what do you think?

[Angelcakes]

what do you think?

some call them triggers...I call them excuses (but that's just me)

welcome summer - hope you stick around mate.
xo

[dove]

what do you think?

I think I've realized that I drink to 'fill' the scaredness of really feeling and dealing with real emotions.....being drunk hides them all, always feels the same, and always ends up the same (i.e. hungover, guilt, ect.) even if the details during the drunk are varied....
Dove

[Aussie Chick]

what do you think?

Brilliant thread Summer, well done for starting it. Really good post WIP, just exactly what I was thinking but obviously wouldn't be able to communicate it nearly as well are you have.

There are loads of really sad stories on this site of people that have had really hard lives and taken serious knocks along the way, resulting in them using alcohol to somewhat numb the pain - unsurprisingly. However, there are also loads of people too who haven't had a bad start in live but have just let their alcohol consumption get out of control and have a weakness for it (probably in the genes as we all know).


We are all here for completely different reasons, they key being we all need to move forward and beat the booze.

AC x x

[johnnyh]

what do you think?

Hey WIP, well put I have to give it to you!! However... Me personally and that why not every shoe fits all, find that my drinking is the result of my inablility to deal with certain emotions/ stress situations, similarly to what dove described above as well.

Surely, the sooner I face up to that reality, start facing these emotions and deal with my problems, the easier it will become for me not to go back to the bottle?!

[A Work in Progress]

what do you think?

johnnyh;538419 wrote: Me personally and that why not every shoe fits all, find that my drinking is the result of my inablility to deal with certain emotions/ stress situations, similarly to what dove described above as well.

Surely, the sooner I face up to that reality, start facing these emotions and deal with my problems, the easier it will become for me not to go back to the bottle?!Absolutely, I agree with you, Johnny. When we quit drinking, we IMMEDIATELY begin learning to deal with unpleasant feelings and emotions, without drinking. We really don't have to go out of our way to do that, do we? Over time, it does get easier. But just as for people who have never had alcohol problems, or for those who never drink at all... there will always be some situations that will be incredibly painful. And, even if it's been a really long time that we have been AF... that may very well re-awaken the impulse or urge to have a drink. At that point, we just have to draw on the awareness that we have built up that we absolutely CAN survive this... whatever it is... and we can survive it much better without alcohol.

Angelcakes said: some call them triggers...I call them excuses (but that's just me)

I get your point. "Triggers" are situations and emotional states that our brain associates with drinking, creating stronger urges/desires to drink. If we give in to those urges, and drink, then they become "excuses"! How's that?

[johnnyh]

what do you think?

Very Well said WIP!! Well AL is really not an option for me anymore. I will not give in to those triggers, no matter what. If that means I got to stay on Antabuse for the rest of my days, so be it. AL just renders us so useless to deal with life.

Well said on the Triggers thing

[changemylife]

what do you think?

I drank to fill many voids in my life. Too many to go into right now.