I think your name is very fitting haha! I have actually been seriously contemplating doing a 7 day “challenge” and after completing that, add another week and so on and so on.
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Hi Scott and welcome!!
I can’t tell you if you have a problem with alcohol, but usually people who download a sobriety app may need to take a good hard honest look at the role alcohol has in their life.
I know for many (most? all?) of us, we tried many times over the years to institute some ‘rules’ or ‘bargaining’ or ‘moderating’ around our drinking. For me, I kept looking for that elusive system that would make it so I could continue to drink, you know, ‘get a handle on it,’ not overdo or feel bad about etc. I tried everything, for years, just beer, no hard liquor, only hard clear colored liquor, only 3 drinks a night, only 4 days a week, only weekends, water after every drink, all that type of thinking and trying to figure out how I could be a normal drinker. Truth is, I knew deep down in my heart what I was doing wasn’t healthy or good for me or for my family, relationships, jobs, etc. It was just me suckered in by the fallacy, the story we are told and believe that we have to drink to relax, have fun, celebrate, drown our sorrows, etc etc. I needed to get real and understand, really understand, that I was living in a hamster wheel, just going around and around, not really living at all. Slowly drinking myself down into a sad dark hole. Damn, that was hard to reconcile with all that fun we were supposed to be having drinking and partying. The fantasy of what drinking offers us (relaxation! fun! less anxiety!), compared to the reality of what drinking offers us (hangovers! Shame! Bad choices! Etc)…that was a big aha for me.
I love the idea of trying a few weeks or a 30 day challenge to stop. See how that feels. I also wanted to share some threads that may be helpful…
How often did u try moderation before realising it wasn't working? (if that is ur situation)
Advice for the Newcomer and Constant Relapser
Hope you find some good inspiration here!! And great job taking that first step!
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I think you will find that there many here like you.
I drank for almost 30 years, had a good job, husband, 2 kids, nice house in the suburbs. But I laid awake most nights concerned that I had, yet again, drank too much.
I tried all kinds of things to get my drinking under control. Only drinking on weekends; only 1 drink per day in week, 2 per day on weekend; only drinking soft drinks like wine or beer; only drinking hard drinks like whiskey (hoping it would slow me down)…nothing worked.
Finally I had to admit it…I needed to stop completely.
I’m not saying that is what you must do. You need to find that out for yourself. I just wanted you to know that your current life situation does not mean you can’t have a problem. Not all people with addictions are homeless and living under a bridge (the reason why I told myself for ages that I couldn’t be an alcoholic).
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