Rio97

I was thinking, why do we fall into the trap? For instance, your body is screaming, your AV is chattering - you want to drink. So you give in. You drink your usual amount. Ahhh.

Then the morning comes. "No!" you think. "I did it again! How did I fall into that trap again? Now I have to start over!".

See, in that moment (despite the hangover), your alcoholism is satisfied. It got the alcohol it wanted. That's why it's so easy to say your quitting again in those moments.

The problem is, the drunk wears off, your alcoholism comes roaring back, and wants you to do it all over again. Alcohol treats alcoholism.

LexieCat

Exactly. That's why so many people in AA say, "alcohol isn't the PROBLEM, it's the SOLUTION."

The key is to find a better solution.

NestWasEmpty

Interesting thoughts Rio , makes sense in a way . As I read your post another word popped in my head , that can be put in between also . Alcohol feeds Alcoholism .
I'm always trying to think up ways to Shut that AV off - to help others Not that it doesn't reach out & grab me , but I think of my thinning esophagus . That's all it takes for me .
Something magical - to shut off the chatter ??

Ruby2

I think it's a mistake to think that the alcoholism comes roaring back, like it ever left. It never does leave. Once I took drinking completely out of my life, no slips, no sips, I started to find that a cold drink of water was capable of inducing the same "ahs". That shrieking urge to drink got a whole lot quieter but I can't feed it a drop or it'll be loud again and more painful. It's still there. I can deal with it now.

RDBplus3

Pitiful & Incomprehensible Demoralization ... It's a Stone Cold Mutha

RDBplus3 ... Happy, Joyous and FREE

Rio97

Maybe I should say, I don't want anyone to think I'm encouraging drinking with this post. My point was, it's only natural for us to get fierce cravings, in early sobriety or even later on, because our addiction craves alcohol. By treating I just mean it satisfies our craving, if only temporarily.

Like LexieCat said, we just have to find a better way.

MelindaFlowers

Alcohol treated my alcoholism until it didn't anymore. I literally could not get drunk anymore. It stopped hitting any pleasure centers of the brain. Boy was that a shock.

Jsober

I agree. In my case alcohol cured all the ism I had- fear, anxiety, insecurity. The problem is that it is an extremely unhealthy and temporary solution and it brought more of the pain I was trying to rid myself of. In sobriety I have found and must continue to find healthy solutions. Spirituality, AA, exercise, yoga, I'm going to try therapy. Healthy solutions require more work but the reward is great and it does not bring all the despair the other "solution" brought.

PurpleKnight

I read somewhere that we're hardwired to forget the bad experiences in life and focus on the positive in order to be able to survive as a species.

That definitely used to happen for me, good intentions in the morning slowly began to fade by afternoon as my hangover would ease, once again addiction would sell me a fairytale and I would have nothing to hang onto to counteract the hard sell.

Support was the answer for me that broke the cycle, something to give a second opinion on things, short circuit my own thoughts.