Dealing with alcohol - any tips and hints?

I want to cut back myself. I was on day 7 of no porn and relapsed because i drank after a long day of work, which ive done soo many times but now its becoming a threat. I was thinking of ways i can cut back but the only thing thats seems reasonable at the moment is set a goal and just go for it. Nofap helped me hit those 7 days because i felt like i was able to talk about issues and the feeling of not letting somebody down. So im goin to try a 5 day goal of no alcohal, which will be extremely hard because i am in the playoffs for fantasy football and im also off sunday lol. If you want to do the same thing and keep eachother accountable even through messages on here id be happy too for those 5 days. If not i hope you find a solution to cut back. My whole fathers side drank heavy their whole lives and from what i have seen it just leads to depression then to anything else. But best of luck to you my friend!

 

Hey,
I also struggled with drugs in the past. Mostly alcohol & marihuana.
I got a book tip for you, it's not really about addiction, but it's very good for working on all the stuff that makes you turn to your drug of choice. If you're open to meditation it might help you. It's called 'Breaking The Habit of Being Yourself'.

What I also found very helpful is doing something creative, they say being creative heals and I found that true.

All the best!

 

Well...

What you're trying to do is REALLY hard; it's trying to return to a functional level when you're used to an outsized level. It's part of the reason that losing weight, and keeping it off, is so tough (and, I think, why return to normal sexual function is so tough for us PMO addicts); it's easier to abstain completely than "so far, but no further", as you want to do with alcohol.

I'll admit I don't have experience with helping people return to "social drinking"; by the time a person comes into my evil claws, they're usually so far out of control that a return to social use is just not an option.

I'm in recovery from alcohol and drugs, so it's not useful to ask me much about social drinking, either. But it seems to me that you need to set a limit for yourself and see if you can stay within it. The NIAAA defines problem drinking for men as 4 in a day or 14 in a week (and back before 1982, I was hitting that threshold most days). Try seeing if you can keep it under half of that, and see how it goes. (For me, two drinks was stupid; I wouldn't drink at all if I could only get two.)

If you can't, or find you don't want to, then it might be time to look at drinking.

I need to do one of my commercials here: If you're trying to get no-PMO time together, and you're drinking more than a little, I think you're setting yourself up to fail. Drinking reduces inhibitions, and the whole reason we come to NoFap is to develop a new inhibition against PMO. If you're working so hard to develop that, why do you want to weaken it?

 

You can’t quit any addiction by doing it “responsibly.” And if your an alcoholic AA is your scene b/c they’re all alcoholics too. Self help books only go so far. Going it alone your basically going on willpower, of which you already said you have little.

So what exactly is your plan?? Read some books, drink responsibly? If one of the other members of this forum posted that would you think it a good idea?

 

Gee. Sorry to hear you say that. "Tragic blind spot" when I comes to myself? I wouldn't know anything about that. Never heard of it. Nothing like that in my experience. Who could even imagine such a thing? Naaah, not me.

Sheesh.

(Don't ask my wife about that, OK?)

 

So looks like you've already had some good answers.
I too have never had a problem with missing work or anything due to alcohol, but im pretty sure its unhealthy for me especially the way i use it. i dont drink more than 1 or 2 socially, but drink alot when home aloe to 'forget', like 'oh its been a stressful day, i need a few beers' etc. I too dont want to say ill never drink again, my current solution is to cut it out completely for 3+ months, hoping this will break any habits, then after that we'll see. maybe stick to health guild lines on drinking per day/week, maybe only drink at 'special occasions' or possible best for me as a lone drinker, drink 0 at home, drink only when im out being social with it.

 

yup, ive been there too probably. its hard to know what to do, im hoping to cut it out completely until my lifes in a better place, and hopefully then i can make a decision, be nice to be able to drink socially though as people kind of expect that...
the other option is im an alcoholic of sorts, and once an addict always an addict, and if i want to be happy and healthy maybe i have to never drink again, we'll see

 

They do. But they get over it. They generally are ore interested in what's in their own glass than what's in yours.

I only ever had one person get all bizarre when he found out I didn't drink because of my problem with alcohol... but he came from a group where alcohol problems were rare (and those that existed were well-hidden), and he thought that alcoholics all had liver problems, acne rosacea, and no fixed abode.

 

yeah im sure they do, but it would be another one of those 'weird' things i do id have to explain, and as someone who isnt very social, social drinking is desirable to me, maybe.