Could it be simply Habit?

minneapolisnick · **Joined:** Tue May 19, 2009 2:17 pm **Posts:** 1793

I agree V, alcohol enhances the experience of listening to music. Alcohol also enhances other great things in life that can be rewarding in and of themselves, like comedy, good conversation, etc. The problem is that too much alcohol in the mix twists your mind into thinking that one is no good without the other. That's when you know your drinking habit has become a problem -- when you think every good experience in life depends upon alcohol for some enhancement, when, in fact, they do not.

houtx · **Joined:** Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:39 pm **Posts:** 872

Habits are just hard to break period...but I've done it & know it can be done...this one is the hardest one yet.

I too look forward to the day when this is a take it or leave it "habit"

rapper · **Joined:** Sat Jun 27, 2009 9:26 pm **Posts:** 157

I do believe that the initial formula should be followed in that you drink as you normally would. I believe the changes in routine should come as your drinking is reduced and the gaps need to be filled. I believe it is of paramount importance to drink as you normally would, at least in the early stages.

Elfern · **Posted:** Fri Oct 23, 2009 2:12 pm

ortho wrote:

I am only on my first week and before I started I was fully aware of this physical dependence/habit false dichotomy (painful experience with quitting smoking). My understanding:

'Habit' is a learned behaviour. 'Dependence' is a learned behaviour, too. They overlap a lot and the only truly distinctive thing about dependence is that it can physically kill you (e.g. seizure upon withdrawal). Anyone (well, most anyway) who expects to just pop the pill and be free of the bad habit/dependence is delusional. NAL or whatever else may work is only an aid for our conscious effort to gain control over alcohol comsumption (unfortunately we are not rats who are never aware of the reasons they drink and are free of rationalizing them at every turn). For myself, I decided to try to gradually get into a habit of drinking less - and hope that NAL will help. Not sure what others do... My solution for now is not to ever stock drinks. Six pack or a bottle of wine - if I want to drink, I have to buy it every day (and when it's finished, it's finished). Even this modest goal would be a huge improvement - 6x7=42 drinks per week is a hell of a lot healthier than 100-120/week normally needed to make it through to another day.

After some eight months on in to tsm , I think what Ortho says here is right . And in particular the "overlapping" which takes a bit of training at times to differentiate.
Drinking modification "tricks" are really handy as you say but are much more effective when you face just habit minus craving .
Although , Ortho , and I hope it's the case for you ,you could be very surprised
by how very very substantially the NAL will help . Ihad a freak week recently and felt myself to be slipping back . But then i did apply some effort : mind over (rat) brain and pulled myself back . Then in favour of tsm : this is a very stresful time for me such efforts would have had to be enormous pre tsm , I would not have managed .
"Efforts " for me though are a waepon against habit . Friday nights in particular since the dawn of time I get a restlessness . Tonight I got it in my head how nice it'd be to get some gin and tonic in and went through the motions of entering a shop to purchase . Then my "mind" kicked in and I started trying to discen how much I was craving and realized it was actually very little at that point I saw the long queue and thought about the cost and just couldn't be bothered to go through with the purchase . This to me said it wasn't craving which is so much more imperious . So I say yes to effort but against habit not craving .

Could it be simply Habit?

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