alcoholics - how did you stop?

Question

I keep saying to myself "this is the last time" but as soon as a few days go by it becomes "I deserve a drink for holding out so long" and there I go again.. If you were sucessful in quiting please share with me how you did it.

Answer 1

Here is what you have to remember. ALL IT TAKES IS ONE!

You stop for a while, right? Then you drink once, because you think it's going to be that one time. But then, the next time comes around, and you figure, one more time wont hurt, and before long, your drinking daily again, telling yourself you need to stop! So you stop for a few days, and tell yourself, "I'm proud of myself!" Then you get offered a drink and your words change to "What they hey! I've gone a few days, I can control myself!" But there goes that cycle again, because of that ONE drink.

See, the fact of the matter is, your an alcoholic for the rest of your life, you need to realize that the only way you can win, is if you put down the can for the rest of your life. You can't tell yourself 20 years from now, "I've gone 20 years, I can control my drink." Because it will start with that one, once again. 20 years from now you should be saying "I've gone all these years without alcohol, and life is just grand without it. In fact, life is so much better! My friends aren't trying to drag me out of bar fights anymore, my girlfriend's not throwing my clothe out the window anymore..."

You need to put it down, and you need to put it down for good. The problem is, YOU HAVE TO BE READY!

Sometimes, it takes a little extra push from someone you care about. I had a Friend who was a real bad alcoholic, he tried stopping so many times. We tried helping so many times, but could never get through. He couldn't stop until he had his kid back. He didn't become an alcoholic because he couldn't see his son, but when he got to have his son back in his life, he had a real reason to stop. So he gave it up, and to my knowledge hasn't picked it up since. But, I haven't seen him in 2 years, since we now both live in different states.. I still talk to him, but I haven't asked if he's been drinking. I hope he still isn't.

As for me, mine is less dramatic, my only addiction is cigarettes and weed.. I never wanted to quit smoking weed, but my girlfriend made me stop... As for cigarettes, let me just say, "I cannot believe I don't smoke anymore" I seriously mean that. I have tried to quit so many times before, and I have never been able to stop, because those puny little things look so harmless! I keep telling myself, one stupid little cigarette wont kill me, but they add up! For the first time in my life, I can actually be around it and not smoke, and it is a very empowering feeling to have. I feel like I finally have more power than the cigarette. I hope one day soon, you get to experience that as well.

Answer 2

Start to focus on other things. Alcohol is not everything. A couple of drinks once in a while wont hurt.

Answer 3

I ran out of liquor and got really busy withother things so I couldnt get around to go to the store. That's how I quit. Hahaha

Answer 4

This is a great question with a very complex answer. I'll try to give you the details to my success as best as I can.

I've been battling alcohol and substance abuse for almost 13 years. I've sought treatment for the last 3 years and haven't found anything that worked until I started attending a substance abuse group, based on the principals of CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) and did my own research on how the brain becomes dependant on substances.

Education:
It's important that you understand what addiction really is. Addiction is learned behavior that has been programmed into your brain over a long period of time. These behaviors become hard wired into our brain and are very hard to break. Therefore, when trying to quit addiction, you're really trying to take apart your brain, rework the wiring and install more healthy behaviors in your life that do not include the chemical effects of drinking alcohol. So when trying to quit addiction (to anything) you should understand that you’re going to have to change your way of thinking. The sooner you accept this, the easier therapy will become.

It becomes helpful to understand how powerful addiction is over the mind and will help the person get over the fact, that they are not eternally flawed with this disease and it can be treated. This makes you more receptive to therapy and just GETTING BETTER in general.

The chemical effects of alcohol
Alcohol is a GABA agonist; There are receptors in your central nervous system that modulate the presence of GABA, which is a neurotransmitter that inhibits your natural stress reaction. Your brain recognizes the reduction of stress as an unexpected reward and the brains reward system will remember the process in which the stress reaction was reduced, giving you cravings every time that stress reaction is repeated.

This is a small example of how addiction is created in our brain.

It's important to respect how powerful your brain is at it plays a central role in your addiction. You'll hear me say this over and over again. You're going to have to work very very very hard in changing your thoughts to get passed what your brain is currently programmed with. Did I say this requires A LOT OF HARD WORK? I thought I did.

Therapy:
The CBT approach is designed to help you understand how the addiction was formed, what thoughts (cognition) and actions (behaviors) contribute to your addition and the cost vs. benefits it's provided over different areas of your life (work, relationships, finances, etc). Over time, you will build an understanding of the thought process which leads to addiction. Slowly, you'll be able to interrupt this process and reconstruct it. Essentially, you'll be able to develop skills in providing rational thought and improved decision making ability, rather than reacting to thoughts and situations by jumping to drinking.

Support:
It’s important to understand that changing these programmed behaviors is AN INCREDIBY DIFFICULT PROCESS!! As you achieve sobriety, you will get extreeeeeemly depressed. It’s natural to face ambivalence at this point as you’ve become accustomed to drinking for so long, that without drinking, you lose your sense of social status, sense of self, confidence and identity. This is a time where you need to be strong and you really can’t do it alone. You can develop strength through a support network, which can be with friends, family, co-workers, anonymous support groups, online support groups, group therapy, psychiatrist, therapist, rabbi, priest, etc.
While going through this part of the therapy, you’ll get emotionally drained and worn out. You’ll need to go through this repeatedly until you are strong enough to deal with all these feelings without the use of alcohol or substances.

Medication:
Yes, medication is a source of support. In the beginning, my cravings were so powerful; I knew that I wasn't strong enough to overcome them. My therapist and psychiatrist prescribed Antabuse (disulfiram). This is a drug that prevents alcohol metabolism and essentially makes you sick when you drink, so sick, where if you drink heavily, you can die. This was an effective way of helping me abstain so I wouldn't be distracted with my cravings and could focus more on therapy.
Other supportive medications are antidepressants and mood stabilizers. (Which have personally helped me a great deal).

Results:
Don’t get me wrong, therapy isn’t all bad. As you progress through therapy overtime, you’ll feel a lot better about yourself, which fills your motivation. You need to recognize how hard it is to make these changes in your life and acknowledge your accomplishments along the way. Once you make it through to the other end, you will be changed, you will be STRONGER, HEALTHIER, HAPPIER and more CONFIDENT in yourself. I’ve also found that you can take what you’ve learned in making changes in your addiction to other parts of your life, such as relationships, work, etc. Maybe you'll eventually HELP SOMEONE ELSE BEAT THEIR ADDICTION with the strength and knowledge you've gained in the process. How good would it make you feel to help someone go from misery to happiness? That may be your motivation right there?

I can't say it enough; THIS IS NOT AN EASY THING TO DO - where sometimes PEOPLE WILL DIE who are in therapy. Think about that for a second when you're contemplating how hard this is.

I hope this helps anyone who is reading and if you have further questions that I can help with or if you need a little support; you can email me.

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