Been thinking about why i started 10 years ago… I was sad af about trauma that recently happened
Then i continued drinking when I was depressed
Im not even sad or depressed anymore. My recent two week relapse(2 months sober before that one)… i was simply bored. Was nice to get drunk and watch movies.
It isnt difficult to not drink durin the day(never been one to day drink very often)… the craving happens late at night when theres nor much goin on and feeling bored. Also i cant sleep.
Congrats on 2 weeks! Reasons I drank:
Happy, sad, bored, tired, excited, weather is bad, weather is good, etc. and realized there was really no reason why I wouldn’t drink and therein lies the problem.
I drank because I know today I am powerless over alcohol with a mental obsession, The compulsion to drink was a power greater than me.
I would either be drinking or thinking about drinking. Like an itch that needed scratching
I don’t. Truly. Not anymore. My life is much better without mind altering substances (well OK, I’m on antidepressants right now, planning to stop those asap too). The last 10 years I drank because I am an addict. When I started out at 14 it was fun to be out of my head. Literally. Now I rather try mindfulness or meditation. to quiet my thoughts.
I don’t want to drink anymore, very rarely do i get those thoughts these days. Life is just way easier, happier, and all around better without that bullshit. I don’t mean to sound like a dick but boring people get bored. Find new hobbies, things you love. Wish you well
I drank to forget my problems, to not feel bad, to be able to sleep, to reduce anxiety, to not stress, to calm down, to feel good, to forget about heat ache. It worked for maybe the first half hour then I’d feel kind of shitty if I wasn’t distracted.
Now 80% of the time I don’t want to because I was able to get away from it and I don’t want to get back into the loop of needing to drink to feel okay.
I just get bored at night after a full day. You know that period when you winding down and chillin … till bedtime . thats when im bored and feel like knockin some back. I have plenty goin on in my life durin the day where i am not bored.
Thank you! Got 20 days last night and my previous record was three weeks. The three week span I was unable to change anything about my daily life so I was an irritable miserable individual basically thinking about drinking every night. The boredom you mentioned was a big reason too, don’t know how I forgot to mention idle hands in the list😂
I drank because I wanted to escape who I was sober. I didn’t have any respect, nor any belief in the fact that i could change. I was insecure. Bitter. Boring. Lazy. The only thing I looked forward to was instant gratification of alcohol nicotine and drugs and I let people down on the daily and had no cares about doing so.
I really don’t want to drink. I’m almost at my month mark, and after my latest relapse I’m determined never to drink again… it was horrible. The thought of drinking at the moment knocks me sick. Hope it stays that way.
Like a lot of the others have said, now I’ve gotten to the point where I’m very opposed to the thought of drinking. I’ve seen that the “grass is greener” as they say.
I also was the same way as @MoPo, I would drink for literally any reason. Good, bad, happy, sad…to celebrate or to mourn, to blow off steam, etc. The root cause of my drinking problem was anxiety but it eventually turned into a “solution” for everything.
Some years ago I couldnt make simple things as filling my car tank or buying bread if I was not drinking. Till today when I go to supermarket I grab at least two cold cans/bottles to drink (while driving!) because I cant wait arrive at home and wait 15 minutes to the pack beer I bought be cold. I remember going to kids parties and became absolutely uncomfortable if there was no alcohol, I remembered once I callend a friend and begging him to bring some cold beer and we ended drinking behind his car while people were chanting the happy birthday. This seemed funny and smart at the time and now I just think its sad…
I think I still have the urge to drink because it is honestly a mental reflex that I am trying to break.
I found that I can confront my own problems and insecurities and come out on the other side, like I did prior to drinking.
Peer pressure is also something that increases the urge to drink for me - I find myself really struggling when I see people appearing to have a good time while having a drink with dinner at restaurants.
I practice reflecting on why I wanted to quit during these times too though.
I want to be in control of myself and remember my life. I want my actions and behaviors to reflect my beliefs. I want to not be so afraid of people that I feel the need to “check out” in order to be around them.
I drank because I was young and it was fun. I later drank because of low self esteem and confidence, I then drank because I had a hangover regardless of time of day… getting off that vicious spinning hamster wheel is hard and staying off is harder. I am taking baby steps, doing and learning new things… I am led by the members here with lots of sober days behind them and how their life’s are so better…
I think everyone drinks because they like the way it makes them feel. Some people, alcoholics/problem drinkers, covet that feeling much more than others.
I don’t want or need a drink anymore, I’m plenty comfortable in my own skin nowadays.
Alcohol doesn’t give you anything you don’t already have, it just disengrates what you could be.
