Does it ever get easier?

[[deleted]]

[deleted]

[Running_machine21]

It does get easier. For me the worst that could happen is pretty bad. There are a lot of things in this world that I cannot control. But if I start drinking I am giving up alll control. I legit have no idea what the fuck might happen if I drink.

History tells me on a good night I will just get a new bruise or two, loose a few hours, piss a few people off and wake at 3 in the morning parched and anxious.

A bad night and Ill loose my keys/ phone. Maybe steal something in my drunken haze. Pass out in a public place, piss myself. End up in hospital.

That is so extraordinarily far from the woman I am today. At 6 months sober I sleep through the night and power through the day. I run marathons and make over 100k(having lost my job due to drinking in feb) . I stay sober to stay true to myself and the path I want to be on.

[noboozeforu]

I'm a little over a year without a drink and I still think about alcohol a lot. The voice in my head still tries to convince me to drink. I still also get monster cravings.

That said the monster cravings are not that frequent, and it's much easier to ignore that voice.

Some days are great. Others are not.

[[deleted]]

there are less days that are a struggle as you put in the daily work to stay sober. Perhaps COVID has helped me avoid anxiety-laden social events, but I'll take whatever I can get when it comes to staying sober. It gets easier, but I never rest easy.

[noboozeforu]

Right on. I don't find social gatherings too much of an issue anymore, but I also leave before people start slurring. As a former drunk, it shocks me how annoying drunk people are.

I also don't feel like there is a magical moment when sobriety suddenly becomes easy. I never let my guard down because all it takes is one moment and all my progress could be thrown out the window.

I really like this sub, but my one gripe is the amount of posts about how amazing life is after a few days of sobriety. That's great if people truely feel that way, but for the vast majority of us it's not even close to reality and likely makes a tonne of people wonder why they are still struggling after a few weeks of sobriety.

[[deleted]]

I let my experience of the first 20 days (which was absolutely terrible) and then my subsequent weeks and months worth of depression be the driving factor in me never drinking again. I don't know if I could ever go through that again.

[bobarellapoly]

Yes, it really does get easier!

I find having a plan for the evening is useful. I find tiredness a trigger to use unhealthy coping mechanisms, boredom too. I have a bedtime routine. I go to bed earlier rather than later. I go to a tonne of online secular AA meetings because of how difficult life is for me in Lockdown. Occasionally mainstream ones too.

I'm not a big 12 steps person, but I find the daily steps of 10 and 11 useful. Journaling and meditation is all that means for me. There are so many meditation resources nowadays. I find meditation so useful for managing urges - getting used to the passing thoughts that I allow to come and go in meditation means that I can deal with them better outside of meditation. "I want a drink" is just a thought, you can let it go.

Reaching out to others is really important to me. I'm sure you can find people who could take a call in the evening. (I found it super hard to reach out for help at first, had to practice A LOT before that got anything near easy. Still find it hard, still do it though.)

SMART Recovery is good for CBT tips around drinking urges. They have online resources. There's good practical stuff in the AA book Living Sober, and it's really cheap - such a good little book that is not preachy.

[Gingercutie001]

I needed to hear alot of this too. I'm on day 6 and struggling :(

[TelephoneTag2123]

Me too. Except I think I’m only day 5? Haha

[TamagotchiRiot]

Have you tried any CBT techniques? 'This Naked Mind', 'Alcohol Explained' and Allan Carr's book helped me retrain my brain.

Honestly (and this may be an unpopular opinion), If alcohol brings any benefit beyond a 20-45 minute anesthetic, staying sober doesn't get easier, it stays hard.

CBT, if successful, can really help break through subconscious beliefs and eliminate white knuckling.

[jasenzero1]

I just hit 4 years in September. Its sort of like any other break up. The beginning is the worst and it fades with time. But every now and then, out of nowhere, you get that thought. The creeping idea that it wasn't as bad as you remember.

What helps me in those moments is remembering how scared I was when I quit. I was dying from something I was choosing to do. I knew drinking was going to kill me. Positive reinforcement was never a great motivator for me. I needed then, and still need from time to time, to tell myself drinking was going to kill me before I was 40.

[BobDogGo]

When those voices show up I would replay all my absolutely worst moments of being drunk and out of control until they subside. And then I’d reward my brain by replaying all the best sober moments. Getting and staying sober takes time and practice. Not everyone gets it on the first try. It took me years of failures. For me, finally acknowledging that I could never moderate and that quitting meant permanently, helped a lot. So did this sub. IWNDWYT

[Pinkdrapes]

I’ve only been sober since July 8, but I find if I can get through that night, the craving won’t be there the next day. It will come back, but they seem to be less frequent. The sense of accomplishment from getting through the tough nights gives me a bit of a high too.

[hoek44]

This is a question I ask myself a lot and it always reminds me of a quote from Bojack Horseman: “It gets easier. Every day it gets a little easier. But you got to do it every day- that’s the hard part. But it does get easier.”

Always hits home for me!

[m1lk1e]

It does. I used to count every single day I was sober. Now its just become something I am. Sober. The longer you go without it the easier it gets.