overthis

Hi all! I have had to limit myself lately from reading posts on here because I found that I was coming on here so much and would spend over an hour at a time just browsing through threads. I felt like it was helping my thoughts constantly focus on alcohol. I realize I am an alcoholic so I am going to be thinking about not drinking/drinking A LOT more than most people, but I felt consumed by just the process of not drinking. I am torn though because this site and reading posts on here has been such a big help for my recovery. Don't tell me I am addicted to this forum now?? lol

I have been struggling with this lately and wondered if anyone had advice/could shed some light from experience? Maybe once I get further along in my sobriety, my thoughts won't be on alcohol as much?

(Hope this made a little bit of sense. Sometimes I have trouble putting my thoughts into words.)

Pigtails

I'm exactly where you are and can't offer much advice. I am literally obsessed/consumed by NOT drinking. I have figured I have an obsessive/overly-analytical personality, and that at least I'm consumed with not drinking instead of with drinking. Or trying to turn my brain off or numb my feelings with alcohol. I am learning a lot on here and it helps me to read and post, so, I do, even if I think I'm going quite a bit overboard! I was just writing a post about wishing I could go to rehab... so instead I've been spending a lot of time "recovering", which is obsessive and seems selfish, but, I can't figure out any other way. If I don't hold onto my lifelines, which for me right now are SR, AA, and reading recovery literature, I will drink. So, here I am.

Good luck to you. I wish you all the best. In AA they say our obsession with drinking will eventually go away... I can't wait for that to happen, and I hope it does, for me and for you!

camedown

Just think back to how muchof your time/energy was focused on drinking. Waking up with the hangover, puking, sweating, the shower. The morning shot to get rid of the shakes. Doing the rounds before leaving the house, checking to see how much booze you had so that you could hit the store after work to get an ample supply. Checking the $$$ to see if you needed to hit the bank. All the hours of frustration at work, itching for the drink. The actual first drink of the drunk, aand the 20 or so afterwards. Not to mention trying to cover up and re-discover all the crap you forgot from the previous night that you did. It's a lot of work being a drunk. It takes a lot of work to be sober too. We are alcoholics, nothing will ever change that. We can be sober or active, and either way, it is who we are. Keep fighting!!


camedown

FML

I'm glad you said this.
I was starting to feel a little crazy about it myself. I've been coming on here a ridiculous ammount.
I freaked out this morning because the internet wouldn't connect to the site for some reason. I mustve tried 10 times.
It does seem like an obsession, but I don't think it's a bad one at least.
Whatever helps. I think a part of it for me is I want to really convince myself that I have a problem and I can't just have another drink. I mean I do think I have a problem, but I can easily talk myself out of that, and other people around me made me feel like I was over reacting when I've quit before "Oh just have a couple". This place makes me feel like an alcoholic! And that's how I need to feel if I'm going to quit drinking.

Tigger41

Hi Overthis. Yeah I was concerned about this as well and I'm still in the site a lot but I'm starting to fill my life back up with family and friends.

I did (and still am) using this site to fill the void but I'm not as obsessed if I don't check in as often.

You Guys are doing great. Hang in there Pigtails, FLM

Deserto

At times I've had similar thoughts, but ultimately I concluded that looking at my time spent on SR as just time "spent on the Internet" was the wrong way to think about it.

What I'm really doing here is surrounding myself with people who have similar goals and ambitions that I do, and learning from them and sharing with them about our progress toward that goal.

It just happens to take place on the Net.

I think in the early days of course we're going to be consumed by the process of not drinking. We're trying to change the course of a river here.

sissy07

Overthis,

I am glad that you posted about this. I am closing in on 4 months sober, and I have been reading SR every day for the last four months for hours every day. I finally decided to quit reading the forum at work....it was actually getting in the way of getting my job done. I think part of it is that I really am an over the top person - I am either in 110% or 0%, but I also credit this forum with keeping me sober. I have learned so, so much and don't feel alone anymore. The fellowship and support is unbelieveable. So now I am going to try to fine tune things a little, still checking the forum every day, but before/after work.

In the beginning I think it is very important to do whatever you have to do to stay sober, and when the cravings came, logging on was a lifesaver. I guess I have no answer, just my own experience. I am glad to see that the thought of "trading addictions" has occurred to others.

Dee74

I'm probably not the person to ask *points to post count*lol.

But I credit this place, and the many many hours I spent here in my early recovery, with saving my life.

As with anything if it's interfering with real life it's probably wise to step back and take a look at things, but I never feel as if time I spend here is wasted or wasteful.

It's a million miles away from my old drinking behaviour - my drinking was all about me. This isn't

I'm part of a great community here - met many many wonderful people - and I'm very thankful for that

D

ReadyAndAble

I would just add that I believe everyone who posts here is helping others. That goes for posts about both personal triumphs and setbacks. Lofty concepts, nitty gritty details of your day—in some way, it's almost always going to help somebody. At the very least, your posts remind others that they are not traveling this road alone.

I'm not in AA, but I think there's a lot of wisdom in their emphasis on service to others. We help ourselves and we help others at the same time. Pretty cool.

Balance is important in all things. But in general I believe that time spent at SR is time well spent.

overthis

Thank you, thank you. Good insight as always. It's amazing to think that while we are helping ourselves we are helping others on this forum. I guess that's how the best things in life typically work. I definitely am ok with being a little obsessive about being on here if it means I'm not obsessed with getting my next drink!

Anna

Yeah, I'm with Dee on this. I have been here for a long time and I never felt consumed by thoughts of 'not drinking'. I came here looking for a way to recover and to grow. And, I searched for posts and threads that would help me to be a better person. I don't regret one minute of the time that I have spent here.

CamilleBelle

I catch myself waking up in the middle of the night and looking at this site under the covers on my phone... does seem obsessive, but everyday there are so many posts that make you think and contemplate recovery. The ones that get me most are the friends and family posts. I like to get perspective from the other side too. Makes me realize what I dont want to do/ lose.

flamingredhair

Well said! I actually get credit in treatment for spending time here because it's considered to be part of working on my recovery!

EmeraldRose

I kinda look at it this way...after a 30 year hiatus with booze I certainly couldn't be expected to NOT think about it viciously all day in early recovery. It was my life. I neglected alot of other emotions and thoughts just because I wanted the booze more.
Eventually, I could safely pour water on the fire and it was extinguished. It still smolders but the fire is not roaring.

I truly found staying here -right where I am- was the perfect spot. Go with your gut. If you feel you need to be here, then stay here.

Itchy

OK time for a confession. Hi I'm Itchy and I am an SR-aholic. Once I came here just because I needed to stop drinking, and they knew, they were like me. They sucked me in with good advice and even caring thoughts. Before I knew it I wasn't able to stop at just one or two posts, I was no longer drinking to excess I was posting to excess because that is how they helped me, by being here.

What a devious trap SR is. Now I spend time here, in gratitude for what I got from Dee and the others here.

Tigger41

And think of this Overthis - being on this site is so much more fun and so much more REAL than something like Facebook. Not only does this site help with getting us more firmly into recovery - the people are funny and it's saved me from other people's the mindless bragging and babbling on FB

Camille OMG this is so me.

neferkamichael

Its better to be obsessed with Soberrecovery.com than with alcohol/drugs. Because I hang on this site obsessively I'm 79 days off crack. I'm consumed by just the process of not drinking as well, as a matter of fact I rather enjoy it.

eJoshua

Well if I wasn't here as much I might be drinking, so I think that's a pretty fair trade off.

I also like to think that by sharing my own experiences I may have an impact on someone else's decision to quit drinking or stay sober, however small an impact that may be.

I don't consider myself obsessed or addicted to this site, and I wouldn't put SR in front of my friends, family or work, like I would constantly with alcohol.

SSIL75

I posted a similar thing in early recovery and I still spend a lot of time here but less than I did (and I think about sobriety less, too).

It's all good

Itchy

Some of us in the one year and under group with 6 months to a year of sobriety decided that we enjoyed the camaraderie of out little group so much that we wanted to stick around a bit more and so the idea of a one year and over group was formed. Several of the staff and admins here were rather surprised and actually said that they never really had more than a very few people hang out here much after they had been sober a year. But all of us liked the idea because of how motivated the folks with a lot of sober time were to us.

But let's face it. When you have ten days of sober time that person with three months seems like a superhero!!

Trust me, we are just the same as the rest of you only we started before you did and did not quit quitting somewhere along the way.

So after getting permission from the powers that be, Least went in and made the first room, set up doggie bowls for our furkids and the chairs and made coffee and the first ones started meeting.

But folks it is fine for folks to drop away after getting solid in their sobriety. And it is fine to stick around and help others as little or as much as you want. There is only one BAD reason for leaving SR. All the rest are good.