Alcohol Addiction When You Dont Want To Give It Up
You have been into your drug treatment program for several months. Things are getting better slowly, but you can now see how deep your problems go. You know that healthy choices will keep on the track for sobriety. But one dark thought keeps nagging you. I don’t know if I want to give up my drinking.
Alcohol Treatment Going Well But You Are Exhausted
Since things are going well with your alcohol treatment program, this thought seems so bad, so wrong. You feel guilty thinking about drinking again, what it would be like to have one drink right now. This creates a huge conflict in your mind. Do you keep on the straight and narrow, or do you test your will and have a drink or two?
This is not uncommon. Making large sweeping changes in life can take a lot of energy. Undoing bad patterns of behavior and replacing them requires focus, diligence, and commitment. This personality traits may not feel very natural to you, so this can be an exhausting process. For you, drinking was a relief. Relief from difficult emotions, from responsibility, from restrictions and rules.
You Are Worn Out From Your Commitment To Alcohol Treatment
It’s natural to feel worn and to question your efforts. Is it really worth it? Wouldn’t it just be easier if I cut back a little on my drinking, and dropped all this other alcohol treatment stuff? You may even begin to question whether you really have a problem. Everyone’s just getting upset over nothing. Besides, those times are behind you and you wouldn’t be that dumb again.
Catch yourself here, right here. There is a choice to make at this point. If you have been in alcohol treatment long enough and seen some progress, then part of you really knows what’s going on. It’s the addiction voice talking, not you. The real authentic you knows that alcohol rehab is the right way to go. The addiction voice wants you to gamble with your willpower and do what your feelings tell you.
Yes, it could be easier to just let go of your commitment to alcohol treatment. Yes, it would be easier to blow off your AA sponsor when they call. Yes, it would be easier to join up with your old friends instead of making new ones. It would be easier for a short while, and then your addiction would take control again.
You put yourself at risk for all the reasons you ended up at alcohol rehab in the first place. Was it depression and alcoholism together? A DUI arrest? Getting fired for being drunk on the job? Whatever made your life miserable before will surely catch up to you again.
Dropping Alcohol Treatment Seems Easy But Your Addiction Regains Control
Alcoholics usually just think as far as the next few moments ahead. If skipping alcohol treatment would help them get rid of a nagging thought, then skipping makes sense. If they want to avoid facing their anxiety that day, then going back to drinking to “relax” looks pretty good. Alcoholics are not likely thinking about how they will pay for this choice in the long run.
When you find yourself asking if you really want to give up your drinking, ask what else you would get along with that. Recall the price you’ve already paid from your addiction. Hopefully, the mentally well part of your mind will speak up and say something important and convincing. That’s the time to take the call from your AA sponsor and tell them what’s on your mind.