Posted by antigua on November 11, 2003, at 18:17:26
In reply to Re: New to this and that, posted by Porter on November 11, 2003, at 14:21:24
Sobriety does improve things, but it takes time. Or at least that's what everyone keeps promising me. Right now, sobriety is about all I have to hold onto and I refuse to give into my drinking demon.
Do you know why you drink? Do you know what it is that drives you to excess? I've been taught (and I do believe) that you have to fully address the underlying issues in order to really stop abusing substances. It's all part of therapy. First you quit the substances. Then you're left w/a huge emotional mess that you have to work your way through before you feel really good about yourself, and won't want to drink. Getting through that minefield w/o drinking is really, really tough. I'm not there yet either.
My therapist always told me that my drinking "problem" would resolve itself once I resolved my other issues. I believed her for a long time, and she may still be right, but after my accident I couldn't afford to keep drinking to see if she was right. So quitting has made my life awful in many ways because I have to deal w/my problems all the time. All I have to go on is my inner strength, which really isn't very strong.
Are you familiar w/ antabuse and naltrexone? They can be helpful. I've tried them both. I don't know if naltrexone cut down my cravings (I still have them constantly), but I do know that when I tested it by drinking, I certainly didn't get that great, warm feeling that I would get w/my first glass of wine. It was bizarre, so I think it works for me. I used antabuse for a time, but I really didn't like how it made me feel so I don't take that anymore.
As to therapy, my therapist primarily practices psychodynamic and every little thing, or thought, has some type of meaning. In my case,as with most people, everything goes back to childhood,my parents and the type of life I had when I was young. I believe in this approach because I have come to understand that I am who I am because of certain events. And now that I know the effects my childhood had on me, I can try to change my behavior so that the results are different for me as an adult. I think that's where rational emotive therapy comes into it for me--changing my emotions and reactions from irrational to rational so that I can live and function in the world instead of living in my head all the time.
Sorry if this is confusing.
poster:antigua
thread:278301
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/subs/20031014/msgs/278723.html