old memories. But I allow myself to believe that there are new things waiting, and I will make more memories and that nature abhors a vacuum. If I let it, new things WILL fill any old holes left behind. IF I let it.
Sobriety is something I allow myself to have and experience. It's a gift I give myself. It is NOT about denying myself anything, it's all about allowing myself to be free, functional, and open to life.
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