Coping with Cravings for Alcohol in Early Sobriety
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Coping with Cravings for Alcohol in Early Sobriety
The biggest challenge for me by far around getting sober was struggling with intense and frequent cravings for alcohol for a while. There are a few links that tend to circulate here on SR but this is a website I just came across and never saw before. I think it has good concise information and practical explanations that are easy to grasp; I thought perhaps it might be useful for some:
Coping with Alcohol Cravings ? Online Alcohol Therapy
It is perfectly possible to develop a complex and highly effective skill set to tackle these challenges. It is hard to imagine early on and may take some time and patience, but the urges do dissipate and even disappear eventually
Coping with Alcohol Cravings ? Online Alcohol Therapy
It is perfectly possible to develop a complex and highly effective skill set to tackle these challenges. It is hard to imagine early on and may take some time and patience, but the urges do dissipate and even disappear eventually
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Australia
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Over the last few decades there has become known another weapon that the alcoholic can add to the tools of sobriety. (it's actually a very old technique).
Mindfulness. Awareness. Equanimity. It may seem counterintuitive but there are many reports of it working. In short it is remaining aware of the craving but not acting on it. It's not distracting the mind or pushing the craving away nor is it expressing the craving in another way or externalising it but rather noting that it is there and what it is and not fighting it but rather working to maintain focus on the reality that each moment brings.
One way of doing this is to keep bringing the mind or attention back to something that is with a person at all times and is natural and varying depending on the condition of the mind, namely the natural in and out breathing. It helps to narrow down the area of awareness of the breath coming in and going out to the area around or of the nose and nostrils. In other words, do nothing about the craving, neither feed it nor reject it, while practicing breath awareness. The craving will inevitably pass. In time this habit replaces the anxiety and fear that comes with the cravings and the time and intensity of the cravings are reduced.
Mindfulness. Awareness. Equanimity. It may seem counterintuitive but there are many reports of it working. In short it is remaining aware of the craving but not acting on it. It's not distracting the mind or pushing the craving away nor is it expressing the craving in another way or externalising it but rather noting that it is there and what it is and not fighting it but rather working to maintain focus on the reality that each moment brings.
One way of doing this is to keep bringing the mind or attention back to something that is with a person at all times and is natural and varying depending on the condition of the mind, namely the natural in and out breathing. It helps to narrow down the area of awareness of the breath coming in and going out to the area around or of the nose and nostrils. In other words, do nothing about the craving, neither feed it nor reject it, while practicing breath awareness. The craving will inevitably pass. In time this habit replaces the anxiety and fear that comes with the cravings and the time and intensity of the cravings are reduced.
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Cravings are unfortunately a side effect of giving up alcohol. All it takes is one craving to give in to, so accepting it as a part of the process and learning techniques to manage your way through them are crucial.
For me, they are like extreme anxiety and discomfort that tells you only a drink can quell. That's the lie and the danger - the disease - working full force. The AV comes out whispering " Drink, drink, drink"..
Ugh. Cunning, baffling, powerful.
For me, they are like extreme anxiety and discomfort that tells you only a drink can quell. That's the lie and the danger - the disease - working full force. The AV comes out whispering " Drink, drink, drink"..
Ugh. Cunning, baffling, powerful.
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Something else I found very helpful when I quit drinking and struggled with often unpredictable cravings (I had some solid, predictable triggers but also lots of subtle ones) was being prepared for many different scenarios at all times for a while. Not sure if others experience this but for me, if I had left dealing with my cravings for the moment when they hit, I would probably have never stayed sober long. I am sure this is familiar to many: when I had an intense craving, it would often distort my mental state and reasoning to an extent that I literally would not remember what to do other than a beeline to the liquor store... unless I trained myself thoroughly beforehand while also having a strong determination and commitment to sobriety.
I read and heard all kinds of things about how cravings and relapses work but for a long time did not apply them systematically and not with the clear idea of using the knowledge in the moments when they were most needed. My mind did a very good job making all that information fuzzy during a craving, e.g. I remembered the idea of "urge surfing" but not the actual techniques, what I was supposed to do or think for it, in the critical moment. So I made it into a habit to read and re-read about these mental exercises, distractions, etc etc when I was in a decent, perceptive mental state and not craving actively, for example every morning and evening as part of a routine. This way the methods got really ingrained in my mind and when I needed them, I could easily recall a great variety to choose from even when the desire to drink was very strong in the moment. I still experienced that "altered state" of a strong craving but it could no longer cloud my consciousness and reason enough because I had these massive stuff trained into me about what to do when I am craving. So, for me, if I dealt with it with it simply as a form of mindfulness exercise in the moment without all the preparation and cementing the coping tools into my mind when in a decent, clear mental state, I probably would have never stayed sober long. Well, in fact I did not, for many years prior.
I think it was probably a method to make myself not only remember consciously but also train my unconscious mind how to respond to cravings with reading, re-reading and practicing the techniques while not actively in that state. Many people reach out to others while craving -- I personally did not use much external help to cope; sometimes I would post here or contact a friend or my therapist but relying on others would not have been very feasible for me initially I think given the frequency I got the urges. Well, at least I would not have been comfortable bothering others with that frequency and it was not even nearly as efficient for me as using the coping techniques myself. They also teach a lot of them in SMART, which ironically I became fond later, when I no longer needed help acutely. I guess all this is a personalized version of what is known as AVRT actually.
I am posting this because I know there are others similar to me, who have learned to seek help when necessary but still like to rely on our own mental power for many things. I definitely found that resource damaged while drinking and not enough to be used spontaneously as needed, but the consistent, habitual training and frequent reminders really helped it. In a way, similar to what makes a good athlete or musician I guess... practice practice practice. And strategy. Practiced in a safe way, not playing with fire!
I read and heard all kinds of things about how cravings and relapses work but for a long time did not apply them systematically and not with the clear idea of using the knowledge in the moments when they were most needed. My mind did a very good job making all that information fuzzy during a craving, e.g. I remembered the idea of "urge surfing" but not the actual techniques, what I was supposed to do or think for it, in the critical moment. So I made it into a habit to read and re-read about these mental exercises, distractions, etc etc when I was in a decent, perceptive mental state and not craving actively, for example every morning and evening as part of a routine. This way the methods got really ingrained in my mind and when I needed them, I could easily recall a great variety to choose from even when the desire to drink was very strong in the moment. I still experienced that "altered state" of a strong craving but it could no longer cloud my consciousness and reason enough because I had these massive stuff trained into me about what to do when I am craving. So, for me, if I dealt with it with it simply as a form of mindfulness exercise in the moment without all the preparation and cementing the coping tools into my mind when in a decent, clear mental state, I probably would have never stayed sober long. Well, in fact I did not, for many years prior.
I think it was probably a method to make myself not only remember consciously but also train my unconscious mind how to respond to cravings with reading, re-reading and practicing the techniques while not actively in that state. Many people reach out to others while craving -- I personally did not use much external help to cope; sometimes I would post here or contact a friend or my therapist but relying on others would not have been very feasible for me initially I think given the frequency I got the urges. Well, at least I would not have been comfortable bothering others with that frequency and it was not even nearly as efficient for me as using the coping techniques myself. They also teach a lot of them in SMART, which ironically I became fond later, when I no longer needed help acutely. I guess all this is a personalized version of what is known as AVRT actually.
I am posting this because I know there are others similar to me, who have learned to seek help when necessary but still like to rely on our own mental power for many things. I definitely found that resource damaged while drinking and not enough to be used spontaneously as needed, but the consistent, habitual training and frequent reminders really helped it. In a way, similar to what makes a good athlete or musician I guess... practice practice practice. And strategy. Practiced in a safe way, not playing with fire!
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Just to give an illustration of what I meant in my last post here about knowledge becoming only truly effective with lots of commitment and practice, here is a concert scene with Daniel Barenboim playing one of my all-time favorite classical pieces. (As some of us here, I am a life-long music fan, see my blog posts if you want for some of my modern interests that I had felt related to my addiction/recovery at different times. I have not updated that blog for a good while though.)
Back to the original topic: I don't think this performance, and the experience of many who listened to it, could have been achieved without some clear idea/goal and following steely practice and determination. I see recovery similarly. Eventually, sobriety itself does become natural and effortless... And the beauty of where we can potentially get in life using many of the same techniques and strategies we learn in early sobriety is... wide open
Back to the original topic: I don't think this performance, and the experience of many who listened to it, could have been achieved without some clear idea/goal and following steely practice and determination. I see recovery similarly. Eventually, sobriety itself does become natural and effortless... And the beauty of where we can potentially get in life using many of the same techniques and strategies we learn in early sobriety is... wide open
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