Living Near Bars/Pubs and the Addictive Voice
 

Hello everyone. I have been booze-free for 23 days and haven't this healthy and happy in ages! Anyway, I'm moving to a new apartment that is within walking distance from several bars, pubs and taverns. My Addictive Voice has been troubling me lately. It's been saying, "You're within walking distance from a bunch of bars. Now you can go out drinking and not worry about getting a DUI!" I know this is just another trick by the Addictive Voice; however, this urge has permeated over to My Voice. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to quail this urge using AVRT? Any advice would be gratefully appreciated!

AVRT is Probibly Great in helping at first,but I think you need to get to Face to Face AA meetings.There you will feel you are not So alone in fighting this obsession for Booze.
In AA they call this Stinking Thinking.............
It can be called all sorts of Things...In ACA its Called the Critical Parent.

It the other you..........the one that wants excitement.........at whatever the cost,to yourself,Family ,Friends,Society.

I have been using all sorts of Techniques to Identify This Addictive Voice.
But ultimately doing the Next Right Thing is all that is required.....
Congrats on 23 Days.....and the best for your future.

AVRT is Probibly Great in helping at first,but I think you need to get to Face to Face AA meetings.There you will feel you are not So alone in fighting this obsession for Booze.
In AA they call this Stinking Thinking.............
It can be called all sorts of Things...In ACA its Called the Critical Parent.

It the other you..........the one that wants excitement.........at whatever the cost,to yourself,Family ,Friends,Society.

I have been using all sorts of Techniques to Identify This Addictive Voice.
But ultimately doing the Next Right Thing is all that is required.....
Congrats on 23 Days sober.....and the best to you in the future.:c011:

Sorry for the Double Post..........Ill blame my lack of Patience,+this 15 second Delay the System requires while editing.

Have you commited to your Big Plan yet?

If yes it's a matter of re-inforcing to yourself who is ultimately in charge of your actions. Try the exercise where you hold your hand in front of your face and demand to your Beast that it move your fingers, it can't because you are in charge of your physical body. Your Beast cannot drink, it can only try to convince YOU to get it it's precious stuff. The beast is like a head with no body only a voice. If it wants alcohol it can scream, but ultimately needs you to get it.

Too bad you don't drink, poor beast.

Read the passages on shifting and put that into practice.

Another important thing is to realize the I/IT split. When you can recognize the beast voice is not yours, it becomes easier to control and unltimately ignore.Your beast is part of you, but it is NOT you and YOU alone control your actions.

Well, here's my take:

If you were having thoughts like "Gee, it might be nice to try out one of those bars", I'd say that is very normal, "classic" beast like activity to be going on in your head at this stage. However, what you are describing sounds like thoughts which have already accepted the fact that you will drink again...it sounds like your thoughts are already ahead of your first drink but onto how you will not get in trouble this time once your drinking is out of control.

Do you have SMART meetings near you? Unless you are going to hardcore sit down and make a Big Plan and do AVRT the way it is meant to be done (which not everyone does), I think you would benefit from some face-to-face interaction with others who also struggle with addiction. Personally, I used AVRT and SMART meetings in the beginning. I think the only way I could have done without the face-to-face interaction was if I got pretty "by the book" about AVRT (which it does not sound like you are). I don't hear a Big Plan in here at all....just a recognition of the addictive voice, and you will need more than that to succeed IMO.

Watcher is correct. The I/It split is the key. If you have truly decided that you will never drink again, for better or worse, then who cares what that disembodied voice in your head says? It can't do a darn thing, least of all walk into a bar, order a drink, pay for it, and pour it down your throat. The Beast can only make you struggle if you leave the option to drink again on the table, and there is a possibility of drinking again. The Big Plan of AVRT ends the inner debate — "should I or shouldn't I" — and forces this I/It split.

AVRT allows you to then partition off any thinking that draws you toward drinking through the use of pronouns in your thoughts. For example, you may decide, "I do not want to drink, but IT, my Beast, certainly does." Then, any time you get the thought, "I want to drink," you can quickly transpose this to, "IT — my Beast, my body — wants to drink. Too bad for IT." Never address your Beast, since that leads to debating and "white knuckling." Always stay in your right mind, in the "I," as in, "I will never drink/use again," and do not converse with desire.

This is a non-12 step forum. Please read these guidelines. http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...7-welcome.html

Sorry did not realise.......Just trying to help.
Take care.

Thanks for all of the input everyone, and sorry for the sluggish response. I have been very busy with moving and studying for finals as of late.

Anyway, I still haven't taken a sip of alcohol since January 1st, and never plan on doing so again -- my Big Plan was set forth when I woke up hung over (like usual) and became fed up with alcohol's grip on my life. My immense desperation lead me to read all about AVRT and make a pro/con list related to alcohol's relationship with my life.

The contingency I mentioned in my post has come to pass. I frequent restaurants that serve alcohol and no longer feel an even negligible desire to drink again. In fact, my friends ordered a pitcher of beer and tried to coax me into having "just one drink". I told them, "Heck no! Why would I want to fall back into my old ways?" I explained I can't drink in moderation and that one sip is all it would take for me to revert back to the deep hole I was in. They somewhat understood, although they are light drinkers and can't comprehend it completely.

I'm still a bit confused with this "Big Plan". From what I have gathered, it's a commitment to never drink alcohol the rest of one's life. Is there something more to it?

That's basically it. Have you read the RR book, surething?

From the RR dictionary...

Big Plan:

1. A transcending personal commitment to unconditional, permanent abstinence.
   
2. The pivotal act of self-recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs.

I haven't read the Rational Recovery book yet. I will purchase it on Amazon when my finances permit.

The Big Plan is very similar to the conclusion of Allan Carr's The Easy Way to Stop Drinking. From my own experience thus far, implementing information from both methods has enabled me to maintain sobriety nearly effortlessly; however, I believe recognizing the dichotomy between me/it has been most helpful.

Your call, but the book is far more comprehensive than the free crash course. They have used copies on half.com for under $1.50, less than $5 with shipping.

Thanks for letting me know. New copies were quite expensive.