Tell me where to look. Help with XS alcohol

[Sam142]

I'm a newbie to this. Desperate to get the alcohol thing under control. All is good with my life now except alcohol. Have tried medication, hypnosis and meditation. Looking for further advice.

[amberlite]

Hi Sam, I do not drink but I have compulsions, is that what needing a drink is like? With inappropriate compulsions I use replacement behaviors. Would exercise and the endorphins created be a tradeoff for delaying the urge to drink? That sort of thing is part of how I keep it together. Anyhow I read your post and I do hope you keep trying to improve your life. good luck buddy

[Petal22]

Hi Sam142,

Wellcome to our forums!

Thats great that you are looking for ways to bring your alcohol under control……

Have you looked into any type of therapy?

I had severe anxiety OCD…….. I did an 8 week therapy it was an intervention into the OCD……. I learned to master my OCD this therapy was life changing for me…. It took a lot of hard work on my behalf and perseverance but it was so worth it I’m now free of the condition…

here to chat to you

[therising]

Hi Sam

Do you know why you drink? Possibly a strange question but I ask it because I used to be an 'emotional drinker'. Mind you, I'm a bit of an emotional eater these days. Being a Melbourne gal, constant lock downs lead me to open a pack of joy, a box of excitement, a bottle (soft drink) of bliss and so on. With the usual emotional resources off limits, my emotions in lock down can be tied to what I can find on supermarket shelves 🙂 I know, not healthy.

What I used to find in a bottle of booze was relaxation, a sense of peace, excitement, the abilities of a social butterfly (as I'm naturally a shy person), a bit of 'Dutch courage' and the list goes on. Actually, I'm smiling as some amusing imagery comes to mind. I'll share, with the hope of putting a smile on your face. I warn you, I do have a great and sometimes questionable imagination 🙂 Imagine if bottle shops were dimly lit seedy looking places where some witch like woman approached you saying 'What is it you're after today'. Your response, 'I need a brew for happiness'. She cackles, 'Not a problem' before going over to her cauldron. Behind her, she reaches on a shelf for a bottle of ethanol, pours a bit in and puts it back. Next, she reaches for a small bottle of flavoring, tips a bit in and puts it back on the shelf. This goes on for the next 10 minutes, her adding all these things to her brew. She fills 6 stubby sized bottles with the brew, hands them to you and says 'Here's your brew for 'happiness', that'll be $21.70. You go off, drink all 6 bottles and, magic, you find happiness. By the way, no eye of toad or bat wing in there to worry about 🙂

Of course, I don't have to tell you that bottle shops don't work that way. It would be pretty entertaining if they did though. Alcohol is still a brew that conjures up desired emotions. We don't have to go to any great effort, we just drink a bottle or 6 and the emotions magically begin to appear. Maybe not so much pure magic as chemistry, the chemistry in a bottle interacting with our own chemistry. The 'magic' of that interactive chemistry can be so addictive, hey.

If you are after a variety of ways to feel life without the booze, do you know specifically what you're looking to feel?

🙂

[geoff]

Hello Sam, I had an alcohol problem when I was depressed, now I don't drink, so I really appreciate your concern.

I haven't heard of anyone who has stopped drinking using hypnosis, and you have mentioned medication, it's a shame you can't mention these names as we can't do this on this site, however, your GP can prescribe a type of medication that will stop your urge and your need to drink, you can google what I've said and find out the name/s, I have tried it and know that it does work, but in conjunction with taking this you need to make sure that when the time arrives to drink, replace the alcohol with a big glass of fizzy lemonade, tonic water and drink the whole glass, then have something to eat, doing this with the medication certainly helps stop any need for alcohol, but if your mind by any chance feels as if it's time for a drink, then keep following what I've said.

If you have taken this type of medication, there are different brands and strength, as I took a brand that wasn't strong enough, so my GP put me on the strongest one available.

Please get back to us.

Geoff.