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I have really bad biryani cravings.
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Bowl Leader
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Daily Reflections Recurring Post
January 18, 2021
WOULD A DRINK HELP?
By going back in our own drinking histories, we could show that years before we realized it we were out of control, that our drinking even then was no mere habit, that it was indeed the beginning of a fatal progression.
— TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 23
Click link for today’s full reading: https://www.aa.org/pages/en_US/daily-reflection
I was in a similar boat shortly after university and started going to therapy. I had 2 beers a night but I couldn’t not have those 2 and knew it was getting to be a problem.
Don’t wait till it’s a problem at work. I was working 80 hour weeks and probably drinking 100 drinks a week and my performance was fine, I was just miserable and inevitably going to die from it.
Start talking to a professional about it, and see what they say and hopefully it leads you to a place where you feel better about your relationship with substances (this point could be having better habits, could be getting completely sober). I’m sure some people get it in control from a similar point and others don’t. There’s no one size fits all approach to stuff like this.
Also feel free to DM if helpful
Pro
If you truly drink that little, I am guessing that it's simply the pot that is zapping your motivation. Try going cold turkey for a month, with the intent of cleansing out your body, and on the tail end of that break you may be able to moderate or have no desire to go back to smoking at all.
If you are unable to make it a month, or sink right back into smoking like you do today after a period of abstinence, then I suggedt that you tske your addiction a bit more seriously and check out N/A as was suggested above.
Bowl Leader
Hi EY, and welcome to the bowl. I think there are a lot of people in your situation; they know they’re overdoing it on something (alcohol, drugs, food, gambling, etc.) but it hasn’t really negatively impacted their outside life. The inside life, however, is starting to feel some discomfort and maybe even some shame.
A lot of folks here have “hit a bottom” where life became an absolute hell, and in that case, something like AA or NA can be a true miracle. If that description sounds extreme or drastic to you, then a good option might be to work with a therapist for a little while. So often, our desire to use these substances (or act out in these behaviors) is driven by some unmet need or fear that lives deep within us. It may be so buried or so original that we don’t even realize it at this point in our adult life.
Lastly, sometimes we develop a “bad habit”; that daily beer is a habit, but it can be very tricky and eventually turn into an addiction. Most of us only realize it turned into an addiction way too late. A therapist or counselor might also be able to help with the “habit” part of your situation too.
If you want to stop smoking all together, I would suggest checking out N.A. (narcotics anonymous) and reading some of their literature to see if you identify with what’s in the literature first and go to a meeting. From my experience, I couldn’t just cut back. I needed to stop entirely and stop drinking alcohol too.
Thank you all for the advice. I’ll talk to a professional about my smoking.
Bro, you need to try to moderate. If you can’t moderate despite really wanting to and trying to moderate, then you might be powerless over smoking. If that is the case, the people here can share what it was like for us, what happened, and what it is like now.