AnodyneShift

I've heard a lot of people mention "HALT", which I know stands for
Hungry
Angry
Lonely
Tired

but how do you "use" this system? It's never been explained to me, and I thought I'd ask here since maybe I'm not the only one who could benefit.

Input would be greatly appreciated.

Dave

Toronto68

I don't know that I personally use this consciously, but I took a quick look at this older thread, and I think it might give you an idea of how people do use it. There are probably other threads on this topic, because I have noticed it is a tool that people like. I have no clue why I cannot do a Search on this site, but I can't figure it out. What does work is typing in a search on Google and including the phrase soberrecovery too, and that's how I pulled up this one:

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...520-h-l-t.html

FrothyJay

The idea (which is not from AA, but from rehabs) is that there are certain emotions and conditions (hungry, angry, lonely, tired) that make relapse more likely. So you should avoid them.

The reality, though, is that I drank just as often when I was SLOE (satisfied, loving, out-going and energized.)

Alcoholism is not a trigger-based condition. It's constant and chronic.

suki44883

Alcoholism is not a trigger-based condition. It's constant and chronic.

reggiewayne

The way I understand it is to be aware of what you are feeling. Many times when we are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired we mistake those signals as desires for alcohol. I know I have MANY TIMES in the past. I kind of take this a step further. I don't even do certain things that I know will upset my body chemistry. I am still in "early recovery" - 63 days... I have shelved any hardcore exercise, I have not quit smoking, I am not dieting, and I am making sure I'm getting plenty of rest. The first couple weeks in sobriety I wanted to change EVERYTHING. I started a diet, worked out a lot, tried to stop smoking, and stayed up too late. What I found is my body was thrown out of balance and it wanted something to fix that feeling. For me, the "fix" is always alcohol. I mistook being run down and tired as a physical craving for alcohol.

I am going to work on my other issues, but for me, alcohol is my primary problem. I need to stay focused on that or I am doomed. The HALT theory (for lack of a better term) allows me to do just that.

Hope this helps. Best of luck!!!

Dee74

Well, I found remembering this acronym was useful for me Dave - and I know it's been useful for many others here too

I was so out of touch with my feelings, and so unused to feeling them sober, my brain translated every stimulus as 'drink now'.

Remembering the acronym helped me realise that sometimes that craving was hunger, or tiredness or some emotional upset....

It's not a magic wand, but it is a tool - and another step in realising we don't have to act on whatever it is we're feeling...as far as my experience goes, it worked

D

Supercrew

For certain alcoholics relapsing can be trigger based, and as RW said above many people who use HALT are able to reaccess a craving and then realize that one of these feelings is really what they are going through. I don't use the method, but I know that there are certain triggers in my life that make me have the urge to drink more than others, especially when you aren't always obsessing over drinking like most of us did in early recovery.

AnodyneShift

THANK YOU guys!

I have a feeling this will be another tool in my sober toolbelt-- roasting vegetables as I type this...

I am very grateful to have this website, and everyone associated with it, for support as I start this journey.

Dave

LaFemme

Since getting sober I can probably identify almost every thought of alcohol I've had to some other emotion...the most common being HALT. Recognizing that and dealing with it is, as Dee said, a useful tool.

newby1961

I remember in early sobriety when I was wanting to use or drink real bad it was a way to sit out those feelings and not react. If I went down the list and took care of some of my basic needs sometimes that feeling passed. I remember one night i wanted to drink soo bad and everything people were saying pissed me off, then I looked at hungry,angry,lonely, or tired and I had almost all of them, bottom line though I didn't use. Its more insurance against that next use at least thats my ESH

CarolD

Because depression is a large part of my drinking history
I added an S for sad to HALT.

so....HALTS for me means I must watch for those elements
..not let them over ride my goal of lasting sobriety.


It's easy to get side tracked in early sobreity .I did find
HALTS useful then...and now it's automatic....

Rusty Zipper

the way i remember it it,

it says...

not to get "Too" Hungry, Angry, Lonely & Tired

as we alky's and addicts tend to take things to the extream

Kit-Kats for all!

flutter

The way I've also used this concept (or whatever it is), was to think about which, if any of these 'letters' I was experiencing, when I found I had a craving for a drink. It was pretty common that I was one or many of the HALT acronyms.. and knew to correct them as best I could. If you're not hungry, or angry, or lonely, or tired.. I think you're feeling pretty good in general, or at least as good as ya can Looking back to when I actively drank, I was usually experiencing all of them, daily.. of my own creation. Thing was, I did nothing other than drink to 'correct' them. Boy was that messed up!

endzoner

It was a great tool in my early recovery , would just go thu the check list to see if something was off when I was feeling a lil " off " ...it did help and answered the question in my situations

Mark75

Certainly HALT has a place in anyone's "toolbelt"...

Like Jay said, it is not a trigger based condition, alcoholism is constant and chronic... I think to myself why he made that particular point and whether it was off topic... and no it wasn't... what I get out of his post is that methods like HALT are, by themselves, woefully inadequate to successfully treat hardcore alkies...

What HALT gets at, and Carol tagged on to... is that we need to be in balance, with ourselves, our bodies, others and, well, I guess, with the universe ... I don't necessarily use HALT, though I have at times...

I use an ongoing 10th step, and for you nonAAs, I mean that I try to stay aware of my spiritual, physical and emotional condition... and HALT can be included in that very easily...

ReadyAndAble

Yep. Very useful for me too. I didn't need a reason to drink, but those triggers certainly amplified the cravings. Hunger especially. Six+ weeks after I quit, I'm still having to remind myself to eat properly. At night I'll feel an urge to drink—and then think, oh, wait, I'm just super hungry. It's like my brain is still wired to interpret any physical need—even good healthy ones, like the need for food and sleep—as an urge to drink. One nice hot meal later, the craving is gone, and my only regret is that I didn't eat sooner!

NEOMARXIST

For me it makes good sense. And the way I've seen it refferred to is not to get too HALT.

For me then my drinking is undoubtedly related to my thinking/feelings and not wanting to feel them or look to escape them or even enhance them. So from my experience then getting hungry, angry, lonely or tired will make these emotions/feelings liable to be more extreme and my thinking much less clear and so the crutch of getting wasted appears. I found this very useful in early recovery and still think it a good idea to be mindful of it, experience has shown me this.

Peace

stugotz

my addiction made me hungry, angry, lonely and tired, not the other way around. Just sayin...

FrothyJay

Alcoholism is a disease of insanity-- we continue to put poison in our bodies even though we know it's not good for us. Can I see a show of hands of people who've experienced that?

So it follows that I'm not capable of thinking my way through the disease.

Why am I harping on this? Because for the far majority of relapsing, suffering alcoholics, all the slogans and acronyms and tricks do not work.
And when they don't, we're frustrated and disillusioned. We believe we are weak.

When the truth is, we are alcoholics.

The AA program is not about building obstacles to alcohol but breaking down obstacles to a power greater than myself that can restore me to sanity.

ReadyAndAble

I'll raise my hand to that, Jay. We definitely have a lot in common -- but we've also had some very different experiences with alcoholism.