Cravings Turning to Fear
 

At 25 days here (and feeling quite well), I had a thought this morning: Initially in my first couple weeks after quitting, I definitely thought plenty about the act of drinking, feeling drunk, partying, etc. What's interesting to me is that now that some more time has passed, rather than craving, I feel myself being more and more afraid of the booze itself - almost like a downright fear of the stuff because of where I know it would take me. I suppose it is a healthy and constructive fear but was wondering if anyone has a similar perception of the bottle after achieving some sober time?

I feel the same, I'm afraid of it too.

Well done on day 25 Sober D

Yes i have that fear that if i drink i know exactly where it takes me

Do i want to drink No ......Am i scared to drink .. you betcha i am

I don't know if it's fear exactly, but I definitely see it in a different light these days-poison in a bottle.

I think I fear myself, that is, my addiction, more than the actual booze.

Yes, this makes a lot of sense to me.

I am not that much in front of you in terms of sober time, but I do not fear alcohol.
I have to ask, why do you fear it? You are giving it power by fearing it.

I agree. I am afraid of drinking alcohol as it is very clear to me now what will happen if I do. I'm not sure how much has to do with my general acceptance of where alcohol always takes me OR if I'm remembering the last traumatic ending to my drinking episode where I ended up in the intensive care unit with a brain injury that I still deal with.

Great thread! I can't rap my head around how I feel about the bottle.
Now that I think about it, I do sense a fear, but not towards the object itself, I guess fear of were I was, fear of failure.

I'll have to analyze this one further, thanks for the food for toughs.

I'm very afraid! But I choose to view it as a healthy fear and not as a weakness. After all, I'm afraid of drinking bleach too.

Haha, thanks for the good chuckle :)

I felt fear, at first, then respect. I think I needed to go through the fear to learn the respect of my poison. It WILL try to kill me, given a chance.

I also believe that we go through a period of grief for our chosen substance. Anger, and fear are but a few of the feelings we grow through. Working through those feelings helped me stay in recovery, and I wish the same for you.

Hugs and prayers,

Amy

I'm TERRIFIED of alcohol now! It's like a deadly weapon to me. This is a good thing...a healthy fear...at least for me. :)

Petrified of it in the beginning. Now I'm somewhat in control and I give it the healthy respect it deserves. If I drink, it will eventually kill me and all that I love. Never will I underestimate it's power if I pick it up, and I remain wary of being too confident that I have it beaten. But it doesn't scare me anymore. Well, not that much.

Yes, I do feel afraid of it. When I'm around it, I feel like it's going to get me.

Like Amy, in time for me, fear turned to a respect - not a good respect, but the kind of respect you give a raging tide, a loaded gun or a busy highway....

D

Congrats! I view it as an enemy now, a friend that I used to love that has committed an unforgivable thing against me! It has held me to ransome so many times, I am glad we don't have anything to do with each other anymore!