Compulsive Actions in Addiction Recovery After Alcohol Rehab
Fighting alcohol addiction is arguably one of the most difficult addictions to face. Available on every corner, offered by well-meaning friends, family and co-workers, advertised on TV as a way to kick back and relax, it’s hard to avoid cravings and triggers.
The best way to get control over the compulsive drinking that defined your active alcohol addiction is to harness the energies that informed it: incentive, repetition and reward.
The Development of Alcohol Addiction
There was a period of time between your first drink and the moment you realized that alcohol addiction was a problem for you. It took a great deal of repeating the action of drinking to get to the point of compulsive action, or picking up a drink without even thinking through the action. That’s the ‘repetition’ part. You had incentive to keep drinking – whether it was social ease, an escape from other problems, the ability to forget stresses – that kept you coming back to repeat the action of drinking. A comfortable feeling developed as a result of the repeated action and this reward just reinforced the behavior.
Now that you’ve broken through that behavior at alcohol rehab and learned not to drink, you have to learn how to continued to not drink. It may sound odd but ‘not drinking’ is not passive. Choosing not to drink is an action and one that needs the same reinforcement, incentive and reward that you gave yourself during the development of addiction.
Choosing a New Action: Replacing Alcohol in Alcohol Addiction Recovery
Simply not drinking is not enough to fill your time. It certainly isn’t a replacement for drinking. Think of the times that you used to drink most frequently: at meals, at parties, to relax after work, after an argument, when you were sad. In order to effectively remain relapse-free, you need to find new actions to fit into those spots. You will likely need to find more than one: replacing wine with new homemade teas or non-alcoholic drinks may be a suitable replacement for alcohol at dinner, but it likely won’t soothe you after an argument or when you’re depressed.
Exercise: Actively Choose a New Life Without Alcohol
Make a list of situations that compel you to reach for alcohol. Write each situation on the list at the top of a note card. On the note card, make a list of suitable replacement for alcohol in those situations. Choose active, fun and interesting ideas. For example, if you often drink at a bar after work, you might list a number of other places you could go instead: go for a walk in a local park, go to a sauna at a gym, stop by a friend’s house, go to the grocery store and buy fresh food to cook for dinner.
Don’t confine yourself to one choice; multiple options gives you a better chance of choosing something positive. On each note card, put the phone number of someone who is supporting you in your recovery. If you are in the moment and none of your replacement options are appealing to you, call the number and ask them to talk you through it until you feel confident that you won’t relapse.
Choosing Alcohol Rehab at Michael’s House
If you have tried to stop drinking on your own without success, consider an alcohol rehab program at Michael’s House. We offer a long-term residential alcohol addiction treatment program here in Palm Springs, California. Call now for more information.
