The urge and cravings
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2020
Posts: 38
The urge and cravings
I am just wondering what everybody does if they get really bad cravings as this has been a major problem for me in the past, I can go weeks without drinking everything is going well and then BAM it comes out of nowhere.
An extremely strong urge or craving to drink that does not seem to go away until I drink, in the past it has lasted all day and I have even done things such as go on a run etc
I remember waiting outside a shop once because the craving was so strong and there was someone in there for 20 minutes before me and I kept telling myself do not go in but I did anyway..
So what does everybody do if the craving comes around and does it go away eventually?
I am getting some anti craving medication in a week or so so hopefully that will help a little bit to get past them..
Sam
An extremely strong urge or craving to drink that does not seem to go away until I drink, in the past it has lasted all day and I have even done things such as go on a run etc
I remember waiting outside a shop once because the craving was so strong and there was someone in there for 20 minutes before me and I kept telling myself do not go in but I did anyway..
So what does everybody do if the craving comes around and does it go away eventually?
I am getting some anti craving medication in a week or so so hopefully that will help a little bit to get past them..
Sam
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,367
There are some good ideas here Sam:
https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums...-cravings.html (CarolD's tips for cravings)
I’m not downplaying the effort it takes to get past them, but once you get through a craving without drinking, things get a lot easier
D
https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums...-cravings.html (CarolD's tips for cravings)
I’m not downplaying the effort it takes to get past them, but once you get through a craving without drinking, things get a lot easier
D
Member
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Somerset
Posts: 924
Sam, I’m no expert but drinking a long cold alcohol free drink worked wonders for me. My go-to was a pint of cold fizzy water with some orange or lime juice. It’s worth a try?
I did that so often that eventually my cravings subsided
good luck!
I did that so often that eventually my cravings subsided
good luck!
Canine Welfare Advocate
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 10,962
HALT
Hungry, angry, lonely, tired.
Any of these can trigger the urge to drink.
The best way to get through cravings is to get through them. The reason yours are so persistent is because you always give into them, and your addiction knows that. What worked in the past is bound to work in the future. Say "no" to the addiction. That's how you get it to stop bothering you.
Hungry, angry, lonely, tired.
Any of these can trigger the urge to drink.
The best way to get through cravings is to get through them. The reason yours are so persistent is because you always give into them, and your addiction knows that. What worked in the past is bound to work in the future. Say "no" to the addiction. That's how you get it to stop bothering you.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Canada
Posts: 6,848
Hi Sampierce,
There is some good advice in the link offered by Dee.
I think from my experience that cravings last only a few minutes if you don't feed them.
Always cut the weakest link in the escalation to relapse, it's easier to avoid getting in your car than to try not to enter in the bar.
Ever heard about the AV? (addictive voice) It can play tricks on you if you don't watch out...
You could have a look at AVRT discussion threads on SR
Take care and stay with us, we need you
There is some good advice in the link offered by Dee.
I think from my experience that cravings last only a few minutes if you don't feed them.
Always cut the weakest link in the escalation to relapse, it's easier to avoid getting in your car than to try not to enter in the bar.
Ever heard about the AV? (addictive voice) It can play tricks on you if you don't watch out...
You could have a look at AVRT discussion threads on SR
Take care and stay with us, we need you
Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 10,912
Hi Sam,
I had cravings like that almost every day for about a month after quitting, both first time and probably even more after a relapse. Mine also often lasted for hours or sometimes were present ~all day. Many people say they should subside within a few minutes and it's only the first week or so that's hard - not my experience! I still get urges, but they are much more manageable and infrequent now; the first month was quite torture for me.
How I manage them:
1. The SMART Recovery program has a whole section designated to Coping with Urges (also called Point 2), which provides many useful and practical tools you can choose from. They also have a weekly Zoom meeting focusing specifically on this on Thursdays (just today!), you can check the online meeting schedule for it and need to register to attend. It was a course for a few weeks when I attended, the guy who leads the meeting goes through all the SMART tools and there is good discussion about the topic. I talked a lot about my experiences with them. Not sure if this meeting/course still happening but I just checked and it's on the schedule.
2. Rational Recovery's AVRT was mentioned above - now that I don't have so massive and persistent cravings, this is what I use primarily.
3. Like others said, going for a long walk or other exercise.
4. Eating a good nutritious meal. Some people eat ice cream or other sweet things, but I think that can just cause more problems in the future in case you have a tendency to get hooked on sugar. I don't like sweets and just eating normal food makes even the strongest craving go away for me each time, there is biological basis for this. I just would not rely on this 100%, obviously for health reasons.
5. Many people say reaching out to others and talking about it (e.g. here on SR or if you have other recovery community/friends) helps. This never really helped me much personally to alleviate a strong craving in the moment, but I learned lots of very helpful things from people discussing it in general, that I use when the urges hit.
The strong and persistent cravings are pretty much the only real challenge for me in my recovery and were the primary barrier to why I didn't get sober for a long time in the past, I really had to seriously learn how to resist and manage them. I didn't find any "magical" solution to make them diminish faster other than having a strong determination and deciding I'm all in for the long haul, not picking up alcohol no matter what, and waiting patiently for my brain to recover from that stage. I needed active distractions in the beginning (you can find tips at SMART), never felt safe enough with pure mental gymnastics when I had those super intense cravings lasting hours. From all I know, there is diversity between people in how much we struggle with this. Don't get discouraged and most importantly, don't drink! They do go away if you don't drink, but sometimes you may have to endure for hours if you are prone to such massive cravings, like myself. You will find relief eventually if you stick with 100% abstinence, but giving in even once destroyed the whole process in my experience. Wishing you all the best.
I had cravings like that almost every day for about a month after quitting, both first time and probably even more after a relapse. Mine also often lasted for hours or sometimes were present ~all day. Many people say they should subside within a few minutes and it's only the first week or so that's hard - not my experience! I still get urges, but they are much more manageable and infrequent now; the first month was quite torture for me.
How I manage them:
1. The SMART Recovery program has a whole section designated to Coping with Urges (also called Point 2), which provides many useful and practical tools you can choose from. They also have a weekly Zoom meeting focusing specifically on this on Thursdays (just today!), you can check the online meeting schedule for it and need to register to attend. It was a course for a few weeks when I attended, the guy who leads the meeting goes through all the SMART tools and there is good discussion about the topic. I talked a lot about my experiences with them. Not sure if this meeting/course still happening but I just checked and it's on the schedule.
2. Rational Recovery's AVRT was mentioned above - now that I don't have so massive and persistent cravings, this is what I use primarily.
3. Like others said, going for a long walk or other exercise.
4. Eating a good nutritious meal. Some people eat ice cream or other sweet things, but I think that can just cause more problems in the future in case you have a tendency to get hooked on sugar. I don't like sweets and just eating normal food makes even the strongest craving go away for me each time, there is biological basis for this. I just would not rely on this 100%, obviously for health reasons.
5. Many people say reaching out to others and talking about it (e.g. here on SR or if you have other recovery community/friends) helps. This never really helped me much personally to alleviate a strong craving in the moment, but I learned lots of very helpful things from people discussing it in general, that I use when the urges hit.
The strong and persistent cravings are pretty much the only real challenge for me in my recovery and were the primary barrier to why I didn't get sober for a long time in the past, I really had to seriously learn how to resist and manage them. I didn't find any "magical" solution to make them diminish faster other than having a strong determination and deciding I'm all in for the long haul, not picking up alcohol no matter what, and waiting patiently for my brain to recover from that stage. I needed active distractions in the beginning (you can find tips at SMART), never felt safe enough with pure mental gymnastics when I had those super intense cravings lasting hours. From all I know, there is diversity between people in how much we struggle with this. Don't get discouraged and most importantly, don't drink! They do go away if you don't drink, but sometimes you may have to endure for hours if you are prone to such massive cravings, like myself. You will find relief eventually if you stick with 100% abstinence, but giving in even once destroyed the whole process in my experience. Wishing you all the best.
~sb
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: MD
Posts: 15,960
Try Urge Surfing: Urge Surfing | Resources by MINDFULNESS.ORG.AU | Melbourne Australia
BACKGROUND
Urge surfing is a mindfulness technique can be used to help with any addictive behaviour such as gambling, overeating, inappropriate sex or any other destructive impulses.
Urges for substance use rarely last for very long if there is no opportunity to indulge them. People admitted to a high quality detoxification centre where there is no access to their drug of choice often find it remarkable how little craving they get.
Where there is no opportunity to use then there is no internal struggle. It is this internal struggle that feeds the cravings. Trying to fight cravings is like trying to block a waterfall. We end up being inundated. With the approach of mindfulness, we step aside and watch the water (cravings, impulses & urges) just go right past.
Most of us will have had past experiences of urges passing. This is an important strategy to identify, as it can greatly improve self efficacy for riding out urges.
The main message is that urges do not have to be acted upon.
HOW FIGHTING URGES FEEDS THEM
Often people try to eliminate the urges by distraction or talking themselves out of them. This usually just feeds the urges and creates the illusion that they are interminable until you give in to them.
There is plenty of research to show that suppressing a thought feeling or sensation, including pain ultimately increases it. (Clark Ball & **** 1991, Gold & Wegner 1995, Wegner, Schneider, Carter & White, 1987, Wegner, Schneider, Knutson & McMahon 1991, Cioffi & Holloway 1993) Just try to not think of something in particular. I have a friend who repeatedly tells his workshop attendees not to think of a little green frog sitting on his head. Of course the more he says it the more the participants end up thinking about the little green frog. That is what happens inside our own minds when we try not to think of something.
When we try to argue with ourselves or our urges we do no better. We end up being like those characters in the old cartoons where they have a little angel on one shoulder and a little devil on the other. The more they argue the more stressed we become. As the stress increases the power of the urges also increase. So the devil almost always wins. The rare person who succeeds in arguing their way through urges becomes incredibly tense and obsessed with not giving in. that sort of person in Alcoholics anonymous is known as a dry drunk. Not only are hey vey stressed themselves, they also are a cause of stress for everyone around them! Urge surfing is a much better option!
THE EXERCISE: EXPERIENCING THE CHANGING NATURE AND IMPERMANENCE OF URGES
THE TECHNIQUE OF URGE SURFING
Mindfulness allows us to bypass these problems associated with avoidance and disputation. Instead of trying to distract from or argue with the unpleasant thoughts, feelings or urges, mindfulness simply makes the thoughts, feelings or urges less important. When we use mindfulness we stay exposed to the thoughts feelings or urges for their natural duration without feeding or repressing them.
In fact, if we just let an urge be – non judgmentally – without feeding it or fighting it (Fighting it is just another way of feeding it anyway) then it will crest subside and pass.
Of course the urges come back again but over a period of time. However each time you outlast a bout of cravings they become less intense and less frequent . We don’t feed the urges and we don’t give in to the addiction. Moreover our mindfulness technique of urge surfing improves. If we have a slip and give into the impulse, we will have increased urges for a while. However we can still apply urge surfing all over again.
Giving in to urges can be compared with feeding a stray cat. In the beginning, you may want to feed the cat because it cries for food and attention. You may find that it is a nice thing to do and you feel good for being kind. However, your act of feeding the cat encourages it to repeat its cries and attention seeking. You find yourself giving in each time. Over a period of time the cat grows bolder and other cats join it in crying for food and attention.
You may begin to regret your actions, as a large number of strays are now contributing to noise and other problems. But you cannot resist their cries. You may believe that their survival now depends on you, and that your actions are more important than ever. They have you trapped in a cycle of problem behaviours.
If you make a decision to resist feeding the “cat army,” there will be loud and pitiful cries for a few days. In fact they will be at their strongest when you have decided not to reinforce their behaviour. Soon, however, they will come to realise that they are no longer being reinforced, and will gradually diminish and disappear. Your decision to stick with the action you know is best for you will “undo” the problem that you unknowingly built up in the first place.
Urges do go away, but they may be very strong for a short while immediately after quitting. Knowing that they will weaken will help you to continue to surf the impulses that you feel, especially in response to your personal triggers.
PURPOSE
To experience the cravings in a new way and to “ride them out” until they go away
PREPARATION
Urge surfing is a mindfulness technique can be used to help with any addictive behaviour such as gambling, overeating, inappropriate sex or any other destructive impulses.
Urges for substance use rarely last for very long if there is no opportunity to indulge them. People admitted to a high quality detoxification centre where there is no access to their drug of choice often find it remarkable how little craving they get.
Where there is no opportunity to use then there is no internal struggle. It is this internal struggle that feeds the cravings. Trying to fight cravings is like trying to block a waterfall. We end up being inundated. With the approach of mindfulness, we step aside and watch the water (cravings, impulses & urges) just go right past.
Most of us will have had past experiences of urges passing. This is an important strategy to identify, as it can greatly improve self efficacy for riding out urges.
The main message is that urges do not have to be acted upon.
HOW FIGHTING URGES FEEDS THEM
Often people try to eliminate the urges by distraction or talking themselves out of them. This usually just feeds the urges and creates the illusion that they are interminable until you give in to them.
There is plenty of research to show that suppressing a thought feeling or sensation, including pain ultimately increases it. (Clark Ball & **** 1991, Gold & Wegner 1995, Wegner, Schneider, Carter & White, 1987, Wegner, Schneider, Knutson & McMahon 1991, Cioffi & Holloway 1993) Just try to not think of something in particular. I have a friend who repeatedly tells his workshop attendees not to think of a little green frog sitting on his head. Of course the more he says it the more the participants end up thinking about the little green frog. That is what happens inside our own minds when we try not to think of something.
When we try to argue with ourselves or our urges we do no better. We end up being like those characters in the old cartoons where they have a little angel on one shoulder and a little devil on the other. The more they argue the more stressed we become. As the stress increases the power of the urges also increase. So the devil almost always wins. The rare person who succeeds in arguing their way through urges becomes incredibly tense and obsessed with not giving in. that sort of person in Alcoholics anonymous is known as a dry drunk. Not only are hey vey stressed themselves, they also are a cause of stress for everyone around them! Urge surfing is a much better option!
THE EXERCISE: EXPERIENCING THE CHANGING NATURE AND IMPERMANENCE OF URGES
- Sitting with the back unsupported in a chair or on a cushion on the floor
- Starting Mindfulness Meditation Waiting for any sense of discomfort e.g. Restlessness, an itch
- Noting the desire to move and resisting it Noticing thoughts that arise, e.g.:
- “I wish this itch would go”…………..
- ”It is driving me crazy”…………..
- ”This too will pass” – in a calm tone………..
- ”This too will pass” – in an irritable tone…………..
- ”It is is not bloody well passing!”………….
- ”I would love to scratch right now” etc etc
- “I wish this itch would go”…………..
- These thoughts are just thoughts. So gently bringing your attention back to your breath and bodily sensations
- Noting the changing position, shape and quality of the discomfort over time. Being interested in feeling it as precisely as you can. Noticing how the shape and intensity changes with the cycle of the breath. Is it stronger during the in breath or during the out breath?
- You might find your thoughts spontaneously going to other matters,e.g. Your shopping list, a fight with you partner, a football game, planning a holiday.
- These are still just thoughts.
- Gently bringing your attention back to your breath and body sensations. They are probably different again.
THE TECHNIQUE OF URGE SURFING
Mindfulness allows us to bypass these problems associated with avoidance and disputation. Instead of trying to distract from or argue with the unpleasant thoughts, feelings or urges, mindfulness simply makes the thoughts, feelings or urges less important. When we use mindfulness we stay exposed to the thoughts feelings or urges for their natural duration without feeding or repressing them.
In fact, if we just let an urge be – non judgmentally – without feeding it or fighting it (Fighting it is just another way of feeding it anyway) then it will crest subside and pass.
Of course the urges come back again but over a period of time. However each time you outlast a bout of cravings they become less intense and less frequent . We don’t feed the urges and we don’t give in to the addiction. Moreover our mindfulness technique of urge surfing improves. If we have a slip and give into the impulse, we will have increased urges for a while. However we can still apply urge surfing all over again.
Giving in to urges can be compared with feeding a stray cat. In the beginning, you may want to feed the cat because it cries for food and attention. You may find that it is a nice thing to do and you feel good for being kind. However, your act of feeding the cat encourages it to repeat its cries and attention seeking. You find yourself giving in each time. Over a period of time the cat grows bolder and other cats join it in crying for food and attention.
You may begin to regret your actions, as a large number of strays are now contributing to noise and other problems. But you cannot resist their cries. You may believe that their survival now depends on you, and that your actions are more important than ever. They have you trapped in a cycle of problem behaviours.
If you make a decision to resist feeding the “cat army,” there will be loud and pitiful cries for a few days. In fact they will be at their strongest when you have decided not to reinforce their behaviour. Soon, however, they will come to realise that they are no longer being reinforced, and will gradually diminish and disappear. Your decision to stick with the action you know is best for you will “undo” the problem that you unknowingly built up in the first place.
Urges do go away, but they may be very strong for a short while immediately after quitting. Knowing that they will weaken will help you to continue to surf the impulses that you feel, especially in response to your personal triggers.
Urge Surfing Summary
PURPOSE
To experience the cravings in a new way and to “ride them out” until they go away
PREPARATION
- Remember that urges pass by themselves.
- Imagined that urges are like ocean waves that arrive crest and subside. They are small when they start, will grow in size, and then will break up and dissipate.
- Practise mindfulness regularly and especially notice any impulses or urges that appear. Then we are well prepared to ride these waves without giving in to the urge by using mindfulness. Your brain will have built the circuitry that makes this process more manageable.
- Practise mindfulness
- Watching the breath without altering it. Allowing the breath to breathe itself.
- Noticing your thoughts.
- Without judging them, feeding them or fighting them gently bringing your attention back to the breath
- Noticing the craving experience as it affects the body.
- Focusing on one area where the urge is being felt and noticing what is occurring.
- Noticing quality, position, boundaries & intensity of the sensation
- Noticing how these change with the in-breath and out-breath
- Noticing quality, position, boundaries & intensity of the sensation
- Repeating the focusing process with each part of the body involved.
- Being curious about what occurs and noticing changes over time.
Last edited by Dee74; 05-13-2021 at 03:27 PM. Reason: removed commercial link
Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: NC
Posts: 5,148
Stop giving the addiction space in your head.
Addiction: Hey we should have a drink
You: No thanks, I do not drink. End of story no more need to discuss or think about it.
Not as easy at it sounds at first but this is how I do it.
Stop thinking, dwelling on the drink.
Addiction: Hey we should have a drink
You: No thanks, I do not drink. End of story no more need to discuss or think about it.
Not as easy at it sounds at first but this is how I do it.
Stop thinking, dwelling on the drink.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: casablanca
Posts: 282
I am so familiar with the obsession when it hits hard. For some of us it may even linger on for days. It hit me two days ago while out and about, I found a place to sit at and opened my phone where I have sticky notes that are synched with my PC that I could read. Things a I pasted from my PC. Recovery stuff, Scriptures....ect
I decided to have those things on my phone so when outside I can still be able to read, remind myself of certain things that can rewire my brain at least for the time being. But like I said even if it works for the rest of the day, it comes back around the same time again and I usually keep fighting it day in and out until I give in and give up and drink. Worst withdrawals ever as usual.
I made a pledge to go through all 12 steps at least before giving in this time. I also use AVRT (addictive voice recognition technique).
I decided to have those things on my phone so when outside I can still be able to read, remind myself of certain things that can rewire my brain at least for the time being. But like I said even if it works for the rest of the day, it comes back around the same time again and I usually keep fighting it day in and out until I give in and give up and drink. Worst withdrawals ever as usual.
I made a pledge to go through all 12 steps at least before giving in this time. I also use AVRT (addictive voice recognition technique).
Member
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 5,154
Originally Posted by Sampierce55 
So what does everybody do if the craving comes around and does it go away eventually?
I am getting some anti craving medication in a week or so so hopefully that will help a little bit to get past them..
I am getting some anti craving medication in a week or so so hopefully that will help a little bit to get past them..
The reason yours are so persistent is because you always give into them, and your addiction knows that. What worked in the past is bound to work in the future. Say "no" to the addiction. That's how you get it to stop bothering you.
As for what you can do to make it easier, exercise or some other distraction helps. None of this is going to stop the cravings altogether. There is just no magic that can do that. Part of this is just muscle and willpower. And your goal at first is just to see some weakening of the cravings, although they will get stronger at first, because your alcoholic side is going to start throwing outright tantrums until it gets what it wants. Don't give in and it will quiet down.
But there are some mental rearrangements that worked for me, and these actually put a lid on the insanity once and for all. First, get over the idea that at some point you can have a drink like a normal person. You have to fully embrace the idea of life long abstinence. If you don't this, you will never get over your problem. You will start to feel better and feel like the exception to the rule, and have a drink. And it will go pretty good, so you will have another, maybe not even that same night, but in a week, you will be right where you are now.
I also checked into an AA meeting every night. I did not follow the program. It was not workable for me, but the nightly contact with a bunch of recovering alcoholics supplanted my visit to the bar. If the program is attractive to you, all the better. You will have another reason to go. Alternatively, spend two or three hours posting on this forum and see if that helps. It will be a change in your routine. If this seems drastic to you, don't feel like the Lone Ranger. You need to make drastic changes to your life to deal with a very drastic problem. Few here could get away with anything less.
Good luck to you. What you are about to undertake is big. The rewards for success are equally big.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Canada
Posts: 1,100
Agree with Fishkiller. We have a choice. I don't give the addictive voice any space in my head. If I feel like an urge may come on I immediately redirect my attention. I never ever romanticize alcohol or "sit in the urge". That's how all my relapses started.
I looked at it like a "reprogramming" to the extent that I sought out information about the detriments of alcohol...such as the effects on health care systems.
Almost a year and half later, I can go about my day without worry of relapse.
Lots of great advise here so I would say take what works for you and develop a plan of your own. We are all different.
I looked at it like a "reprogramming" to the extent that I sought out information about the detriments of alcohol...such as the effects on health care systems.
Almost a year and half later, I can go about my day without worry of relapse.
Lots of great advise here so I would say take what works for you and develop a plan of your own. We are all different.
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Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Big City
Posts: 3,895
Lots of great advice - let me second or third the use of urge surfing. It was an essential tool in my early sobriety and even though I don't get urges to drink anymore, the technique is amazing to use in all aspects of life from anger to self-doubt to anxiety. A real life changer to experience the fact that feelings and moods and urges come and go like the tide. When we are caught up in the urge it's hard to believe it ever ends. Experiencing the end of the urges, seeing them dissipate, is a remarkable thing.
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Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 5,154
Originally Posted by Sober45
I don't give the addictive voice any space in my head. If I feel like an urge may come on I immediately redirect my attention. I never ever romanticize alcohol or "sit in the urge". That's how all my relapses started.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 10,912
Originally Posted by DriGuy
During the end of my drinking, I used to sit in the urge, challenging it like a sailor cursing the gods during a storm. After I had proven myself for 20 minutes of this, I would buy a bottle to celebrate the strength of my willpower. I'm not a fan of that tactic. I admit I'm not sure what urge surfing is, but I hear it promated as a recovery strategy, but the whole thing gives me the shivers. I advocate running from urges, not engaging them. Unfortunately, I don't know how I do it. I just do it, but I can't pass that on to others, because it's just something that came to me in early recovery like a gift. Maybe when the urges subside, this is naturally what happens.
.
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Join Date: Feb 2021
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Posts: 333
Well like it was explained to me, if you have gone a week without booze the craving cannot be physiological so has to be in the head so you would need to figure out what you are lacking in your life that is causing you to get to that f*** it stage.
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Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 5,154
Originally Posted by Scd619x
Well like it was explained to me, if you have gone a week without booze the craving cannot be physiological so has to be in the head so you would need to figure out what you are lacking in your life that is causing you to get to that f*** it stage.
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 10,912
Originally Posted by DriGuy
I could urge surf now, and probably could have a month into recovery. For myself, AVRT, it's Big Plan, and urge surfing becomes possible after the urges diminished as a natural result of abstinence. I don't think this would have been so easy after one week of sobriety for myself. I believe, my addiction was both physical and psychological, but mostly psychological. I was still pretty fragile after one weak, although I was done with the physiological part for the most part.
Now that those extreme states are ~over, I can easily do any of the mental gymnastics and even enjoy playing around with them. Even the Big Plan is so much clearer and solid in my head now. I really needed those early intense and long cravings to go, and for me it was possible via exercising enormous willpower (like I never had to apply to anything else before) and the active distractions. I really think that for many people who attend meetings in early sobriety, in part the way they help is quite similar: they can be engaging, active distractions from what goes on in the mind. I think the cravings are result of physiological processes that addiction causes, there is real effective way to think ourselves out of them or wish them away at the beginning, pretty much need to endure and be patient. There is ample evidence from science now about how cravings and relapses work, it's organic processes that years of substance abuse set in place primarily. The brain is amazing and can heal pretty fast though if we let it (no more alcohol), but that wait time can still feel like an eternity at first. But it's absolutely worth the patience!
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 10,912
Originally Posted by Scd619x
Well like it was explained to me, if you have gone a week without booze the craving cannot be physiological so has to be in the head so you would need to figure out what you are lacking in your life that is causing you to get to that f*** it stage.
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