Loneliness and cravings
 

Today I am getting some serious cravings for a drink.

It's a beautiful sunny day on the campus, the days where everyone sits on the green by the college bar and drinks in the sun.

I took a year out and am repeating my college year due to addiction troubles with drugs and alcohol. So I really don't have any friends in the college. I could have had some by now in truth, but I spent too long recovering from my binges that I skip club events and then my time is all taken up by frantically trying to catch up on work, once again leaving no time for club events. The friends I do have are not replying to me and the loneliness is starting to eat away at me a bit.

I know I will make new friends with sobriety. I know I can finally actually start getting on top of things with sobriety.

But man, right now its hard. I feel like if I could just text my friends I do have "hey want to go for a drink they would likely be not ignoring me". Or are the ignoring me because they are drinking? I dont know.

Either way, I havent and won't give into this craving. I have work to do, and the craving is just a way of escaping the loneliness and to procrastinate. It is hard though I do feel a physical urge to have a beer and sit in that sun. More than anything just some social interaction would be nice.

I'm glad you're determined to remain sober through this lonely period. I wonder if you can look on campus and find some clubs or sports groups to enjoy, or maybe there's some volunteering you could do. Those are things that might help you to make new sober friends. :)

It takes time

Try doing some stuff you normally would not do...

It is hard to just go back to life in a place that brings up fond memories, perhaps, of when you were out of control. Try not to romanticize those days. It's a perfect day to go out and do something else, as has been suggested here, to have a nice time while sober. It's too easy to walk back in your mind to the past. I hope that you find new balance, some friends that bring you joy, and a productive time as well.

I always drank alone so I had to get comfortable with myself so I didn't feel I 'had to' drink to escape myself.

I'm sort of new to this quitting thing. Brand new, actually.

"It's a beautiful sunny day on the campus, the days where everyone sits on the green by the college bar and drinks in the sun."

So I'm learning lots of stuff and one thing I hear about is 'triggers'. Triggers for drinking of course.

For me, I swear every @!!*## thing is a trigger! Because I did everything when drinking. 'It's sunny, I really need a drink. It's raining, need a drink. Really warm outside today, need a drink. Too cold, need a drink.'

Loneliness is a huge one for me also. My wife will sometimes travel quite a bit. We don't have children at home, not even pets, so I'll be here by myself. I always used being alone here as an excuse to drink. Funny thing is, as soon as she would arrive home, I'd use that as an excuse to drink also because so glad to see her, I should celebrate. For a month. Or just all year.

Not sure how long the craving last. For me, they were awful the first week, but now it's only occasionally. Eating until I'm full helps me get rid of them, usually.

I understand completely with the everything being a trigger! Feeling good? Feeling bad? Both and everything makes me want to drink, smoke pot and just generally not be sober!

Great to hear the cravings are getting easier to deal with keep it up!

That's why I have quit alcohol, i want a "normal"college experience, not a stressful and sad one. I made it through the day anyways, had a smoothie instead of a drink, cooked my girlfriend a dinner. Just did not give in. And hey I feel better for it (unsuprisingly).

I still have the rest of term and another year here. I know sober I can have the time I enjoy and not have to look back in regret! Cheers for the support guys.