Alcoholism Support Group
Alcoholism is the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, even when it is negatively affecting your health, work, relationships and life. If you think alcohol is causing you to lose control, it's time to seek help. Our group is a safe place to vent, check in, get back up if you fall, and reach sobriety.
Fun and excitement cause me anxiety. Sometimes I get a more, more, more feeling and crave euphoria. Want to drink. Other times I get a need to come down feeling and crave relief. Need a drink. Too much activity causes me anxiety. Need a break. Need a drink. Too much inactivity causes me anxiety. Bored and restless. Need a drink. Worry over the future causes me anxiety. Need to pause. Want to drink. Regret or pain from the past causes me anxiety. Need escape. Need a drink. Sometimes Nothing causes me anxiety. I am just wound up. Need a drink.
The list could go on forever. Common denominator is ANXIETY.
There are days now in sobriety that I feel content and serene. Those days, I do not want or need a drink. The "other" days are still unbearable at times. EVERY day, I must be ACTIVE in my program of recovery.
I reduce my own anxiety as much as possible. I exercise. I try to remain productive. I seek and remain open to guidance. I try to live well and with virtue. I try to stay in the present. I am self aware and I self examine. I try to understand others. I correct my mistakes when possible. I try to accept things I cannot change. I pray. I meditate. I try to help others.
I learned these things mainly through the 12 steps of AA, but also with an open mind to all ideas.
Problem. Action. Solution. Sobriety is worth the work.
Just wanted to share.
The list could go on forever. Common denominator is ANXIETY.
There are days now in sobriety that I feel content and serene. Those days, I do not want or need a drink. The "other" days are still unbearable at times. EVERY day, I must be ACTIVE in my program of recovery.
I reduce my own anxiety as much as possible. I exercise. I try to remain productive. I seek and remain open to guidance. I try to live well and with virtue. I try to stay in the present. I am self aware and I self examine. I try to understand others. I correct my mistakes when possible. I try to accept things I cannot change. I pray. I meditate. I try to help others.
I learned these things mainly through the 12 steps of AA, but also with an open mind to all ideas.
Problem. Action. Solution. Sobriety is worth the work.
Just wanted to share.
You are doing good gal :) x
Anytime I feel anything that resembles anxiety, or craving, I remember where I end up physically, emotionally, and spiritually the next day...the remorse, depression, shame...which carries over for days..not worth a bottle of wine and of few hours of drunk..
Also, I remind myself that I am not going to let this beat me....I am in control, and I am not going to give in..
Anxiety is real, very real, and can be very debilitating. Some anxiety is normal and natural...like getting nervous before a job interview. Other times anxiety is actually a mental illness, which I have.
I am frustrated because anxiety the mental illness and alcoholism often go hand in hand...but not always. The two conditions excerbate one another. Alcoholics without anxiety the mental illness tend to assume by relating to their own experiences that it is just a symptom of early sobriety which will pass and get better with time. NOT!
Finally after 20 months trying to crack this problem I am getting help for both simultaneously. And it still sucks....to this day I can start shaking, lose my breath, heart pound and get confused (panic attack) at a drop of a hat. Ask an alcoholic why my hands are shaking and well, it's because I'm withdrawing or drank too much. Ugh. Definitely the drinking didn't help, but temporarily.
Anna, IMO you should see a mental health counselor to determine which anxiety you have.
Sorry for the rant.
So many people on here and in AA don't talk about that obsession. They don't talk about what triggers them. They talk about how great their lives are sober. They just ride along until one day, when they are too confused to say how they really feel, they relapse.
People tell me not to think about it. My last relapse caught me off guard - struck drunk for real. I didn't see the signs and I didn't want to talk about struggling because everyone was so proud of my "progress". It feels shameful to admit that I still have the urges to drink, as though at 4 mos, I am supposed to be magically enlightened... "Sobriety is wonderful." I struggle. It isn't so great yet and I'm not going to paint a happy face on when I don't feel it.
I try to post positive things when I feel good. I am grateful. It doesn't always come easy. When I don't feel good, I fight against isolation - I force myself to be visible because I am selfish. I want the help that might be offered. And when I feel I made some strides, had some realizations about what is helping me, I share so that I can help another.
Not everyone here is AA and not all the newcomers want to hear AA. I am just trying to share practical advice for all I guess. I know that I have a lot to learn. I also know that I COULD have relapsed a dozen times or more in the past few months if I wasn't working so hard to do the right things. All I know to be right is what relieves that anxiety and obsession right now.
Janet - I have always been high strung. The only time in my life I have had panic attack level anxiety is when I was actively drinking and continuously withdrawing. I still get dizzying anxiety at times but for the most part, if I exercise and do the things I mention, it is manageable. Exercise alone is a cure for most of my anxiety. I have obsessively exercised my whole life since I was 7 years old to try to control. Exercise was my self med before booze. I know everyone is different, but for me, I am not going to accept that I need a prescribed med when exercise has the same effect. I am seeing a therapist and had a psych eval done recently - I am open-minded to their findings.
Thanks all.
Sorry...I didn't mean to offend.
You know, now that I think about it, I have been dismissive of the effects of PAWS on alcoholics......yikes....an "ah ha" moment. That's what I love about this place...so many minds, ideas, opinion and beliefs and the subsequent, however infrequent yet promising epiphanies.
Eesh my head hurts now....think I'll go back to bed...lol