Humans have always had a complicated relationship with alcohol. It is a substance that is simultaneously associated with good times and bad; with social and anti-social behaviour. If you’re at a party and you don’t have a drink, you will be pressured to have one. But at a non-drinking event, if you are drinking, people will look down on you.
Drinking represents the best of times and the worst of times. But alcohol has a way of blurring the lines until you can’t tell which is which. Alcohol addiction can distort your self-perception and lead you down a road of denial and broken promises. Many times, the answer to breaking free from the cycle is to change the destructive patterns in your life.
Counselling or Personal Support: One of the quickest ways to identify where some of your destructive tendencies come from is through consultation with a counsellor or counselling service. The symptoms and conditions of alcohol abuse are well known.
In meeting with trained personnel and people who have overcome the same problems, such as IAMACOMEBACK, can reduce the time it takes to identify the issues and the thoughts you need to address and defeat the destructive cycle.
Meet New People: People with addictions find support and determination from others going through the same thing. It can be advantageous to bring people into your circle who are trying to break free from their addiction.
When people work together and confess their desire to change, that accountability can be a powerful tool to break unhealthy patterns. The best place to find people determined to be successful is at programs designed for that purpose. Sometimes when two people have a shared goal, they can help each other through situations that they can’t handle on their own.
Identify the Destructive Patterns: Most people with alcohol addiction can easily recognize the situations or the thoughts that bring them to the start of another round of drinking. The triggers are often emotional, painful experiences that repeatedly return and make a person look for a way to escape.
When these triggers occur, it is essential to change your response. Instead of looking to escape, it is better to change your focus. To do things that take your mind off you. The real problem is not what you use to escape, but your inability to ignore the triggers and move on to healthier thoughts and ideas.
Identify your Fears and your Pain: Alcohol is a liar. First, it tells you lies about yourself, and then it reminds you about what hurts you and accuses you of things that aren’t true. And then it presents itself as a refuge from the pain.
All the defeatist and discouraging things you tell yourself repeatedly are illusions, broken logic, and misplaced guilt. When you learn to recognize the lies for what they are, you will begin to equip yourself with the right tools to defeat them.
Life is complicated, and everyone has their journey. But the world is full of people who have beaten alcohol addiction, and they can help you can beat it too.